Helga S. Orthofer at Berkshire Community College

Koussevitizky Art Gallery in Pittsfield

By: Charles Giuliano - Apr 21, 2010

Soup or a reference to Pop and Warhol in this painting by Helga S. Orthofer?

These boots are made for walking.

Bucket and jug.

The oil can casts an interesting shadow.

Studio objects as subject for a painting.

Another setup.

A yellow hydrant.

Another Berkshires resident.

House patterns and colors evoke abstraction.

Helga giving a talk on her work.

Orthofer posed with the work in the college gallery.

 

Helga S. Orthofer
Paintings in Memoriam of John Kaiser
Koussevitzky Art Gallery
1350 West Street
Pittsfield, Mass. 01201
March 8 to April 23, 2010

The Austrian artist, Helga S. Orthhofer barely made it home in time for a scheduled gallery talk which was well attended. It seems she was lucky to catch one of the last flights before the volcano in Iceland closed airports and halted international travel for more than a week.

To a gathering of manyl friends she spoke warmly of the joy of creating art. As well as the lost this past year of her husband. This exhibtion is presented in memory of John Kaiser.

Several months ago we visited her spacious Stockbridge studio and previewed some of the works in the exhibition. There was a stack of framed works on paper depicting fire hydrants. She referred to them not as objects but as "portraits." It was amusing that she identitied each one and its specific location.

While she paints objects. in that sense, still life subjects, they are all animated with personal references and insights.The images are loaded with signifiers that invite us to expand them into stories and fantasies. The paintings come to life with rich and charming associations.