Light and atmosphere are the subject of works by three very different artists in the exhibition "Overcast" on view at the Allston Skirt Gallery from May 12 - June 24, 2000.

Karolyn Hatton is a photographer and video artist who interacts with her subject matter, whether filming a dress-up party in her studio or recreating faked meteorological events for the camera, with herself as an atmospheric force. In her work for this exhibition, Hatton has set up a variety of situations into which she introduces a big, looming cloud -- the resulting photographs share the high drama of Godzilla films and the dreaminess of Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz.

Lisa Krivacka paints scenes that reflect her upbringing in small-town America -- in her case, Clarksville, Tennessee. Inspired by old travel postcards and other found material, Krivacka paints nostalgic-looking scenes with a distinctly American feeling, capturing places that have a quality of being about to disappear from our culture, like diners and motels. The particular light in her paintings -- whether from a bedside lamp or shining through the clouds, gives her work an emotional and psychological quality reminiscent of Edward Hopper, or of your grandmother’s photo album, if it were in color.

Ruth Pastine's paintings in "Overcast" look like little pieces of sky -- they are luminous, glowing mysteriously with subtle shifts in color when seen from different angles, or at different times of day. To create this experience, Pastine paints her canvases with fairly uniform coats of different color, meticulously building up what at first glance appears to be a monochrome surface. She is a superb colorist, and has created brilliant works exploring red, green and yellow. For this exhibition, works of blue and green act like pure squares of atmospheric conditions -- a small window reflecting the range of emotions we associate with different qualities of light.

ALLSTON SKIRT GALLERY is located at 119 Braintree Street in Allston, near Able Rug and the Sports Depot. Please enter at 129 Braintree, and come up to the second floor. We are open Wednesday through Saturday, from noon - 5 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please call Randi Hopkins or Beth Kantrowitz at 617-254-7027.

Visit us on the web at: www.allstonskirt.com

*Please join us for an opening reception on Friday, May 12 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

*Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 1, 7:30 - 9:00 pm -- we will be presenting a special screening of "New Video from Britain," organized by Karolyn Hatton.