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ART WRAP
BY JOHN BLEE
Sabrina Cabada at the Aaron Gallery
At the Aaron Gallery (1717 Connecticut Avenue, NW) a series of brightly colored figures and still lifes by Sabrina Cabada hang on the walls. Some of the figures are nudes, some are children and a group of pictures relate to sixties icons including Barbie and Mick. Cabada's figures have a high quality of remoteness, and an expressionist edge. Polka dots on the dress in "Posh in Red" drive the rhythm of the picture already heated up by a red hat and a yellow background. The picture has a relationship to some of Max Beckmann's portraits of women, though in lower key.
Cabada portrays her own children in an appealing portrait. There is a mystery in the figure hidden behind the umbrella in "Good Day" and in its play of shadow. In the nude figure in "The View II" the atmosphere is thick with solitude.
All the work has a bright intensity with color that is hot, even the cool colors seem hot. Cabada's still lifes of fruit have a tropical intensity. She employs a black background in "Single Pear" that intensifies the value play within the fruit. There is no doubt that Cabada is a painterly painter who finds the meaning of the pictures in the rhythm of the brush strokes applying paint to the picture. "Three Apples" is beautifully painted, and again the black tells.
"Outside In" is strongly composed, but the hottest picture of the show is "Sparks." In it a man and woman are involved in lighting each others cigarette and seemingly much more. It has a period flavor, but the drama overcomes all.
Consuelo Cabada-Aaron started the Aaron Gallery in 1986 to promote the work of Javier Cabada, known for his expressionist portraits of Beethoven and Einstein as well as more abstract pieces. She died in a tragic accident this past summer leaving the gallery to her two daughters, Annette Aaron and Sabrina Cabada. Annette was involved in the initial phase of the gallery literally doing the dry wall herself.
Speaking with deep emotion Annette Aaron says it is a comfort to her to be able to carry on for her mother and present the work of Sabrina Cabada in her fifth person show.
Through December 1st.