Bernadette Lawler, owner of Mixed Company, continues to keep on keeping on as the heart and soul of the coolest of the cool galleries that also happens to offer up vintage furniture for the oh-so-boss set and neo-bossa nova set to boot. Yet, of late, she has been upping the ante on her roster of artists, concentrating further on the gallery side of things.

The collaborative paintings of Nuala Clark and Jimmie James are the visual equivalent of an ever-cool muted trumpet solo played real slow and easy. Besides the obvious Miles connection, these two also one-up Oliver Nelson to prove the blues is the abstract truth via personal written compositions; an old school nod to paintings from an Abstract Expressionist angle that graced many covers of jazz albums from decades ago.

John Pompetti cuts loose with work that offers up primary colors that are stark but never static. The kinetic momentum pulsing through his paintings proves that less is not just more, it's the most. Life in the here and now is idealized, and also actualized; it's made all the more real and precise. He takes a page from Pop plus tacks on some weird bit of design systems gleaned from advertising. However, what's sold is something that possesses an undeniable sense of mystery. Just when you think you've got a grip on Pompetti's work, it veers off into unexpected territory.

Mixed Company has something for everyone, and that saying plenty!

Mixed Company, 60 N. 3rd St., 215.627.8688, www.themixedcompany.com


PRESS/REVIEW page 2 - August 4 • 2004 - R.B. Strauss