Bold lines define bowls and fruit in Holly Coulis’ brilliantly colored still life paintings at Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, though their transparency suggests a retreat from assertiveness. The shallow depth of each painting allows objects to exist in uncertain relationship to each other and to the space of the picture; in ‘Sunrise, Dish Pair,’ two bowls under the dome of a yellow sun overlap to create a third, asymmetrical bowl shape, all of which float in a field of blue. In ‘Water Line and Orange,’ a waving, liquid line extends off the surface of a vase onto a neighboring vessel, announcing a realism-defying freedom. Here, ‘Underwater Pears’ is a highlight of the show with its pleasing abundance of symmetrical curving forms crowned by a blue-toned pool of water that enhances rather than dampens the light-catching contours of the forms it encircles. (On view in Tribeca through March 28th).
