Ron Netsky on “Running Water”
When Kate McGloughlin sets out to capture water in motion, paint flows from her brush with the energy of a stream, cascading down and wrapping around the firmness of stone. Water splashes on rocks as paint hits paper. And these actions merge in another flow, from the artist’s eye to her brain to her hand, instantaneously connecting subject, technique and aesthetic judgment.
The cloves of the Catskills are rich in waterfalls and, for the last two centuries, rich in artists bent on capturing their majesty on canvas and paper. As you view these paintings, stop for a moment and picture the artist not in a cozy studio, but balanced on the next (unseen) rock downstream. All of the watercolors in this exhibition were painted en plein air, all of them executed with absolute confidence in a most unforgiving medium. If you can feel the force of a waterfall it’s not surprising; McGloughlin was probably feeling its spray as she painted it.
The bold, free strokes in works like Kissing Rocks lie at the intersection between representation and abstraction, intellect and emotion. It’s a delicate balance, but one that succeeds in prompting both visual and visceral reactions to the scene. In Fallen Rock, Falling Water, branches slash through the composition of rocks like the grand gestural strokes of an abstract-expressionist canvas. In those strokes we find more than an artist’s reaction to what she is witnessing. McGloughlin offers a heightened vision of that experience so that the
viewer can feel it too.
As in the paintings of the Hudson River School, McGloughlin’s compositions often transcend their scenic beauty. Kitchen Falls demonstrates the manner in which an artist can get to know a piece of earth intimately, but it also may cause us to reflect – if only subconsciously – on the cycle of life. As the water pushes over the rocks, patiently eroding and transforming them over eons, we see unstoppable life surging past a dead, fallen tree.
These color works are augmented by a series of large black-and-white studies created from fragments of other compositions. Aside from their dynamic force, these works declare that under the gaze of a gifted artist every corner of the landscape is capable of holding its own interest, every detail becoming a microcosm of the universal dichotomy between tension and calm.
Finally, if you look closely at these flowing works you will see the reflection of an unbridled personality, perfectly captured in the vivacious rush of water. Anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing her as an artist, teacher or friend will immediately recognize a natural connection of subject and style with Kate McGloughlin.
Ron Netsky
Ron Netsky is a Professor of Art and Chairman of the Art Department at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. He recently co-curated a traveling exhibition titled “Leaving for the Country: George Bellows in Woodstock”, which was the subject for a feature article in American Art Review magazine. Mr. Netsky’s work is the collections of The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; The Samuel Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz; and many others.
