William Metcalf: DoubleTake

On view: May 30–June 28, 2025
Opening reception: Friday, May 30, 5:00–7:00 p.m.

554 S. Guadalupe in the Railyard Art District

They catch you, these paintings. Color almost limpid in its pure and glowing transparence. An unexpected moment of synesthesia. A visceral jolt, a sinking into color. A double take.

William Metcalf brings a collection of new pieces to DoubleTake, furthering the explorations of his work in the Transparency series, begun in 2013. This series leans into the challenges and artfulness of the two-dimensional painted surface in Art, highlighting the artifice of perspective, foreshortening, and chiaroscuro in contrast to the exaggeratedly flattened panels Metcalf utilizes. The techniques of three-dimensional illusion are on display here – but applied with the lightest touch, stripped down to their barest essentials. Non-objective, the works present geometric shapes seemingly overlaid and in contrast with one another. But as the viewer spends more time with these pieces, they may conclude that ultimately these techniques are all employed in service of a thoughtful exploration of color.

The alchemy of paint and shape, of time and light, have combined to allow these paintings to somehow become objects unto themselves, which can simultaneously be works of art but also phenomenological explorations into the nature of color, light, and art.