12:31 PM EST on Thursday, March 31, 2005

When we last heard from Virginia Lynch, the longtime Tiverton gallery owner was talking seriously about retiring. And who could blame her? After 21 years at the helm of her namesake East Bay gallery, Lynch, who will turn 90 in May, has certainly earned some time off.

But after a winter's hibernation, Lynch decided to come back for at least one more year. And she can't wait to talk about her latest "find" -- a little-known Rhode Island artist named Benny Collins whose swirling abstractions are the focus of her season-opening exhibit.

"I really think he's wonderful," an enthusiastic Lynch said during a tour of the show last week. "As a rule, I'm not drawn to artworks that are purely abstract. But this guy's something special."

Lynch said she first heard about Collins a few months ago, when a caller offered to show her some of his paintings. The caller, whom Lynch declined to identify, said he'd found the paintings stored in the attic of a carriage house he'd recently purchased in Newport.

"The storage conditions weren't very good, so there was some minor damage to some of the paintings," Lynch said. "But the artistic quality was so high that I decided I had to show them anyway."

Since falling in love with Collins' work, Lynch has spent considerable time delving into the artist's life.

Here's what she knows so far: Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1896, Benjamin Collins studied at the Copenhagen Academy of Art, where he graduated at the top of his class. In the late 1920s, Collins was hired to paint a mural for Providence's Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (55 Hayes St.), then under construction near the Rhode Island State House.

The church, which still stands (albeit in the ample shadow of Providence Place mall), was designed by a Swedish architect -- Martin Hedmark -- who may have recommended Collins for the job.

In the 1930s, Collins returned to Europe, spending several years in Paris and getting to know prominent avant-garde artists such as Pablo Picasso and the Russian-born sculptor Ossip Zadkine. During World War II, Collins returned to Rhode Island, eventually settling in Newport.

After the war, Collins remained in Newport, teaching art classes and working as a tour guide at Belcourt Castle, where he also rented a small apartment. He died in 1974 at age 78.

"I'm sure there's a lot more information about Benny Collins out there," Lynch said. "I just haven't found it yet."

As for Collins' art, it's clear that at some point he developed a taste for geometric abstraction that, at times, verged on the obsessive. Indeed, in painting after painting, he serves up subtle variations on the same basic theme -- a swirling, segmented spiral that vaguely recalls a kind of colorized trigonometry illustration.

What do these spiral shapes mean?

A possible clue is contained in the show's only realistic painting -- a self-portrait. In it, Collins appears as a small, plainly dressed man holding a pipe. Next to him is a table on which sit a guitar, an open guitar case and a piece of sheet music.

If Collins was indeed a musician, it may be that his abstract paintings were attempts to find visual equivalents for the aural harmonies and progressions of music. If so, he's in good company: many 20th-century artists, including his fellow Scandinavian Edvard Munch, aspired to make art that had the elegance and spiritual power of music.

Through Sunday at the Virginia Lynch Gallery, 3883 Main Rd., Tiverton. Hours: Wed.-Sat. 11-5 and Sun. 1-5. Phone: (401) 624-3392.

Art League show

"There is strength in numbers," goes the old saying. True enough, but numbers alone don't guarantee success, as the current exhibit at the Attleboro Museum Center for the Arts demonstrates.

On display are about 50 prints, paintings and other works by members of the Art League of Rhode Island, a statewide artists' group that exists "to contribute, encourage and promote integrity and excellence in the arts," according to its promotional materials.

Unfortunately, too few of the show's contributors actually live up to those lofty standards.

And that's a shame, since there are some talented artists in the Art League. Gretchen Dow Simpson, for example, contributes one of her trademark architectural studies -- in this case a night view of a New England farmhouse as spare and simple as a Shaker bench.

Barrington artist Penelope Manzella, meanwhile, imbues an otherwise familiar scene -- a young man calling up to a woman in an upstairs apartment -- with a playful sense of mystery. What are these two young urbanites talking about?

The show's print contingent is also strong, with top-quality pieces from Richard Harrington, Elizabeth Goddard and Kenneth Speiser, whose rust-dotted butterfly print takes best-in-show honors for the most innovative use of materials.

Other highlights include several works that incorporate "found" or recycled materials -- notably a wine rack fashioned from mismatched furniture pieces by Jeff Soderbergh and Tom Deininger's "trash portrait" of former Newport gallery owner Bodi Lukasewych.

Through April 14 at the Attleboro Museum Center for the Arts, 86 Park St., Attleboro. Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10-5, Wed. 10-8 and Sun. noon-4. Phone: (508) 222-2644.

Root and Crown by Timothy Coleman is part of the "Joined & Woven" show at the Providence Art Club.

Fiber and furniture

If you still think "less is more" is the design world's favorite motto, you owe yourself a visit to "Joined and Woven," an exhibit of contemporary fiber and furniture pieces at the Providence Art Club. Sponsored by Fidelity Investments, the show is dominated by works that celebrate the sensual pleasures of color, texture, pattern and material.

Things get off to a vibrant start with Emily Neal's Wolverine, a big stretch-fabric hanging that greets visitors on their way to the Art Club's second-floor gallery. With its lush mix of colors and patterns, it suggests a kind of see-through version of a crazy quilt.

As it turns out, Wolverine is also the first of several fiber-art pieces that showcase the recent vogue for knitted fabrics. Other examples include a series of bouncy knitwear "paintings" by Ghana Abdul and a colorful patchwork cape by Martha Poulter.

Knits also turn up in Caroline Unruh's Refined Retro quilt, which recycles swatches of old sweaters.

The show's furniture pieces, meanwhile, run the gamut from high-style (Alphonse Mattia's dramatic bubinga-and-pleather easy chair) to arch-Minimalist (Fo Wilson's basswood bench, which consists of nothing more than a few neatly stacked wooden posts).

Closes tomorrow at the Providence Art Club, 11 Thomas St. Hours: Mon.-Fri. noon-4 and Sat.-Sun. 2-4. Phone: (401) 331-1114.