Going in circles

Ralph Steadman, the English illustrator whose fevered scratchings often would accompany the drug-saturated prose of gonzo scribe Hunter S. Thompson, in such chronicles of modern chemistry run amok as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, used a specific technique to animate Thompson’s demented texts. Whenever the subject matter called for it, Steadman would indicate that his harshly scrawled figures were under the influence of mind-bending hallucinogenic drugs by obscuring them behind dozens of circles—some concentrically arranged, others overlapping or randomly placed.

Such a spirited exploration of the circle is also present in selected works by Joan Moment, on display at Jayjay, 2906 Franklin Blvd. The showing, which will run through April 27, opens Friday, March 8, with a Second Saturday reception on March 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

Unlike Steadman, Moment dispenses with anthropomorphic forms, instead cluttering her canvases with stamped circles, dots, ovals and smeared lines or—in a group of pieces where she used nasturtium leaves to apply the paint—botanical forms. Her palette is limited, mostly, to black and red paint on fields of white. The longtime CSUS art professor got the idea from studying art produced by the Asmat of New Guinea, whose reduction to basic black and white, with red added, can have a powerful effect.

Take “Jocularity,” one of Moment’s circle paintings. Stare at it for a moment, and you may laugh at the goofy visages that emerge—cartoon-y teddy bears, or imaginary rabbits. Look at it for a while longer, and the red and black smears take on a more ominous cast, closer to an infrared photograph of crop circles than anything Disney lackeys might dream up.

The circle theme repeats elsewhere. One installation takes up an entire wall, with two larger panels surrounded by 88 smaller ones. Moment began the piece, “Orbs, Eyes and Disks,” last summer; when the World Trade Center attack happened in September, she was midway through painting the panels, and after taking time to absorb what had happened, she continued. The panels aren’t arranged chronologically, but appear to be placed that they might help trigger some kind of emotional resonance in the viewer. They do.