April 17, 2007

BY R.C. BAKER

One of Constable's unruly descendants is a quick stroll away. Amenoff's Morning at Le Cannet (2007) locates the sun amid three blue shards, a prismatic sky cornrowed with yellow clouds. A beautiful scrim of pale light hovers above terra firma, which consists of pink blots atop a deep violet ground; such captivating color contrasts give an operatic heft to these medium-size oil paintings. In Light Trellis, the viewer seems to be gazing through a bright-red, geometric grotto filled with black dots bunched together like grapes, the structure framing a sky of irradiated yellow. This composition highlights a theme running through all of these powerful canvases—landscape as architectonic force, providing both inspiration and shelter for art. Alexandre, 41 E 57th, 212-755-2828. Through May 31.