Reviews
“3 IN 1” - AN EXHIBITION WITH DUNCAN STEWART AND ANTHONY KEOGH
“Finally, an exhibition which starts to deal with some of the real issues facing South Africans!
And both the negative and positive sides are given equal exposure in one of the most interesting exhibitions to be seen in the city for a while.
Rick Becker, it is, who makes the boldest statements about matters affecting us today.
You’ll find four small acrylics by Becker in a corner of one of the rooms, and they are political dynamite.
As he demonstrates with several large abstracts, all beautiful, Becker is a master of the straight edge.
The title of this work says it all:
Unofficial Portrait of a Despot Criminal and friend of Thabo Mbeki. Is a portrait of a demon-eyed Mugabe set against the red, black and yellow stripes of the Zim flag. There is a scathing caricature of blazing-eyed thugs called ANCYL Delegates, shown against the ANC colours of yellow, black and green, while all of us, affected by load shedding will smile wryly at Thanks Alec, which shows the ANC logo of a hand, which used to clasp a spear, now holding a candle. The abstract –expressionist Francis Bacon is recalled in two small powerful acrylics titled Luthuli House – Behind Closed Doors #1 and 2. Here figures seem to go about their disorganized lives with gay, couldn’t-care-less abandon…”
- The Herald Art Correspondence
EXHIBITION BY RICK BECKER AND DUNCAN STEWART – CUYLER STREET GALLERY
Rick Becker’s abstracts take one into another world. Using the palette knife to telling effect, in one of several small, detailed works, Open Road, he achieves an awesome sense of depth. Steep perspective is evoked in the shape of the road on the right, while a range of mountains is achieved through a single red line scratched into the picture surface.
Stripe-scape 1 & 2 use a slightly different process to equally good effect. Here he first has laid down horizontal stripes in a range of subtle greys, over which is painted, in thick impasto, richly textured abstract shapes.
The other string to his bow involves detailed realistic paintings, such as a series showing the wrecks of vintage cars in Karoo landscapes. There is a nice touch of humour in Engine Trouble, where a dry tree-bush grows out through the bonnet of a car, against a beautifully seen mountain krantz as it catches the setting sun. This is another high-quality exhibition from Tossie Theron’s gallery. Try to see it.”
-The Herald Art Correspondence
NO SIGNATURES EXHIBITION AT CUYLER STREET GALLERY
Some who have exhibited regularly are instantly recognizable, however, such as a wonderful abstract by Rick Becker which has already been sold.
Somehow he manages to paint a world of cubes, connected by lines and floating in space, with the straight-edged precision of a surgeon…..” -The Herald Art Correspondence
EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS AT MONTAGE GALLERY
The Cubists led the path towards abstraction about 100 years ago. But it
seems Rick Becker has done what few have dared to do: taken the art form and
reinvented it. The Gathering is the title of one of three works he has in this
style and it is most impressive. Capturing something of the straight-edged,
clinical quality associated with the digital age, this work is elongated and
built around horizontal chocolate-like stripes. Architectural shapes hang
suspended in the abstract space thus created. But for me the best two Becker
works are Nude Abstract 1 and 2, which have serious echoes of Picasso and Braque
at their analytical best”
-The Herald Art Correspondence
JOINT EXHIBITION WITH ADRIAN ELIAN, CUYLER STREET GALLERY
“
Rick Becker certainly doesn’t rest on his laurels. His flower studies of the past, which I must confess I did not enjoy, were replaced last year by some interesting photo-realistic Karoo landscapes. This time round he has worked exclusively with abstracts – and the result is most successful.
The pick, for me, are two works hanging alongside each other. In Sky above My Mind, small vertically shaped oil, he introduces light blue into a composition of rectangular shapes in browns, oranges and creams, giving it a wonderful sense of tranquility.
That mood is repeated in The Sojourner, where he employs a full range of textures with the palette knife. One of the nicest examples of palette-knife work is Life with a View. Here, the work is bordered on the sides and base in maroon, like a window frame. The view outside is of abstract greys and browns, offset by flashes of orange and a lovely area of blue-grey. The pigment, when applied with a palette knife acquires a wonderful smooth, yet slightly bubbly texture.
This work is a little masterpiece.” -The Herald Art Correspondence
