THE NEW YORK TIMES
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2002

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"Moment"

Pot Washington Library Gallery

   In her landscapes, street scenes and still lifes, Yuka Hasegawa combines intimate observations with a love of paints for its own sake. In some works, the subject seems to be little more than an excuse to create harmonious areas of tone and texture,While in others the artist aim to translate experienced phenomena into expressive gestures.

   Moment, the still life that gives the show its title, is more timeless than transitory, as are Ms. Hasegawas other tabletop arrangements of jars, bottles and other common objects. They recall Giorgio Morandis obsessive treatment of similar material, but Ms. Hasegawa gives the object more breathing room and renders them more abstractly. As a consequence, they slip the anchor or reality and drift into a relative space defined by the picture alone.

   The urban scenes are equally sketchy but solidly composed, using the implicit structures of buildings as an armature. With deft strokes, Ms. Hasegawa establishes both the setting and the mood. In Street Corner, with its dark, looming structures and a startling accent of white perhaps a lighted telephone booth loneliness and foreboding dominates. East River bathes the deserted streets and buildings in the optimistic glow of dawn.

   In the countryside, the artist floods her canvases with sunshine and lightens her touch to create more impressionistic effects. Waving grasses, floral forms and brightly painted houses are assembled into abstract montages of shapes and color.

   In Field and Field II, the greens are intensified to enhance the compositions animated quality. Bold red, yellow and orange, as in Hill and Junction, further enlightens scenes attest to Ms. Hasegawas delight in what she see and feels in nature.

                                              --- By Helen A. Harrison of New York Times

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