Donald Laurent Dahlke, an artist who spends part of each year working on St. Croix and elsewhere in the Caribbean, has an exhibit of recent works at Mango Tango Gallery in Al Cohen's Plaza.
One of Dahlke's claims to commercial as well as artistic success is the fact that he has developed several highly different, yet very recognizable styles.
He is perhaps best known for his stylized, light-hearted characterizations of two to four people in realistic or fantastic island ambiences. He has also won plaudits for his "portal" paintings — architectural oils taking the viewer from the sunny exterior of buildings through windows or doorways to a dim interior and then, through windows on the other side, to a sparkling seascape beyond.
Meantime, Dahlke has had marked success as an abstract painter (several examples of this genre are in the permanent collection of Banco Popular at its new regional headquarters on St. Thomas) and as a computer artist.
The show opened Sunday, Aug. 15, with a meet-the-artist reception. It features numerous smaller, and relatively affordable, works. Included are an assortment of the artist's "whimsiques" — mini-versions of the stylized people paintings — and some new computer creations.
However, Mango Tango, which has represented Dahlke for years, also has a number of his larger pieces on exhibit on an ongoing basis.