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PHOTOS COURTESY OF TWO VAULTS GALLERY

BLUE KANGAROO. Karl Krogstad’s “London Kangaroos” is one of many large, original mixed-media paintings currently on display at Two Vaults Gallery. Primarily known as an independent filmmaker, Krogstad is also a painter inspired by the sights of Paris.

Krogstad brings light of Paris to Two Vaults Gallery

By Dave R. Davison

For those versed in the history of art, Paris of the early 20th century was the undisputed center of the artistic universe. Young, new painters with names like Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Andre Matisse and Marc Chagall were on the scene and creating work inspired by the generation of Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne.

The nostalgic flavor of that Paris– that imperial Europe whose cultural zenith was soon to be eclipsed by the cataclysm of world war– is currently to be encountered in the cozy setting of Tacoma’s own Two Vaults Gallery. The paintings of Karl Krogstad, which are currently on display in the gallery, exude the wonderful, antique essence of the Parisian avant-garde of a hundred years ago.

Krogstad, a Seattle-based, award-winning independent filmmaker, is also a talented, self-taught painter whose visits to Europe have ignited his visual imagination with an obvious zeal to recapture the Europe of young messieurs Picasso, Matisse, Braque and Chagall.

Absorbing the European atmosphere as well as the works of these modern masters, Krogstad manages a magical synthesis that conjures up the essence of a time and place pivotal in the history of Western art.

He brings together the compositional skill of Picasso, the color sensibility of Matisse and the loose, fluid brushwork of Chagall. His mixed media paintings are lush with color and Krogstad is adept in his handling his brushes and his media. His deep colors and thick, glossy, yellowed varnish give the paintings an antique finish. Were it not for the dates prominently scrawled on the front of most of the paintings (all seem to have been done in the last few years), one might believe that these are objects heavily burdened by the weight of time’s passage.

In “Lhote’s Channel,” a simple, rust-colored boat floats eternally becalmed on a sea of custard. Quaint French buildings hang fat and flat in the background.

Krogstad’s “London Kangaroos” is a festive affair whose surface is broken up with a diverse geometry of monuments, cobbled lanes, iron railings, low walls, and buildings with classical columns. The kangaroos of the title spill in from the right like big, happy bunnies done in heavy slatherings of blue.

“Paris Miniature Golf” is especially rich. The red ramps and curves of a miniature golf course are set among venerable trees and ornamental plants that are executed with quick brush strokes. The accouterments of the golf course make for a fascinating composition. The playful forms break up an otherwise idyllic setting amid the shady trees.

With his busy brushes, Krogstad has the gift of catching the feel and flavor of place. One can almost feel the warm French air, hear the street music and smell the unfamiliar surroundings. That is the painter’s magic.

Also on view at Two Vaults are sculptural works by Eve Wright who makes concrete frog heads that are finished to resemble realistic frogs. Meant to be set in a garden or pond, these convey the illusion of a large frog peering out from hiding. Wright also makes casts of small sized, human faces out of clear resin. Internally lit, these compositions possess the charm of holiday luminarios.

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