David Foss has a resume as long as your arm, participating in art shows all across the country and leading the venerable Da Vinci Art Alliance with grace and calm.  But, Foss’ current one-person show at LGTripp Gallery in Old City, Philly is a tour de force incorporating his recognizable style and exciting new direction in his paintings and sculpture.  The gallery is enormous and Foss activates every corner with exciting, bold abstractions from teetering constructions to heroically scaled fluid, drippy paintings to small, introspective pieces.  Louella Tripp told DoN, “I’m really excited about presenting Dave’s new work, representing a transition period.  He has been developing new work over the past two or three years in an exciting new direction with more structure including elements of formal work in terms of process; mixing solvents, chemicals and paint included in a measured way, the merging is brilliant!”

Throughout the gallery are a series of mono-chromatic sculptures made from found objects resembling alien habitats.  DoN can imagine climbing the ladders to find hidden technology or stored food of the gods.

David Foss @ LGTripp Gallery in Old City.

This sculpture occupies the far end of the main gallery like a hybrid house/ship/helicopter ready to start lumbering through the room.

Detail of the above sculpture – organic, anatomical, gross and beautiful, the large sculpture attracts attention like a fire alarm.

In the back room gallery space this sculpture is reminiscent of Howl’s Moving Castle with the hanging ladder to safety swiftly moving just out of reach as it lurches to take off.

Exits & Entrances is an appropriate title for the show as David Foss gradually moves into a stylistic new realm that is more translucent, poetic and free.  Now instead of his work being dense and compact, his paintings are loose, watery and transcendent.  As Foss exits his past, he enters a future as entrancing as a dream; this painting marks a point in the exhibit where Dave begins a new exploration sure to inspire, illuminate and elucidate.

 

 

Photos by DoN.