Edward Minoff:

Edward Minoff, STORMY, Oil on Canvas, 32" x 48"

Sung Hee Jang, V, oil on Canvas, 51" x 76 1/2"

Balancing acts: Eric Zener and Don Gale
 

Former New York Times critic Bryan Miller once said that great artists must approach their craft "like a successful tightrope walker: with an abiding passion for the task, courage to go out on a limb and an impeccable sense of balance."

Eric Zener, STEPPING OFF, Oil on Canvas, 60" X 48"

Eric Zener has quite literally depicted the balancing act in his tightrope series. The subject of which is not the famed artist but the viewer.  At first glance his composition leaves us in a bit of peril. However, our senses tell us that the subject is actually well grounded (notice the stable left foot).  So to alleviate the peril we refer to Einstein's famed adage:

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."  

Or we might think of Eric Hoffer, the American philosopher:   

"Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat."

What we enjoy most about Zener is the directness of his message.  His images are metaphors balancing the fears and hopes of our living.

When viewing art we look for certain aspects of balance.  Much of this is undefinable, although, Andrew Wyeth attempts a description:

Don Gale, SHE'S WALKING, 31" x 25" x 9"

 "It is all in how you arrange the thing...the careful balance of the design is the motion." 
 

Susan Sontag adds to the insight and ambiguity: "The truth is balance.  However the opposite of truth, which is unbalance, may not be a lie."

When composing an image, the artist must consider how to harmonize the image while providing elements of focus (unbalance) that reveal the story of the picture (or object).

Don Gale's sense of design is based in the study of line.  The horizontal stabilizes and gives the sense of rest. The vertical gives height and spirituality, and the diagonal energizes and adds movement.

His bronze sculptures appear to be in perfect balance. Slightly activated by the gesture of a hand or the stride of a

step. The bronze work juxtaposes highly polished surfaces against the clay-like patina of the figure. These elements enhance our perception of his subjects which appear to consider inner illuminations verse outer desires. 
 
 

Don Gale, REFLECTIONS II, Bronze, 24" x 6 1/2"

In the end I think we find the vision of Henri Matisse in these sculptures: 
 

"What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue."