I've decided to post together two very strong shows I saw last weekend in Chelsea as Carol Diamond and I spent the afternoon together seeing what we could see. (Thank you Carol!). The art of both Thornton Willis and Anne Ryan is concerned with form, how to hold the space in an exact tension of shape with shape, color and texture with color and texture, and ultimately, how to create a humanity through geometry. But here any similarity ends. The wall-size canvases of Willis have a bravura and presence that demand entry into our physical world, even as they bring us into their own space through accidental but also intentional drips, and subtle, almost atmospheric paint variations in the large color areas and along edges. Ryan's small-scale, intimate collages, on the other hand, absorb us into their quiet, contemplative worlds where imagination wanders and dreams emerge. I could look at a Ryan collage for hours, always seeing and feeling something new. Please be sure to read Ryan's poem I've posted at the end of my images. She says so much more eloquently than I how color (and by extension shape, material, texture) encase infinite layers of metaphoric feelings. I've often wondered why, though respected, Ryan is rarely put on the same pedestal as her peers. Is it because she was a woman? Or because the scale of her work is small? Unfortunately, the Ryan show just closed, but Thornton Willis is up through May 6 at David Richard Gallery Chelsea. Experiencing the power of a Willis painting will make your trip well-worth it.