Jim Waters' latest exhibition is filled with works that shift in intention from painting to sculpture based on their placement on the floor or on the wall. Building upon an earlier series of elliptical wall pieces, Waters has, in this installation, narrowed his focus and upped the ante by employing a single circular shape to explore the ways in which we perceive form, how we know and respond to it, and how that experience changes with new vantage points. We wonder, are these shaped paintings, or three-dimensional sculptures, single objects or part of an architectural environment? They seem to tread the borders of many issues at once, vacillating among these vocabularies, thereby enriching our viewing experience. The circular forms range from massive four-foot high floor works, to more refined eight inch wall pieces. Occupying the entire gallery space, they recall minimalist installations of the 1960s. But unlike those earlier works, these forms do not read as ideal geometry, or as uniform modules. They appear based upon a typographical font, a sign of their Pop art heritage. But Waters is most interested in what happens when Pop and Minimalism collide. For his solemn hieratic Os are thrown into joyous relief by an outrageous expressive use of other variables-- texture, light, and color. In the group of four wall pieces, sumptuous color, a hallmark of Waters' work, breathes life into these forms. Their foreground surfaces are painted and then encrusted with intensely colored glitter of a similar hue. Complimentary hues painted on the verso and inside planes create additional variations of emotional and spatial perception. Most of the works are fixed a few inches off the wall to allow the background color to envelope the objects, allowing them to float in auras of reflected color. In this series, Waters groups gray pink, aqua blue, pale green and purplish black rings. The delicate tones of these smaller works are closer in value, creating a harmonic, spiritual effect. Yet, in other, brighter works, the glitter creates a more impenetrable sheen. In the free standing Os, Waters uses stronger color to pull us visually through the interior cavity. Fluorescent orange paint emphasizes the inside curve of the form and accentuates the mass of the material. Throughout his work, Waters uses a highly saturated palette evocative of treasure caves, stained glass windows or enameled relics. Some works seem high-tech, confident in their 60s day-glo, while others evoke a celestial realm. In addressing principles of abstraction and written symbol, Jim Waters appears to be primarily concerned with formal issues in his art. Yet his works are ultimately brought down from the high art pedestal and placed firmly in our tumultuous present by their color scheme and surface treatments. This dichotomy does not belie the joy of these works. They are not vessels for art theory, but rather invite the viewer to weigh theoretical issues against pure experiential pleasure and delight. - Lisa Kurzner Bloomenkranz