Last Chance

Catch it or Regret It

by Molly Eichel

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Mike Watson cites Francisco Goya and Pablo Picasso as influences, and their distinct touches are all over his abstract landscapes. Using a basic palette, Watson's work ranges from the easily recognizable — such as the cool-colored Shadow Trees — to the more abstruse. Only after the title is revealed does Stone become clear.

The strange title of the show now up at Topstitch comes from the work of local artist Abigail Bruley, who uses scallion and onion imagery throughout her work, placing cutout figures on a black background. Topstitch co-owner Linda Smyth discovered Keith Warren Greiman — the other artist showing at the Old City gallery and boutique, who draws Where the Wild Things Are-type beasts — in Modern Dog magazine.

The roster of artists in the David and Susan Goode Collection reads like a Greatest Hits of Modern Art collection, featuring the likes of Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella and Robert Motherwell (whose Red Sea I is pictured). One highlight is Edward Hopper's beautiful 1923 etching The Locomotive. Using stark black lines, Hopper creates an imposing train heading into a dark tunnel as conductors sidle up beside it.