KRISTIN, JOHANN EYFELLS GO SEPARATE ARTISTIC WAYS TOGETHER

Published: Sunday, May 8, 1994
Section: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Page: F5

By Philip E. Bishop Sentinel Correspondent

It's hard to imagine two artists more different than husband-and-wife Kristin and Johann Eyfells - Kristin with her brilliantly colored portraits of famous faces versus Johann's brooding sculptures of dripped and cast metal. 

The pair's recent works are currently juxtaposed in a two person show through May 14 at Orlando's Gaier Contemporary Gallery. 

Kristin Eyfells expands famous faces into over-sized, close-cropped portraits, transforming the line and shadow of each visage into a dazzling exploration of color. With this technique, the dimple on country star George Jones' chin becomes a multi-colored target, while the shadows under photographer Ansel Adams' eyes take on the colors of a tropical bird. 

Starting with a face, Kristin creates in each of her works an individualized compromise between the abstract and the organic. 

While Kristin might draw her faces from the pages of People magazine, Johann Eyfells' sculptures seem to have arisen from the bowels of the earth in his native Iceland. 

In this exhibition, the long-time art professor at the University of Central Florida presents four of a series of ''pillars,'' sub-titled ''Disappearance Manifested.'' These works of cast aluminum resemble charred trunks of petrified wood, held together with molten spikes. 

The pillars are remarkable in giving to metal the organically complex textures of the wood, seemingly formed over eons of time. 

The same organic quality is found in Johann's ''receptual'' works, metal formations that seem to have grown of their own volition and energy, like crystals forming. 

The Gaier gallery exhibition is the first local opportunity to view Johann Eyfells' sculpture since he was chosen to represent Iceland at last year's Venice Biennale. 

The energy in this two-person show must somehow reproduce the dynamics of the Eyfells household - two artists sharing a search for very different artistic truths. 

Philip E. Bishop is a professor of humanities at Valencia Community College in Orlando.