Lorraine Peltz, “Good and Plenty,” 2022, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 40″/Photo: Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
In Lorraine Peltz’s current exhibition at Zolla/Lieberman, nostalgia is king. The show is rife with motifs that both enchant and reference bygone days. Granted, perhaps only someone of my generation gets all the visual cues, but regardless, the joie de vivre of these paintings is absolutely contagious—I dare anyone to spend time with them and not come away with a smile on their face.
For example, in the painting titled “Intoxicated Garden,” a cluster of realistic and imagined flowers sit happily on an argyle ground in bright shades of the 1970s. The diamond pattern shifts colors across the canvas, going from one dayglow hue to another. In “All I Know About Love and Gardens,” which gives the show its title, the diamond forms are more subdued, only eleven of them show beneath the flowers that bloom in profusion toward the top of the canvas. At the bottom is a talk-bubble with a tiny pink kiss in the center, a common element in several of these new paintings, a sentimental nod to earlier work.
Lorraine Peltz, “Intoxicated Garden,” 2022, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 40″/Photo: Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
And then there are the stripes. “Good and Plenty” pulls the pink, black, white of the candy and its box and adds blue and chartreuse to the mix in this very textile-patterned piece. The stripes reappear in “Super Day,” this time in a familiar mix of hues often seen in the fabric on folding sling lawn chairs from the fifties. This time the background is nearly obscured by huge tropical leaves, with three dainty pink orchids entering the frame from the bottom. “Night Garden” is a favorite—its deeper dusky blue seems to conceal colored lights, and the flowers are less bright and focused, with some outlined in black. Once again, a talk bubble appears, this time coming from the fuchsia lips themselves.
Lorraine Peltz, “Night Garden,” 2024, acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″/Photo: Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
“Tender Blossoms” and “All That Glitters,” both with another geometric element used in an almost Jugendstil or Secession fashion, are both juxtaposed with fairly realistic roses, which in the case of “All That Glitters,” appear to be bleeding their color down the glimmering gold of the canvas. In “Tender Blossoms,” multicolor roses climb from bottom to top, profusely colored, on a mossy green, ombre background. “Finding My Way to You” and “She Kept Her Rosy Outlook” have flowers reminiscent of the daisies that were ubiquitous on VWs in the 1960s.
Lorraine Peltz, “All That Glitters,” 2022, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 40″/Photo: Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
To call the work whimsical is to completely miss the mark. Yes, some elements are amusing to a degree, and the work is imbued with a sense of humor, but there is so much more, not the least of which is Peltz’s strong technique, honed over several decades of practice. The lines are precise and as close to perfection as possible, and even the more loosely painted flowers are crisp and lovingly rendered. There is a hint of prior work here and there, but all in all, these are bold, exciting new paintings by an artist at the height of her narrative power.
“Lorraine Peltz: All I Know About Love and Gardens” is on view at Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, 325 West Huron, through April 20.
