Reality is merely an illusion, as Einstein said, but illusion is merely a reality, as Bay Area artists Betsy Kendall and Larry Morace show. Their works are part of a current Stanford Art Spaces (SAS) exhibit open until Oct. 31. Their works are on display in the CIS building, several rooms in Jordan Hall, and  the second and third floors of David W. Packard Electrical Engineering.

Through freehand brush strokes in oil,  Kendall creates the impression of motion within landscapes in “Landscape/Studio.” Her paint strokes sweep and slide and press in on each other, encroaching vertically, diagonally, in all directions.  In “Open Land Off Cummings Skyway,” the swirling green trees  invade the golden field. In “High Tide Fog,” the sheets of fog press in on slashes of land. And in “Road Closed, ” the arcs of road swing into a rope of cars.

Morace’s “Vista Vision,” on the other hand, explores three-dimensional space. The exhibition includes landscapes of Nevada, Hawaii and the Bay Area. These oil paintings create the sensation of depth and hallucination through juxtaposing color. In “South of Taos,” the deep blue of the sky, the lush green of the hills and the yellow chartreuse of illuminated grass exaggerate shade and sun. In “Bright City,” the blocks and blobs of colors approximate the form of buildings, cars and hills, becoming not just objects in a painting but also familiar, distorted details in a dream. The viewer is pulled into these portals of warped scenery, as though stumbling through the sloping streets and into the horizon.

For more information on SAS, “Landscape/Studio” and “Vista Vision,” please contact SAS curator DeWitt Cheng at dewittc ‘at’ stanford.edu

Contact Irene Hsu at ihsu5595 ‘at’ stanford.edu.