This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 21, 2011 - Charles Schwall's "Source Confluence" at Bruno David Gallery is a series of quiet, biomorphic abstractions focusing on themes of water and organic growth. Floating in matte fields of muted colors are Arp-like curving forms nesting within one another, suggesting seed pods or impregnated uteri.
The "Pelagic Mirror" series (gouache on paper) uses a vertical diptych arrangement; the forms in the top panels are echoed but foreshortened in the panels below. "Falling into the Beginning" suggests growth or regression, depending on how you choose to read the nine-panel arrangement. All the works are characterized by extremely nuanced color combinations that produce a calm, meditative quality.
They forge interesting connections to the works in "Centered," the exhibit in the gallery's Front Room by Mario Trejo. Working in archival ink and enamel on panel and limiting his palette to black and white, Trejo uses repeated marks that crescendo into explosive scenes. Their scale remains elusive, however, oscillating between the microscopic and the astronomical.
In the Project Room, the late Bill Kohn's Grand Center Series shows off the artist's stunning translations of architecture, light and shadow into glowing gouache abstractions. It's intriguing to see the hard lines of the structures softened by the paper on which they're painted.
In the New Media Room, a stop-motion video by Brett Williams shows two cardboard boxes engage in an absurd kind of tango. With its weird soundtrack and low-tech style, it's oddly mesmerizing -- vintage Williams.
Ivy Cooper is the Beacon visual arts reviewer and a professor of art at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.