Reviews
January/February 2015
Mary Theresa Dietz at
Contreras Gallery, Tucson
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Contreras Gallery in Tucson has a great line-up of exhibitions for 2015, starting this month with Mary Theresa Dietz.

Terry Dietz is best known for animal imagery and uninhibited use of color in her oil stick and encaustic paintings. Her current exhibit at Contreras does not disappoint in these areas.

(click on all images to enlarge)
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MTDietz_The White Raven_
However viewers should consider additional attributes of Dietz’s works when viewing this exhibit. One is her sense of humor.  One cannot help but smile when seeing a work such as Bird Dogs on the Beach or Cat Fish. Imagery and title are plays on words and ideas we have about the natural world. In reality nature is far less solidified than we like to think and these images remind us of its fluidity.
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MTDietz_Bird Dogs on the Beach_
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MTDietz_Cat Fish_

From a process point of view, one of the appeals of Dietz’s work is her careful attention to her backgrounds.  Casual viewers of art may not initially consider how the background of a work contributes to its overall wholeness and to enhancing the central image.

There are several works in this exhibit that show masterful creation of textured, multi-layered backgrounds that work to create a complete image. An example of this is Summer Pasture. There’s so much to see in this painting beyond and in addition to the bovine creature placidly staring back at us.
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PictureMTDietz_Madonna and Child_

Conveyance of a sense of the sentient nature of animals is strong in Dietz’s work.  Madonna and Child reminds us immediately that we humans aren’t the only ones that love our babies.  One of my favorites in this exhibition is The Dog Next Door. The emotion and longing for connection we see in this little face tells us so much. And again, the background use of colors enhances the overall effect.
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MTDietz_The Dog Next Door_
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Dog Squad is another painting that shows both the nature of the dogs, and also displays great attention to detail in every aspect of the painting.  Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that a walk for a human is actually a hunt for a dog, and that dogs are pack animals who love most of all to go hunting with their alpha human and fellow pack mates. This dog pack moves with intention through a beautiful landscape in which tree forms are like beacons lighting the way as the dogs explore their world. 
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One of the few paintings with a human in it is The Dream. The cat, the bird, the moon, and the tree are key elements as this human sleeps his way through life.  It does not escape notice that human bed sits atop a truncated tree which says a lot about the current human relationship to the natural world, and to trees in particular.

Mary Theresa Dietz will be showing at Contreras Gallery through January 31. See more of Dietz’s work at http://mtdietz.webs.com/ .

Watch for Contreras Gallery’s upcoming exhibitions at http://www.contrerashousefineart.com/Upcoming%20Exhibit.html