Prisms of Perception

Charles Katzenbach and Materese Roche
exhibit "Prisms of Perception"
at Artists' Gallery

oil on canvas
by Materese Roche

The first show of the Artists’ Gallery’s season features two artists working on separate planes, with different visions who are bound by parallels in techniques and the ability to draw the viewer into their work. The Charles Katzenbach and Materese Roche show “Prisms of Perception” opens Friday, April 10th, and the artist’s reception will be held on Saturday, April 18th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The exhibit runs through May 3rd, 2009.

oil on glass
by Charles Katzenbach

For Katzenbach and Roche, visual depth and interest is achieved through the use of multiple layers of shifting light and colors, lending atmosphere and movement to their work.

Katzenbach creates abstract paintings with oil on the surfaces of glass or mirrors, often using multiple panes to increase the depth and complexity of the image. Colors and shapes shift as one moves around the work, literally playing with the viewer’s perceptions. His work has been referred to as “a legal high with paint, color and light as stimulus”.

Roche paints in a contemporary representational manner, but like Katzenbach, she is fascinated with the play of natural light and atmosphere and how opposing forces in a painting can create a sensation of vibration or tranquility, depending upon the subject. For Roche, the driving force is to pull you into the subject and create within you a specific feeling – from the cool morning air and shimmering light in Northern Maine to the sensation of mist at it flows through a grove of bamboo.

Please note that because it's Easter weekend, the opening is not being held on Second Saturday. Instead, the opening reception for this show will be on Saturday April 18th from 6 to 9:00 pm.