New Art Examiner
1983
Loyola University of Chicago Water Tower Gallery

Claire Wolf Krantz
Monoprints
by Susan Blake

Recent monoprints by Claire Wolf Krantz capture pensive moods through the use of rose, yellow and violet hues, handmade paper textures and meandering brushstrokes. Her compositions are based on landscape formulas.

Although mountainous and rocky forms are readily apparent, they are not particularly suggestive and evoke neither pastoral nor organic references. Because these landscape forms are often generic and lack the romantic character present in other aspects (color, texture) of her work, the overall effect is one of ambiguity and indecisiveness.
           
The idea of landscape is much more integrated in Krantz's collages and handmade books than in her monoprints. Her collaged works, for example, are constructed from monoprint fragments and involve various landscape compositions within a single, arbitrary structure. As a result, they are far more visually engaging, since the element of chance allows for an interesting combination of patterns to occur.
           
Krantz's books display a fin de siecle nostalgia in covers made from smokey colored velour and suede. Plates consist of her own small works, including abstract and some representational landscapes, in which Rosetti-like colors dominate. Although their medieval charm and attention to craft is appealing, the books rely too much on an attitude toward art that seduces the viewer on account of its preciousness. In contrast, the collages display a bolder attitude. The verve of their execution and use of decorative passages, which transcends any direct appeal to past styles, results in a much more individualistic and complex statement. Hopefully, Krantz will continue to explore the problems and ideas of collage since it is clearly her forte.

Claire Wolf Krantz is an artist, freelance critic, and guest curator.
As an artist she works in a combination of painting and photography as well as digitally created images.