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April 24, 2003
Art Review

The fine art of scribbling
By Tim White, Sacramento News & Review

Marianne Kolb, detail from "Marked No. 1," aquamedia on canvas, 2003.
Some artists are searching, trying to make sense of something that plagues or intrigues them. Marianne Kolb, who is exhibiting new works this month at b sakata garo at 923 20th Street, is one such artist. The act of seeking is fine when others aren’t involved; it’s hard for a viewer to make sense of your search unless you get lucky and the results are glaringly obvious. What works in Kolb’s paintings is the stunning look and mood evoked. They are all portraits of sorts, nameless people that are frantically scribbled out. For Kolb, they are vehicles for discovery. By constantly making marks, she’s trying to explore the emotions of the empty figures. And even if we don’t see results, we do see the endless layers of mark-making that take on a beauty all their own. The colors and depth that Kolb ends up with make even the emptiest search completely worthwhile.





April 27, 2003
Critic's Pick


By Victoria Dalkey, The Sacramento Bee art correspondent

"Marked No. 1,"/Marianne Kolb.
Marianne Kolb's expressionistic heads emerge from dark yet luminous grounds of rich color. Using just a few marks rubbed or scratched into water media, Kolb gives us intense psychological images of lonely and sorrowful figures cast adrift in the haunting half-light of a waking dream. They are up through Saturday at b. sakata garo, 923 20th St. (616) 447-4276.