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P a r k S l o p e A r t i s t s ' C o u n c i l O p e n s S t u d i o s :A rt In Th e O penBY DAVID L.L. LASKINComing upon the Prospect Park PicnicHouse on a Friday night was like docking atan island of civilization amidst nature%u2019sstill, imposing darkness. Flooded with light,music and wine-sipping patrons, the PicnicHouse was the perfect place to kick off thethird annual Park Slope Artists CouncilOpen Studios Tour, Sept. 26. The openingreception brought together two elementsthat make the Slope a favorite with artists:the supportive community of working artists and the primal beauty of the park.As the centerpiece of the tour, the PicnicHouse exhibition brought together the workof 65 artists who would open their studios tothe public over the weekend. While somestood by their work, many mingled with thefestive crowd, saluting fellow artists andseeing the show for themselves. It wasclear from the camaraderie of artists andthe diversity of the works that the Slope%u2019sart scene is brimming with energy.%u201cIt%u2019s been very beneficial to many of themembers of the Council working togetherthis way,%u201d explains artist and publicitydirector Joan Zraly Turken. %u201cThe groupshows draw a big audience and, as a result,many of us have gotten showings ingalleries and elsewhere. It%u2019s definitely increased our exposure.%u201d Since 1984, groupshows have appeared twice at Bush Terminal, Brooklyn and once at Federal Plaza,Manhattan. This spring, a group show willtravel to Auversseur-Oise, outside Paris anda 1988 show is planned at the critically acclaimed Dallas Museum, in Texas.WEEKEND IS ALL SLOPEThis weekend was all Park Slope, though.Alan Rosner, whose playful, magnetized%u201cFigure, Field and Ground: Effluence%u201dgreeted one upon entrance, hoped %u201ctoengage people so they%u2019d come down to seethe more serious stuff,%u201d he confided whilesomebody arranged the metal bits into apeace sign. The rest of the show was forlooking only, but there was plenty to keepthe eyes busy. A metal-plated totempole/ wall sculpture hung beneath a scenicmountain landscape. A woman%u2019s torsomolded in cowhide next to a photograph ofa black-leathered, guitar-waving, blondebombshell, titled %u201c Rock %u2019n Roll Angel.%u201dMasks, portraits, wall sculptures, abstracts.Bright or brooding, dainty or disturbing, thevariety of the exhibition would entice manyinto the studios during the next two days.In his studio Saturday, Rosner revealedhis %u201cserious stuff,%u201d that draws from studiesof eastern philosophies and the theories ofhighlevel physics. Standing before largestone slabs inlaid with metal patterns, heexplains, %u201cmost of my work has layers ofinformation, more or less accessable depending on how much you know. Like this table(in use in the dining room), some peoplecome over and right away recognize thepatterns of a bubble chamber photograph,where each line and spiral represents asubatomic particle. Or this one, which is aMandarin representation bf the ChineseYin-Yang symbol, people respond to it on amore subliminal level because it expressesthe basic idea of harmony between opposingforces.%u201dAnother niece, that at first glance lookedlike a Chinese woodcutting, turned out to bedelicately sculpted rusted metal in a stainedwood frame and background. A sort ofsilhouetted landscape, it included a phraseSabrina Tiralosa ponders her \hoto)I'm n o t professionally train ed as an artist. I got hooked upw ith the group sort o f accidentally, and it was a greatconnection. It helped m e m ake the c o m m itm en t to crossover and focus on showing m y w ork.John Schoen and his %u201cSilent Running.\from the Chinese Tao Te Ching, inscribed intraditional calligraphics in the background.Rosner translates as %u201cWithout leaving myh n m o T lrn n u ; th p u rh n lo U n lV ? r9 6 .M A n A th o rwork includes a phrase in French thatblends Taoist thought with Heisenberg%u2019suncertainty principle, drawn in calligraphystyle that reads, %u201cIt%u2019s hard that the fullnessof the Tao is not given to us to be seen; sadthe paleness of its images.%u201d Speaking ofHeisenberg%u2019s equation, Rosner said, %u201citn n i n f o r v u t H i o f i f %u2019 c e i m n h r ^Vio l i m l f c n t a m tability to know that holds us back, not thatthings can%u2019t be known more fully.%u201dAn eight-year native of the Slope, Rosnerfeels the Artists Council %u201chas been verymotivational and supportive. I%u2019m not professionally trained as an artist. I got hooked upwith the group sort of accidentally, and itwas a great connection. It helped me makethe commitment to cross over and focus onshowing my work. I%u2019ve made good connections with people in the group I find to bevery serious about what they%u2019re doing,which has been very helpful for me, and Ibelieve for many others in the group. Andthat%u2019s the great thing about the studio tour:it gives artists a chance to gather lots ofreaction from other artists and the public.%u201dSharing space with Rosner for theweekend was Robert Martens, who hasmoved to Queens but remains active withthe Artists Council. %u201cI enjoy the group andthe people in it very much,%u201d he says. %u201cI feelit%u2019s a group not necessarily bound bygeography; we all share concerns thatbound us more deeply than that. It%u2019s not theavant garde here, not a hotspot whereeverybody is looking for the next greatstyle. The nature of the neighborhood isvery' residential, there%u2019s no real performance space or loft space. But there%u2019s asizable artistic community here, an important community of people who are seriousabout their work.%u201dMost of Martens%u2019 pieces are stonysurfaced sculpted faces, or masks, bearingsome horrific, twisted or empty expression,and ornamented with various objects foreyes, teeth or hair. The faces are set injagged-edged %u201cbowls,%u201d also with the look ofstone, or decayed metal. %u201cI like to think ofmy work as being very primal in certainwork of children,%u201d he says. \work is rooted in disturbed feelings I hadgrowing up. It%u2019s derived from decay andContinued on Pane 11O c to b e r 2 ,1 9 8 6 , T H E P H O E N IX , P a g e 9