Through the eyes of a child Through the eyes of a child (April 08, 2005)

Chiarito's art reverts to purer forms

Katie Vaughn

No matter how sophisticated your taste in art is, at some point when examining a modern painting you might have thought: This looks like something a child could make. Ironically, that's precisely the idea the latest artist to exhibit at the Community School of Music and Arts wants viewers to contemplate.

"Robert Chiarito: Paintings" showcases 18 of the artist's recent works that focus on the playfulness and exploration of art-making. An associate professor of art at San Jose State University, Chiarito received a master's degree in fine arts at Stanford University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Cairo in 2001. His artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally, particularly in Mexico City, Cairo and throughout California.

Although he formerly created representational figurative paintings, working from models to draw and paint in a realistic manner, in the last few years Chiarito has developed an interest in children's and tribal art, as well as artwork made by people with disabilities.

Inspired by his belief that these artists use pure form and figurative gestures to communicate emotion, Chiarito started drawing figures based on imagined forms instead of models. He then took the artistic experiment a step further, beginning his compositions by drawing with his eyes closed, allowing for accidents and challenges to his natural artistic ability.

The result is a variety of wildly abstracted figures, many with exaggerated body parts. For instance, in his "Old Man" painting, an orange male form stretches diagonally across the large green canvas. The man's right arm, which bends to rest on his hip, is a sketchy black line, while the opposite is thick, red and fleshy, ending in a huge fist. Equally abstracted is the man's face, a rainbow of colors arranged mask-like in an almost finger-painted manner.

Similar in form but different in style is "Warning." Also a figurative painting of a man that fills up a large canvas, this work features a green, more angular man outlined in sketchy yellow lines. These outlines jump out at the viewer, giving the painting a graphic, linear quality. The face of this man, too, is abstract, composed of a variety of geometric outlines. That the man holds both arms up in the air near his head adds drama to the piece while suggesting an approaching danger.

Interestingly, Chiarito's works have progressed from complex to simplistic in recent years. Compare, for example, his "Venus in Sardinia" of 2003 with "The Laugh," which the artist created early this year. The former is a gold-hued composition brimming with activity. Quivering black lines depict organic forms and create a sense of dynamism. One of the forms is a human figure distorted nearly past recognition, its orange and red body blending with the background and surrounding elements.

Contrastingly, in "The Laugh," a simplistic face takes up an entire enormous canvas. Topping a purple background, sketchy lines and rough blocks of color carve out facial features such as eyebrows, eyes, a nose and a mouth. Its off-kilter, unfinished style suggests the uninhibited art of children.

But it's worth noting that Chiarito's paintings in general could not be confused with those of kids. Despite the abandon and playfulness he imbues in his works, his artistic abilities and training come through in his sophisticated sense of design. While the paintings are bright, bold and dynamic, many created in something of a finger-paint style, they exude balances of shape and color as well as strong understandings of scale and composition. One needs only look at such works as "Romp" and "Yo Mama!" to see that these are the paintings of a gifted artist, not simply a free-spirited child.

Chiarito will visit CSMA April 8 to talk about his work and greet guests at an opening reception. His talk will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at Tateuchi Hall and the reception will be held in the Mohr Gallery from 7 to 8 p.m.
E-mail Katie Vaughn at mvvoicearts@yahoo.com.
What: "Robert Chiarito: Paintings" Where: Mohr Gallery at the Community School of Music and Arts, 230 San Antonio Circle When: The exhibit runs April 5-June 2; the gallery is open Mon.-Fri., 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sat., 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Call: (650) 917-6800 or visit www.arts4all.org

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