Abstract
Years ago, Joe Wardwell started interlacing text and natural scenes to slyly update the ideals of Hudson River School painters and their ilk. Since then, more content has seeped in, and Wardwell's paintings have grown sophisticated in their weaving of representation, abstraction, and graphic design. His epic mural, “Hello America: 40 Hits From the 50 States" at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, is bright and sorrowful. Wardwell's painting show at LaMontagne Gallery, now sharing space with Howard Yezerski Gallery in SoWa, is a kaleidoscopic portrait of Massachusetts. Lyrics from Boston bands twine with woodland scenes pared to silhouettes and soaked in high-keyed hues. Smaller text cascades down each canvas, chattering slogans of Boston-linked luminaries such as Malcolm X and Noam Chomsky.