Artists Celebrate Spring Awakening

The profile of the Q Bridge is unmistakable to anyone who lives in New Haven, but it rarely gets the treatment painter Chris Ferguson gives it. Under his eye and brush, the bridge feels hazy and gauzy, a distant mirage. Ferguson’s choice to highlight marsh and beach in the foreground adds to the sense of the bridge as an object to find beauty in. His generous eye, warm and inviting, is a thread that runs through all his work in ​“Looking Up!” a show he shares with artist Amanda Duchen at Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville, running now through May 9.

Ferguson and Duchen are two of the gallery’s newest members, and their artwork shares a sense of renewal, whimsy, and optimism that fits the cautiously optimistic mood of the times. Many of Ferguson’s paintings are of places in or near New Haven, and are always rendered in a way to make a viewer want to go there — whether it’s a corner coffeeshop, a pizzeria, or an instantly recognizable stretch of Chapel Street.

Ferguson’s humane approach to his subject perhaps reaches its pinnacle with Beach Baby. Looking at the sweet and heartfelt paintings feels almost like watching a family movie of a child’s first trip to the ocean. Viewed as a series, Ferguson’s paintings encourage us all to go outside and explore the city we live in, the shore and the woods beyond.

If Ferguson conveys optimism through the subjective treatment of realistic subjects, perhaps Duchen conveys her positivity through the realistic treatment of more whimsical subjects. It’s clear from all the pieces in the exhibit that Duchen can create probably whatever object she wants to using clay; a good part of the show is given over to Duchen’s more traditional finely formed pottery. But Duchen uses the same exacting hand to create fantastical creatures that convey clear emotions and expressions.

Her talents are particularly on display in the menagerie of animals that she has created. In their boxes, the animals are so dynamic that they seem less like subjects striking a pose for a sculpture and more like living creatures that have been captured in a split second during an action — maybe talking, gesticulating, laughing, or even just listening intently.

Meanwhile, a few pieces hand suspended over the viewer’s head, reminiscent of sea creatures or perhaps evocative of what a descending alien spaceship might look like.

That Duchen and Ferguson are formally very different artists who come together in the mood they evoke is highlighted by the way the show has been set up. While the gallery space is divided in half, with Ferguson’s work at the front of the gallery and Duchen’s in the back, the gallery has wisely made the border between the two sections a bit porous. On the edge between the two halves, the artworks are allowed to mingle, share some space, and reflect off one another. In a few spots, the effect is to create a place that feels a lot like someone’s house, welcoming us in and encouraging us to stay, and feel a little better.

“Looking Up!” runs at Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., through May 9. Visit the gallery’s website for hours and more information about upcoming events.