THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607190062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Art Review
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 59 lines
NORFOLK PAINTER Tim McClellan approaches art as a kind of equivalent to meditation. It is no small achievement that a recent body of work by McClellan evokes that calm, focused state while maintaining artistic integrity.
The artist has contributed a handsome group of 13 abstract paintings to a show at Calvin & Lloyd, a downtown Norfolk gallery. A dozen more works, unframed, can be viewed in a bin.
McClellan, 36, came to painting in recent years, and is self-taught. He arrived by way of his inner eye.
He lived in Fredericksburg before moving to Norfolk in 1992. While there, he led meditation workshops that involved guided imagery. In effect, he would quietly describe to the group the imagery that arose from his unconscious as he went deeper into his meditation. He was taking his pupils with him on his inner journey, in hopes that the group would have a spiritual, healing experience.
Soon, he felt led to express his inner imagery as paintings.
At one point, he threw paint like abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. Meanwhile, he was reading poetry and looking at paintings by artists he felt were melding spiritual and art concerns, such as Mark Rothko.
McClellan's work immediately brings to mind Rothko, because of its essential qualities - usually, two or three square or rectangular blocks of color that shimmer on the painted surface. As with Rothko, the lines separating strong, dominant forms dissolve in a fuzzy haze.
As was Rothko's custom, some of McClellan's latest works are unframed. They float on foam board, their gently rumpled edges a critical aspect of their appeal.
Of course, there are many ways in which McClellan's work differs from Rothko. For one, Rothko painted with brushes on large canvases. McClellan applies paint to paper, then folds the paper, reopening it to see what the somewhat blind process has achieved.
He accidentally discovered his process after using paper to wipe up excess paint on glass plates he used in making monoprints. As he folded, then unfolded the paper, he liked the resultant images.
In this work dating from the last year, many layers of paint peek through, giving the surface a rich, textural patina.
Rothko's work was heroic, deep, dark and tragic. If his paintings were equated to music, Rothko's art struck heavy chords with a lengthy resonance.
On the other hand, McClellan's work sends out a sunny hum. His paper works are comparatively modest, in scale and impact. But most possess an inner glow and a mien that is spiritually uplifting. MEMO: ON EXHIBIT
What: ``Solitude Standing: Paintings by Tim McClellan''
Where: Calvin & Lloyd, 140 Granby St., Norfolk
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday
When: through Aug. 3
How much: free
Call: 626-1742 ILLUSTRATION: Photo of ``Floating Blue Squares'' is among works by
Tim McClellan. by CNB