> ***Press*** Austin American Statesman life & entertainment 2000-08-19

'Metal Work' uninhibited,expressive By Michael Barnes American-Statesman Arts Critic Saturday, August 19, 2000 One forgets that artists can manipulate metal for pure expression, since so many of our best Austin metalists are now employed in architectural artisanry. Gallery Lombardi has not forgotten, and its current show, "Metal Work," gives voice to five artists exploiting steel, aluminum and allied materials. Sun McColgin's broad-shouldered, free-standing sculptures repeat large geometric volumes in stained steel, all slightly off-kilter. "Chasing the Ruby Satellite" is a good example -- two button shapes emerge from a central cylinder, but one is cocked, like a tipped hat. "Moonflower" and "Stress/Fracture" further develop volumetrics with their sizable voids and exterior surfaces. Colly Kreidler offers two approaches to metal -- flat hangings with ghosted images and imaginative animals constructed of springs, nails, grills and steel sheets. "Dansor," a one-legged, cranelike bird, poses humorously over the viewer, while "Nestor" plants a bird above a nest with shiny eggs; gears cleverly represent a feathered head. John Grist turns stainless steel and aluminum into sophisticated, layered accretions with pensive qualities but also creates standing sculptures out of pipes and vents. A particularly animated example attaches three pipe systems with articulated joints and meshing -- quite eloquent in its simplicity.

> May Burnett-Haberle's fiber creations count as metal, I guess, because of their interior structures, but they remain just playful, shaggy oddities. Andy Coolquitt contributes two groupings: "Collection Medieval" shelves curly, red (uninteresting) candelabras, while "18 Cans Found Flattened in Various Locations" attempts to contrast specificity (each can is documented) with precise, repeated presentations on perches. Altogether, a temperate achievement for Lombardi. ("Metal Work" continues at Gallery Lombardi, 910 W. Third St., through Sept. 2. Call 481-1088.) August is the cruelest month for art in Austin. It almost seems like Europe, with shops closed and streets deserted. On the same day that I visited Lombardi, I dropped by a half-dozen other galleries. Several were closed for August. Others were undergoing renovation or preparing for private purchases or they offered informal groupings of substandard artwork. A mature gallery scene would thrive 12 months a year. You may contact arts critic Michael Barnes at mbarnes@statesman.com or 445-3647.