reviews
"Ledet begins
his fantasy interiors and still lifes by dividing up the
canvas into crisp Cubist chunks …In every painting
you can find silky, carefully blended areas of color,
but you can also find agitated scratching with the tip
of a palette knife. You find patterns of dabbed paint,
smears, faux marble, faux wood grain, precise pin stripes,
and wild brushiness – all lying peacefully side
by side …
"Ledet’s
work is beautifully crafted, perfectly composed, and the
wide color palette is always balanced. His sense of irony,
based on creating impossibly idyllic environments, is
genteel."
Douglas MacCash, Art
critic
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA
"…The
tradition of painting still lifes and interiors is as
old as the hills, of course, and in Ledet’s hands,
it’s an approach that showcases his virtuosity as
a colorist and composer of clever abstractions. Beyond
that, things get a little wavy as the artist pushes his
medium beyond the parameters of Matisse and into the zanier,
technozone realms of MTV and the like.
"Even so, Matisse
may have been a seminal influence. And this seems typical
of Ledet, whose paintings participate in the postmodern
zeitgeist of the late 1990’s, ironically commenting
on it all the while."
D. Eric Brookhardt, Inside
Art
Gambit Weekly, New Orleans, LA
"Brightly
colored, slightly jazzy and a kodachrome lesson on Abstract
and Modern Design sums up the acrylic on paper and canvas
paintings of Michael Ledet at Carol Robinson Gallery …
" One of
the more engaging paintings is Arrangement with Pears
and Modern Art. Its simplicity of a Mondrian opposite
two bright pears with dazzling green leaf that point the
way to a sketchy ocean gives the viewer breathing room.
There’s the sense that all information described
relates to a grand scheme. It does not hurt that Ledet
alternated his painting technique between scumbling and
broad strokes, leaving the ocean view unfinished. We can
enjoy his colorfully balanced palette."
Marian McLellan, New Orleans
Art Review
". . . a rich
smorgasbord of sensual visual pleasure, while maintaining
a detached intellectualism.
" . . . It is
clear that despite the rich beauty and visual satisfaction
inherent in these works, the artist‘s goal is not
merely the aesthetic pleasure of his audience."
Thomasine Bartlett, New
Orleans
Art Review
