Audio Art in the abstract creates some 'Heavy Weather' (story audio) Photos "Falls," by James Wrayge. "Lake Catherine Solice," by James Wrayge. "Fishhouse Parking Lot," by Robert Roscoe. View full slideshow (7 images) Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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Art in the abstract creates some 'Heavy Weather'
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
August 16, 2004

"Falls," by James Wrayge. Wrayge and photographer Robert Roscoe's show at Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis explores the nature of abstract art. (Image courtesy of James Wrayge)

"Heavy Weather" is the latest exhibition at Rosalux Gallery, an artists' cooperative in Minneapolis. It features two veteran abstract artists who use entirely different means to create their work. One is a painter, the other, a photographer. The show explores the nature of abstract art.

Minneapolis, Minn. — James Wrayge's abstract landscape paintings are at times equal parts bold splashes and soft subtle gradations of color. In many of them, the only thing decipherable is the horizon, where the prairie or the water meets the sky. Wrayge has painted abstracts or most of his 30-year career, but has rarely tried his hand at landscapes. He says they're paintings of places, somewhere in his soul.

"Be it on the water, be it on the plains of North Dakota, I find a visual excitement," he says. "I think it's very abstract, that's what draws me to it, in its simplicity, but there's so much information there to grab."

	"Lake Catherine Solice," by James Wrayge.

Wrayge's oil on canvas paintings originate in his heart and mind and suggest an infinite expanse of space.

The photographs of his exhibition partner, Robert Roscoe, are of real subjects which he transforms into abstract images. As he travels around with his camera, Roscoe tries to locate accidental configurations in the natural or urban landscape which have a unique symmetry or light.

"And I photograph it, but I just manage to crop the image, look at the parts that form these compositions, and then that's what the photo becomes," he says. "One of the Rosalux members gave me the highest compliment. He said some of the best paintings he's ever seen are my photographs."

Roscoe says he might pass by a potential subject 50 times, and on the 51st time, snap the picture.

	"Fishhouse Parking Lot," by Robert Roscoe.

"I hope my photographs can cajole people, as they go through their daily environment and see things that are seemingly mundane, realize that every time you pass that again, you've built up more experiences in your life," he says. "And sooner or later, that little pleasure has been waiting for you....you have to be ready."

Abstract art intimidates some viewers. James Wrayge has a theory why. He says they're probably expecting the piece to tell a story, when they should be concentrating on its visual components.

"When they know how to look at the elements, rather than a story in the picture, I think they would be surprised by what they can see and be moved by," he says.

Wrayge says abstract art, even more than figurative work, derives its power from its composition. In other words, the way its lines, planes, space, rhythm and color co-exist or interact. He says Jackson Pollack is a master abstract artist because he's a master at composition.

	"Symphonette #54," by James Wrayge.

"You know, you don't realize how good he is, until you maybe try to paint like that, and realize his composition, his light and everything he uses in there," he says. "And most people think it's just a bunch of splattering, but it's not."

Wrayge and Roscoe have shown their work together before. They both share a love for jazz and say they apply its principles of freedom, spontaneity and discipline in their work. Wrayge says the public's appreciation of abstract art has yet to reach the level of its appreciation of jazz, which is essentially abstract music.

"People can listen to music without words, without a story, but they still don't really know how to look visually without a story," he says. "It's coming around. Abstract work is relatively new. It's only a hundred and something years old. And people are just catching on I think."

James Wrayge and Robert Roscoe's abstract art display is called Heavy Weather. It's on the walls of Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis through August 29th.

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