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Holland Art House
By Victoria Donohoe from The Philadelphia Inquirer
October 17, 2004
Antonio Puri's mixed-media abstract paintings are made to be enjoyed quickly but understood slowly.
An art-trained lawyer turned full-time artist, Puri in his new work at Holland Art House in West Chester reaches back for inspiration to his cultural surroundings growing up at the foot of the Himalayas. This West Chester resident, apparently disenchanted with the speed with which some abstract paintings can be turned out, has developed a painstaking process that gives him control yet allows freshness.
Although mostly "about" surface, such paintings have a meditative feeling, as if one were in the presence of intricately woven tapestries resembling Asian scrolls, perhaps reflecting his Himalayan years. Colors are moody or tawny and sensuous as Puri builds a heavy paint surface one immediately wants to reach out and touch as he pushes pigment to the limit of expressive power.
Besides surfaces that are stained, soaked and saturated, one large painting with a circle motif had molten wax applied then removed with a hot iron. The paintings' innate sensitivity and vibrancy make Puri's show a subtle but very strong contribution to the new fall season.
Holland Art House, 113 W. Market St., West Chester. To Nov. 3. Tuesdays-Saturdays noon-7:30 p.m. 610-701-9330.