Reviews
A TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH RUNDQUIST AND HER GAZE-GIFTS
EVEN WHEN MISTAKEN FOR AN APPLE, A TOMATO A DAY KEEPS
THE WICKED AND SOULESS ART CRITIC AWAY OR AT LEAST AT BAY.
ELIZABETH RUNDQUIST’S stunning art exhibition at the JOHNSON PUBLIC LIBRARY in HACKENSACK begins through a passageway in which a number of relatively small paintings of tomatoes in decay are sometimes mistaken for apples by the blasé gaze of art lovers manqué. As essentially realistic and mimetic paintings, they provide a provocative first gaze for the spectator who upon entering the grand room that displays an extensive exhibition featuring her most recent works that are celebrations of abstract expressionism/impressionism. On the back wall, there are six rather large paintings (30 x 40 inches) that were recently executed by Liz and that bear witness to her joyous transition/transformation into as a supreme mature artist. There is a marvelous playfulness at work in the paintings activated by the gaiety of colors and the carnivalization—the high and low—generated by the abstractions that fragment our gaze and grant us a high. In addition to the interplay of the six rectangular paintings and the focusing demanded by the repertoire of smaller paintings that line the walls, there is a master work at the end of the right wall. It is a marvelous exercise in blue in which our blues as spectators are deconstructed and made to encounter a complex fabric of melancholy.
Pellegrino D’Acierno
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
of Comparative Literature and Italian Studies
Hofstra University;
Visiting Professor (2015—) and
Member of the Society of Senior Scholars (2017—)
Columbia University
"ER (Elizabeth Rundquist) paints in many places, outdoors and in, but a favored spot of hers in recent years is high above the Hudson River, at all seasons but often in our bitter cold northeastern winter. Those days, those cliffs, that cold, are distilled into something not quite landscape, not what we think of plein-air painting, and yet so infused with oxygen and color that you feel you’ve been out there yourself for those four of five freezing windswept hours.
“I paint above the hawks, says this daughter of Vikings whose paternal family hails from Sweden. ER’s sense of color, anything but anarchic, does contain the universe. Her work I would compare to a James Joyce, not a Henry James. There is something straight from the gut on those canvases, laid upon her strong response to the natural world. Her work is unique, not “like” any other visual artist. That’s why I resort to writers for a comparison
ER is a powerful voice from today, about today, about being alive today in the physical world we’ve got left. She paints like a woman with strength and conviction and nerve."
Edla Cusick - Artist, playwright, teacher, New York
"Having worked with Elizabeth Rundquist for more than three years now I can confidently say she is a fearless painter. When I began teaching at the Art Center of Northern New Jersey I was introduced to her in my painting and drawing class. I noticed immediately the passion for creating art that infused her.
Elizabeth sees the world through unique eyes. Eyes that lead her down new and varied paths. Eyes that place color line, and texture on canvas in a way that exposes her very soul.
In my color theory class I watched her embrace new concepts and incorporate them into her own storyline. In plein air class she showed me that she could take any scene and make it her own with unique and emotionally charged imagery. Elizabeth’s art speaks volumes to other artists through her freedom and expressiveness and yet she reaches into the hearts of each and every person that step in front of her painting.
Fear keeps so many of us from finding our true paths in life. Elizabeth is driven to grow and fearlessly exposes herself, laying it on the canvas for all the world to longingly embrace. She is truly a painter’s painter. And as an instructor I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with her. She has taught me much."
Joseph Terrone - Art Instructor & Fine Artist
South Bergenite - Jan 14, 2009
The Teaneck Suburbanite Jan 21, 2009
