Paintings
"Although
I was well aware that Lonas began
his career as a painter, and of
course had seen the densely crosshatched,
crystaline drawings that so often
accompanied his sculptural work
in the past, I had not expected
such a burst of intense, pure
color. The approach of a sculptor
is still very much in evidence
in these paintings with their
constructive or constructive scaffoldings;
networks that strive into the
third dimension. But they are
held in check by veils of delicate
color that give the impression
of a resilient membrane.
The new element in Lonas' synthesis
here is abstract expressionism.Though
this might seem a recourse to
the past, a firm geometric structure
lends the free strokes a higher
specific gravity, a synthesis
that transforms regression into
advance. This is no clever stratagem
but an experienced and considered
solution solidly rooted in unremitting
artisitc practice. A true innovation.
"
-
Heinz Ohff, Chief Art Critic for
the Tages Spiegel