In Pittsburgh Newsweekly, page 24, 10.18.00-10.25.00

EXHIBIT
BY MANNY THEINER

Casting Spells
Mama's latest art show puts the heart of cabaret on canvas.

INHERITANCE: A FAMILY GATHERING OF NEW PAINTINGS
BY SHARON "MAMA" SPELL
ZENITH GALLERY // SOUTH SIDE
THROUGH OCT. 31: 481-4833

As local diva "Mama," Sharon Spell exudes a buoyant stage presence that's always suited her pleasant but irascible sense of humor. It comes as no surprise, then, that the paintings in her latest artistic endeavor, Inheritance, possess a similar kind of whimsy, influenced both by pop culture and her own personal experience.

Spell is well known as a singer, dancer and pianist; few would believe that this staple of Pittsburgh's entertainment scene first found her confident voice in the visual arts. But it wasn't until the MIssissippi native landed in the 'Burgh that Mama -- Spell's flamboyant stage persona -- was born.

"I always wanted to try comedy," Spell says, "I did do stand-up a little bit, but cabaret allows things to come out from nowhere, instead of having a format of set-up and punch line. It's the same with the paintings, because I get excited when the paint becomes something else and takes on a life of its own, and then it's out of my hands."

Her paintings feature an assortment of vibrant and unexpected scenes: a figure riding backwards on a donkey by a picket fence with a wizened Burroughs-esque old man lingering in the foreground; a Curious George monkey in a Jetsons-style racing car on a swirly green background; and solid blocks of pink, brown and green interspersed with the Cheshire grin of a cat. These bright but muted alkyd oils capture Spell's performance style with spattery strokes and a hodge-podge of colorful characters.

Like Jackson Pollock, she begins by dropping daubs on the surface, and then scrapes them with a palette knife. "I'll deliberately put down too much information, and then shape it," explains Spell. "I'll find maybe an eye or the curve of a shoulder, and I'll bring out that figure more.

"Usually it takes two or three days, but sometimes they're spread out, and I might spend two months looking at them. I'll turn the canvas to the side, maybe add more paint to bring something else out."

Spell's proclivity for spontaneously found images also jibes with the "art brut" or Jean Dubuffet, whose work reflects the purity of the art of children and the mentally ill.

Some of Spell's paintings function so well as narratives that they could be perfect as illustrations in children's books. In "Is That All There Is?" a young child gazes enraptured at what appears to be a burning bush. And in "Legend of the Tiki Pops," simple circles suggest the luscious shapes of sugary lollipops.

Spell has taught kids' art classes at the Carnegie Museum using her technique of creating narrative content from the purely abstract. "I would take in smaller works on paper or matte board, and we did projects similar to what I was working on in my own studio."

It's clear that Spell has a unique skill for wrenching a tale out of raw shapes. She operates under the assumption that most people are drawn to art because of the stories it tells, but she still hedges her bets: "I hope that I come through in my creations, that you can see a bit of my handwriting in the paint. But I don't want to give too much information, because everyone's story is different." IP

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