Artist Profile IV


	Artist Profiles


	January / Marianne Van Lent - Big Spaces


	Marianne Van Lent received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University Tyler School of Arts, Philadelphia, in 1972. In 1974 she received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Since 1978, she has been painting, exhibiting her work and living in New York City. Her recent exhibitions (2004) have included a solo show at the Wesley Lake Gallery, Asbury Park NJ, a solo show at the Athens Cultural Center, Athens, NY and the recent Nature Abstracted Group show at the Painting Center, New York, NY.


	Is Marianne Van Lent an abstract artist? Or is her work better described as landscape painting? In equal measure the answer to both of these questions is, yes. It is clear from the imagery that these paintings reference sea landscapes; primarily around Nova Scotia as some of the titles inform. Points of land jut out into the sea or the land is viewed from an ocean perspective or the sea alone comprises the subject matter. Paintings such as Cape North and Whale Watch particularly suggest landscapes whereas a piece such as Dark River Notch is more ambiguous as to reference. This diversity between a strong and tangible figurative reading creates a pleasant contrast throughout the body of work. One


		Dark River Notch, fresco secco and suspended pigment on canvas, 18 x 24 in



			Cape North, fresco secco and suspended pigment on canvas, 24 x 36 in


			Whale Watch, fresco secco and suspended pigment on canvas, 24 x 36 in

	reason it is pleasant is because neither competes with the other. It is just as easy to see these paintings as completely abstract as it is to view them as landscapes.

		There are a number of factors that push these paintings toward an abstract reading. To begin with there are the large open spaces that are depicted as landscapes but also realized as non-referential forms. In Van Lent�s hands the sky, land and water hold equal value because atmospheric perspective is equalized and conventional perspective is minimalized. This

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