‘Belgian Pictures’ challenge for viewer Stonington gallery heralds work of Delrez

“Vincent Delrez: Belgian Pictures” through Sept. 2 at Eagull Gallery, Main Street, Stonington, 367-5508.

Belgian paintings on the coast of Maine? What was Michael Connors thinking?

Well, the owner of Eagull Gallery didn’t have seascapes in mind. The series of large-scale pieces by Vincent Delrez, a 40-year-old with a reverence for American art, is bold, frenetic, painterly and refreshing.

His portraits of men and women in period dress evoke a looser, funkier Velazquez, but his other work – birds in flight, cattle, a mourning baboon – is something else altogether. In sweeping, dripping brush strokes and luminous color, Delrez conveys motion and emotion with a hearty dose of humor.

His “Soldat Inconnu” (headless soldier) stands at attention, challenging the viewer as much as a figure without a head can. In “Amour/Amer” (bitter love), a baboon sits on a rock, howling fiercely while holding a flower.

This is challenging art. It isn’t necessarily pretty. You may not want it over your couch. But it will make you think, and it will probably make you laugh, too. Chances are, you won’t see anything else like it this summer. Well, not around here, anyway.

Amy Pollien, charcoal drawings, through Aug. 30 at Turtle Gallery, Route 15, Deer Isle, 348-9977.

As a general rule, anyone who catches Carl Little’s eye is worthy of attention when he or she has a local show. Little’s books read like a Who’s Who of Maine art, and his most recent release, “The Art of Maine in Winter,” is no exception. Among the featured artists in the book is Amy Pollien, a Mount Desert resident whose current body of work explores “interrupted views.”

Rather than feel constricted by the edge of the paper or a giant tree branch in front of a house she’s trying to depict, she uses obstruction to her advantage. These unexpected elements – a tree smack in the middle of a sweeping seascape, or a bowl of fruit that tumbles off the side of the composition – add to the depth of the work.

Her charcoal drawings are subtle, but if you spend a little time with them, they begin to reveal their character. Some of the most striking pieces in the Turtle Gallery show portray houses, some abandoned, some seasonal, that are being swallowed up by the land and the trees around them. They’re a visual record of nature and neglect that is at once wistful and breathtakingly beautiful.

Few of the drawings are done in color, but, as Pollien says, as she gets more and more into an idea, color becomes superfluous. Both her houses and her still lifes hold their own in black and white, which only adds to the timelessness of her work.

She references Japanese printmaking, and she’s also a big fan of comic books, but her drawings are entirely her own. Though her work is understated, Pollien is making her mark, interruptions and all.

ArtSeen is an occasional column that runs in the Style section. For consideration, send press releases, slides or photos to: Kristen Andresen, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329.