I am currently enthralled with the fabulous art work of Susan Dory, a painter whose paintings are now being shown at Guthrie Contemporary Gallery here in New Orleans.

Although Susan lives and works in the Seattle area, she has quite an avid following in this city, thanks to the introduction of gallery owner, Leslie Guthrie. Leslie has an amazing talent for presenting artworks as installations, combining the traditional white walled presentation with vignettes formed by showing the art pieces within a context of her extensive personal collection of antique furnishings.

It is a presentation technique that really works. Who could resist falling in love with this amazing artist's paintings when shown in such a perfect setting?

Susan Dory develops her paintings by carefully pouring layer after layer of acrylic paint in colors which she formulates herself, creating a play of positive and negative shapes and of translucent colors which lay on top of each other.

Visit Susan's website to view a video of her in action.

Susan paints by  creating the repetition of  a capsule shape, which she manipulates to imply movement, dynamism, and passage through time and space. Nowhere is this more evident than her installation in the T F Green Airport in Warwick, RI.

By creating layer upon layer of poured paints, creating overlapping, manipulated, and deconstructed capsule shapes in vivid personal colors, Susan imbues her canvas with an energy which is magnetic. She celebrates abstraction as well as the physical process of creating her paintings, and the viewer cannot help but experience the dynamic tension and release which results.

While Dory's work speaks for itself, it becomes quite a presence in a wide array of interiors.

The warm, botanical colors  make this painting almost jump off the dark wall in this room designed by Elizabeth Sullivan. (image via guthriecontemporary.com)

The softer, more subtle colors play off the complex, dynamic, motion-oriented composition in The Southern Living Idea House in Covington, LA. (image via guthriecontemporary.com)

There is nothing more inviting than a simple white wall as the backdrop for a series of Susan Dory's at Guthrie Contemporary.

This kitten, one of Leslie Guthrie's menagerie seems quite content amongst the Susan Dory's in this installation.

I love the  composition formed by the shelves of books lying beneath this series of  three  paintings at the King County Public Library in Sammamish, WA. (image via susandory.com)

This vignette at Guthrie Contemporary is perfect! A gorgeous white painted french chair, a lucite side table, the wonderful   Celeste chandelier by Julie Neill , and a fabulous room full of Susan Dory paintings. (photo courtesy of Michael Terranova)

Susan Dory's energetic paintings are an amazing addition to the art scene in New Orleans, and we are lucky that Leslie Guthrie has brought her into our midst!

Guthrie Contemporary Gallery is located 3815 Magazine Street, and they can be reached by calling (504) 897-2688.