Review:  The power of understatement in Claire Keith paintings

Understatement doesn’t make headlines. Nor does it play a prominent role in the way we communicate today, which seems to be driven by the desire to get the last word in before anyone else has a chance to.

None of that matters to Claire Keith, whose intimate little paintings of household items are all about understatement. And the possibilities it opens up. And the satisfactions it makes room for. And the serenity that surrounds it whenever we attend to understatement with the gentleness its calls forth.

At Offramp Gallery, Keith’s 16 tabletop still lifes begin as momentary respites from the cacophony of modern life. Their compositions are simple. Each consists of a single cup or a small group of common objects, like vases, pitchers, drinking glasses, knickknacks, old toys and rubber balls, all posed before a wall on which Keith has hung a swatch of boldly patterned fabric.

Sometimes her backdrops remain in the background, like the wallpaper in the home of someone who cares not for trends or majority-rule tastefulness. At other times, the fabric comes off the wall and does double duty as a tablecloth on which Keith’s still lifes sit and stand.

The stillness that Keith captures has a formality to it. It is as if the objects she selected and arranged were having their portraits painted — by someone who not only loves them but also knows them, deep-down and truly.

Keith is a Realist whose interest goes far beyond the appearance of things. The longer you linger before her dreamy pictures of around-the-house stuff, the clearer it becomes that her oils on canvas offer far more than momentary respite from the chaos of daily life. Slow and sensuous, the silent pleasures they deliver are expansive and participatory.

If Morandi visited Keith’s exhibition, he would see a kindred spirit.

(Offramp Gallery, 1702 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena, (626) 298-6931, through Oct. 12. Open Friday, Saturday and Sun. www.offrampgallery.com)