Visual art invites interpretation: One can find a story within a canvas, or use indentifying markers to understand the work’s therapeutic or emotional qualities. This week we’re looking at exhibitions that ask for the viewer’s personal association with an artwork. From the interactive forms in Gerard Mossé’s works on paper to Anja Van Herle’s fantasized portraits and Alberto Murillo’s abstracted canvases, each artist invites the viewer to understand himself or herself through the act of viewing the piece. Jill Newhouse in New York presents a series of paintings on paper by Gerard Mossé (American). The otherworldly forms depicted in his work breathe a human life; rectangular shapes interact with each other, perhaps suggesting a familial relationship or serving as literal markers of looming towers. Each canvas gives off a vibrant light, serving either to illuminate meaning or distort the viewer’s perception. The “unknowableness” found in the glowing light draws the viewer in, asking him or her to either take the work’s meaning into their own hands or leave it to float within a realm of infinite, otherworldly possibility.¹ Gerard Mossé: Paintings on Paper 2008-2013 will be on view from May 9 to 31 at 4 E. 81st Street, New York, NY 10028.

Gerard Mossé, Vellum Painting C 10, 2009–2011, Jill Newhouse, New York, NY

JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA, presents a two-person exhibition by European artists Anja Van Herle (Belgian, b.1969) and Alberto Murillo (Spanish, b.1974). Entitled Lost in Translation, the works presented in the show seek to combat the disassociation that can occur when language is translated. Through their work, each artist came to realize the expressive quality of his or her canvas, and its ability to translate meaning without words. The penetrating eyes of Van Herle’s fantasized female characters ask the viewer what he or she is thinking; whether seductive or serious, each figure invites personal interpretation. In Murillo’s paintings, the therapeutic act of expressing emotion without words is present in the flowing floral shapes of his canvas. Using art to combat strong emotions that the artist fought with during a difficult period in his life, Murillo saw how painting could stabilize and revive him. Though the visual languages used by each artist differ, both bodies of work call for association and interpretation.

Lost in Translation: Showcasing Works by Belgium-Born Artist Anja Van Herle and Spanish Artist Alberto Murillo will be on view from May 9 to June 30 at 326 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.

Alberto Murillo, Sunday, JoAnne Artman Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

Browse openings by city to see where art can be found in your town!

Laguna Beach, CA Lost in Translation: Showcasing Works by Belgium-Born Artist Anja Van Herle and Spanish Artist Alberto Murillo at JoAnne Artman Gallery May 9–June 30, 2013 326 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651   London, UK Safwan Dahoul: Repetitive Dreams at Ayyam Gallery May 9–June 15, 2013 143 New Bond Street, 1st Floor, W1S 2TP London, UK New York, NY Concrete Remains: Postwar and Contemporary Art from Brazil at Cristin Tierney May 9–June 22, 2013 546 W. 29th Street, New York, NY 10001 Makoto Fujimura: Golden Sea at Dillon Gallery May 9–June 8, 2013 555 W. 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 Erin Murray: “Settling” at Nancy Margolis Gallery May 9–June 15, 2013 523 W. 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 Paris, France Miguel Angel Sanchez – Quentin Shih – Carlos Betancourt – Marcus Lyon ‘Group Show’ at INCEPTION Gallery May 9–June 1, 2013 37, rue de Poitou, 75003 Paris, France Scottsdale, AZ Word to Your Mother at Bonner David Galleries May 9–22, 2013 7040 E. Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Singapore, Singapore Anthology of the Abysmal, a solo exhibition by ZERO at Chan Hampe Galleries May 9–26, 2013 Raffles Hotel Arcade, Unit #01-20/21, 328 North Bridge Road, Singapore, 188719 Singapore