Most of the work I’ve seen lately has had strong, potent messaging, been on the scale of a building’s entire outside wall, and often using a palette that’s bold to downright loud. In preparing to start a new semester at the BBAC, I came across one of Pedroso’s paintings. It’s simplicity immediately struck me. Royal is one of the more colorful pieces. Purple and yellow create the expected visual energy but a strip of red at the horizon line keeps this from a contrivance.
Drifting describes a pending storm with scale cows that activate the picture. The heavily layered surface adds dimension. With all this activity, this scene reads calm, before the storm arrives. The detailed execution of the barns is just this side of photorealism.
The Blue Barn is one in a series of three with the same dimensions. Any one canvas in a grouping should be able to stand on its own. Separated out, this shape creates an interesting composition with the barn and its shadow nestled off-center anchoring the piece toward the bottom.
Yellow Fields reads so calm it’s almost lonely. The subject holds the composition by way of its roof lines. This barn stands sentinel in its environment, strong and reliable, safe and sheltering.
I have a cousin who lives in Chelsea. He has two barns on his property, both built in the 1800s. They’ve always been fascinating to me. Structures built for work, housing anything from cows and horses to farm equipment. Many barns have withstood time to represent a period before the industrial revolution, before combines that are so high-tech they can measure soil depth, moisture and nutrients for seeding to get the best yield. As important as technological, medical and social advancements are, there’s a peace missing that Pedroso captures in his work.
On view through Sept 23rd at the BBAC 1516 S. Cranbrook, Birmingham
*images courtesy of the BBAC
**no canvas sizes were provided
SHOWS OPEN THIS WEEKEND