Pro Matter A confident opening with Jesse Lambert BY MAGGIE KNOWLES

It was the worst of times, it was the worstest of times . . . in a city where regular patrons of big-ticket art are few and galleries come and go like tan lines and carb-free diets, it surprises that optimistic folk are still signing away the farm for a niche in Portland’s volatile art scene. Sure there are the Fitzpatricks and Verzosas that cast anchor as successful directors, but even the Hay closed after winning Best Gallery year after year. So what is the secret to running a gallery that sticks? I, not being the person to ask (farewell, sweet Aries), may have found a clue at the spanking-new Matter Gallery. Their way: Bring Chelsea to Maine.

In a 650-sqare-foot space that would rival any $5000/month Soho loft, the virgin walls still hum with fumes of Antique White. Director Jessica Buckley O’Brien could not be more NYC in her 7 jeans, fashionable cap, and chunky poet’s scarf. She steps into the main gallery area, tripping over a piece of loose floor molding. In her sophisticatedly bored voice she says to husband Drew, "We reeeeeaaalllllly need to get that fixed." Drew, Yarmouth native and Colby grad, smiles easily in agreement.

Jessica is the brain behind the art that captivates the space. She is proud of her discovery in featured Queens-based artist Jesse Lambert. And her pride is well placed. The stuff is incredible.

It is also a hefty study in contrast — there is a man with OCD and ADHD living in the same body; within his work he has to please both parties. Yet, at the end of the day, there is a feng shui sense of balance that comes both from hours of planning and dazzling spontaneity. His art is urban and natural, masculine and feminine, drastic and subtle.

The work will separate viewers into two immediate categories. Some will stand back to grasp the giant guttural brushstrokes that result from the artist standing over the canvas and slashing with house-painting brushes. Others will be drawn closer to trace the anally painted outlines of floral-like patterns.

Lambert’s two large pieces, 56" x 74", are like massive dining-room tables of movement. One of them, "Reignition," is the only piece where he expands to seven colors rather than his steady four or five. The extra color doesn’t add business however, just more jazz. Waves of menstrual red, army green, mustard yellow, cocoa, and crayon pink flounce about like a go-go dancer’s dress. Small splatters begin to surface, which seem sloppy and out of character. Are they mistakes or planned just as consciously as the spinning pink flowers that must have been produced under a microscope? He deliberately leaves them, as if proving chaos is afoot even under the most regulated circumstances.

As I wander from each to the other, I am almost getting aroused. I have been eating chocolate all day, but this is from the work. It is soooo sensual. But why, why, why? It isn’t from the colors . . . I see color all the time. It is deeper. Ah. It is because they are so confident. Not cocky, but so self-assured and solid in their placement. They are like that guy who can walk into a place alone and everyone is like, "Wow, who is that?" I lean in to "Fluorescent Coral Vacation" and see the texture of the canvas under the color. These aren’t layered with can after can of paint, masking mistakes with new ones in order to get to point Z. No, these were done once. Lambert knows exactly what every bristle is doing before it hits its mark. Like Mozart, he is note-perfect on the first pass.

There are five smaller pieces that narrate a story of travel through the same woods but by different journeyers. These are the Canterbury Tales of the collection. "Saturn Fungus Moon Patch," for instance (a word about the titles: I don’t like them, but apparently he names after his favorite songs), with its deep browns and 10-mile orange is through the eyes of a woodsman who knows the woods better than his daughter; "Float On" is a violet desperate lady who escapes only to walk lost in the same black circle day after day; and "Despotic Flower World" is a small hobbit who guards the simple blue of his world.

Thus far all works we’ve explored have been in acrylic. Lambert also works with watercolor and gouache; these are lovely, but lack power. Their narrative is quiet, serene. The colors are those of mid-spring when bulbs are opening and the air is sweet. Only in these does Lambert use white space as a substantial part of the story. They have a happiness the others lack, as if he was in a love trance while completing them.

Make sure you stop by before February 28 to check out this "We could be in Chelsea right now" show. And, as always, support the new galleries because having a diverse local art scene very much Matters.

Maggie Knowles can be reached at margaretknowles@yahoo.com

Jesse Lambert’s work hangs at the Matter Gallery, in Portland, through Feb. 28. Call (207) 233-3486.