Line, shape, color: Abstract Show at Louisa Gould

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Brent Applegite and Denise Lackey of Colorado find a lot to admire at Louisa Gould's abstract show that runs to Thursday, Sept. 15. — Photo by Ralph Stewart

The Louisa Gould Gallery on Main Street in Vineyard Haven is alive with color, shape, and line in a varied and impressive collection of abstract art. The gallery’s fourth annual abstract show, Rhythm and Blues, showcases the work of five artists whose work creates energy, movement, and a rhythm that befits the show’s title. The artists – Roberta Gross, Marsha Staiger, Sondra Arkin, Laura Roosevelt, and Ellyn Weiss – reveal unique approaches in a variety of media.

Aquinnah seasonal resident Roberta Gross, the show’s curator, teaches abstract and mixed media courses at Featherstone Center for the Arts. She creates rectangles of collages consisting of stained glass-like acrylic papers, gold leaf, and scrapes of recycled art works and collograph prints. She is also exhibiting four large acrylic paintings on paper with bold shapes and lines that suggest the earth’s organic formations.

Everyone is invited to listen to Ms. Gross speak about her work and the abstract show on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2 to 3 pm at the gallery.

The paintings of Marsha Staiger, an award-winning artist from Washington D.C., use textures, colors, paint layers, and collage to establish a connection to rhythm and blues music.

Sondra Arkin’s series of wax and shellac paintings on dibond suggest various views of water including droplets, river rocks, and showers. She works in a rich palette of red-purples, grey-blues, oranges and yellows, layering and combining shapes and colors.

Laura Roosevelt of West Tisbury, a poet, journalist, and photographer, is showing four abstract photographs, reflections of objects in water. The boats, pilings, docks, and buildings appear transformed by the water’s movement.

Ellyn Weiss, a painter and printmaker, displays her series of monoprints inspired by cellular structures and nature, and small tile-like encaustics that evoke ocean waves.

Rhythm and Blues runs through Thursday, Sept. 15. Roberta Gross speaks about abstract art, Sunday, Sept.11, 2 to 3 pm. Louisa Gould Gallery, 54 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, 508-693-7373.