Harold Zisla
(1925-2016) trained as a representational artist, following its tenets from his
youth until his mid-50s, when he broke through to abstraction. In more than 100
sketchbooks, he produced scores of oil crayon sketches, as many as 20 in a day,
ranging from images that float on the page to those that are anchored by robust
colors and forms; he also captured portraits and nude figure drawings. In works
on paper, he created hundreds of images ranging from Zen-like simplicity to
complex webs of line and color using oil crayon, china marker, watercolor, Magic
Markers . . . whatever was at hand. And, in painting, he shifted from oils to
acrylics, valuing its immediacy; continued to experiment with ways to frame
panels for maximum impact; deepened his use of gesture; and explored the
potential of color, from the bold to the nearly monochromatic. This gallery presents a sampling of key styles.