Ragouzeos evokes strong feelings in audience
Works on Paper: Black Drawings and Paintings is a collection of mainly ink
drawings by artist and professor, Leonard Ragouzeos, which is now located in
the Morrison Gallery. Ragouzeos teaches full time in the Fine Arts Department
at Millersville University.
Like many modern artists, Ragouzeos loves to create spontaneously. This is
clearly visible in his wild but structured strokes, scratches and even drips. The
style of Pollock is evident in his work, however, Ragouzeos's seemingly random
strokes form images instead of an abstract quality. It is this that gives
Ragouzeos's style an ingenious nature, a style that is based on his own philoso
phy of art.
"I believe that a painting or drawing is often the product of a non-linear series
of assertive acts followed by accidents, errors and corrections. You engage this
process with risk, bravado, doubt and hope," Ragouzeos said.
Many works in Ragouzeos's collection contain images of people. These
images have a special human quality to them, because of the pure emotion pour
ing out of their expressions and postures. The element especially captivating is
the eyes. They seem to stare right at the viewer, they tell a sad story.
"Making a picture look like something is not too difficult, but making a picture
feel like something is more challenging and a truer measure of its worth," said
Rogouzeos in his Artist Statement.
Making a picture feel like something is exactly what he does. Head #2 is a
poignant image of a man lying on his back as if in immense pain. It is almost
like the viewer can empathize as the figure takes his last breath of life. The head
is tilted back, his eyes are clenched tight and his mouth is slightly open as if he
is choking.
Head #4 (The Fall) is also a drawing of a figure lying on the ground, but he is
face-down as if he were resting on a bed. The emotion of the piece is also dark,
but this time, it is of peace and resolution. The eyes say it all. He is tired,
peaceful, candid and close to death.
These dark images come from Rogouzeos's own personal experiences and
thoughts on the world.
"The 'dark' nature of this work is a response to personal and world events
which sadden and frighten me, as well as to what I've come to realize to be the
grotesque indifference in the normality of life."
The drips of the ink resemble blood; blood that has perhaps been spilled in war.
The magic of the black and white nature of the pieces heightens the emotion as
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Ragouzeos's "Head #2" is a poignant image of a man lying
on his back in immense pain. Ragouzeos's display in the
Morrison Gallery mainly features ink drawings.
well as emanates the classic feel of history.
The piece, Refugees, is a frightening portrayal of a woman and child hidden in
the shadows in fear. Again, their eyes say it all. Their lives are in danger by the
Nazis during the Holocaust.
Not all of Rogouzeos's pieces in the collection are dark. Some pieces are com
positions of dramatized food in the same loose strokes as the figures. These
pieces include, Goya's Garlic, and Lemons #5. The messy strokes and scratches
that make up these works produce a fascinating quality of contrast.
There are many other captivating pieces in Ragouzeous's collection in the
Morrison Gallery, including his Signature Series, which consist of books written
in Japanese with the inked pages folded in different decorative ways. The col
lection will be exhibited in Morrison until March 5.
photo by Karen Plott