Art in Outer Space

Karen Ann Myers says she and Tony Csavas, as painters, deal most with the formal qualities of paint. That they're both driven by the relationship of color.

'No,' says Csavas, 'I think what our paintings have in common is a certain kind of flatness. To varying degrees.'

You'll get to judge for yourself.

'Nothing at the Moment,' which came from not having any show title ideas at the moment, opens tonight at Outer Space.

With both Myers and Csavas scheduled to show their work, it's the venue's first dual art show.

The two artists created paintings and screen prints for 'Nothing at the Moment.'

For Myers, screen prints are small swatches of wallpaper she'd one day like plastered behind her paintings; for Csavas, they're his favorite pieces of the show.

Screen printing involves exposing a picture on a silk screen to light, curing the actual picture and then washing out the rest.

Of the process, Myers says, 'Our screen prints are about exploring relationships of color interaction.'

'No. I don't think it's exploration,' Csavas chimes in.

'Motivation then behind making them?' asks Myers.

'Yeah. Color is all we've got,' says Csavas.

Myers is director of Redux; Csavas is an adjunct instructor at the College of Charleston and teaches art.

He finds inspiration for his own work in his surroundings and says he's attracted to the things he's painting.

His work, while in school at Boston University and living in the city, was industrial overall. Even paintings of flowers seem to have the windows of skyscrapers behind them. Since moving to Charleston, inspiration has switched to the Holy City's architecture.

The objects around Csavas are important because he creates formalist art, pays close attention to the relation between the painting, its object and, of course, color.

'My work is two-thirds formalism and one-third contemporary issues,' he says.

'I'm going to speak for you, and correct me if you don't agree,' says Myers, 'But I think your paintings, like mine, are kind of a personal diary.'

'I won't go with that,' Csavas decides, then adds, 'The subject matter may not have an important psychological connection. Actually painting something will make it more important to me, but the impulse to react is removed from my work. To find humor, irony, anything. Say I paint a war monument in Charleston, it's not because of what it means, but because of the structure itself.

The two did agree on this: 'Subjects are vehicles in paintings.'

They're understanding of each other's work almost made me want to date another writer.

Almost.