Paul Brown
Peter Coe
Shoshana Dentz
Dennis Hollingsworth
Joyce Kim
Gary Petersen
Bruce Hackney
Abstract is a group exhibition of six painters not widely known within the milieu of the New York art world. Their work represents a variety of formats and styles of paint application as well as diverse points of reference; contributing additional voices to the seemingly never-ending dialogue about abstract painting.
A group exhibition of six painters not widely known within the milieu of the New
York art world. Their work represents a variety of formats and styles of
paint application as well as diverse points of reference; contributing
additional voices to the seemingly never-ending dialogue about abstract
painting.
Paul Brown’s obsessively marked canvases are reminiscent of
paintings by Yayoi Kusama, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Georges
Seurat. Paint is dabbed on, scraped off and re-applied in rich, textured
layers. Occasionally, the surface is excavated in patches to reveal the
color of previous strata, adding to the painting’s luminosity.
Peter Coe’s canvases are reminiscent of hard-edged,"neo-geo"
imagery. Yet upon closer inspection, one sees that the painted surface
is not necessarily as "hard-edged" as it appears; the artist's hand
being ever present in the mark making. Low relief forms that appear to
be fabricated are, in fact, built-up surfaces of paint that are
meticulously sanded, and then over-painted. Coe’s "conduits" are more
akin to branches of roughly, brushed ridges of paint. Most recently
Coe's work appeared in "Greater New York" at P.S. 1 in February of
2000.
Shoshana Dentz’s work combines an interest in obsessive pattern and
mark making with a love of abstract painting techniques. Archetypal
shapes and forms emerge through translucent layers, making the
picture-plane a series of added veils. Dentz exhibited most recently in
a group show of works on paper at Brent Sikkema in the summer of
2000 and in a "White room" at White Columns in 1998
Dennis Hollingsworth utilizes a historical painting technique called alla
prima which involves a "wet into wet" impasto paint application.
Working within the drying time of the paint, it is smeared, flung,
troweled, shaped, flattened, and printed on to the surface.
Hollingsworth combines body-oriented gestures with the intimacy of
collage; rendering surfaces that are both vibrant and delicate.
Joyce Kim, like Hollingsworth, "constructs" her paintings. Drips, pours,
and splatters are first done on glass surfaces then attached to a
monochrome background. Perhaps the most quotational of the group,
her work embraces the techniques of abstract painting, combining
these sometimes-disparate effects into elegant pictures. Most
recently, Kim has had a one person show in the project space at
Artists Space.
Gary Petersen’s buoyant and colorful abstractions suggest a figurative
point of departure. Anthropomorphic gestures and shapes create an
ever-shifting balance between figuration and abstraction, becoming
cartoons of what "abstract" paintings are perceived to be. Petersen’s
work was most recently exhibited at IM n IL Gallery in Brooklyn.
Organized by Bruce Hackney
Image: Gary Petersen, Look Out, 2000, Oil on canvas, 44 X 28 inches (all rights reserved)
Summer hours
in June: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 - 6pm
in July: Tuesday - Friday, 10 - 6pm
after August 10: By Appointment
Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery
526 West 26th Street Room 213
New York, NY, 10001
T 212.243.3335 F 212.243.1059