Nina Meledandri reviews Discourse: Abstract, a group show organized by Gayle Ruskin
October 3, 2018
Photo courtesy of Nina Meledandri
Discourse: Abstract at Anita Rogers Gallery, is an 11 person painting show; one work per artist. As with Sutures, each of the works has its own distinct style and presence. They run the gamut from small to large; some unabashedly dependent on color, while others employ a very limited palette. But where Sutures radiates energy and activity, Discourse is quiet and thoughtful; the atmosphere in the gallery is contemplative with each work demanding to be seen in its own time which the generous gallery space allows for.
The coherence of the show comes from a shared command these artists display of both materials and process. One feels these works were chosen as much to create a discussion about the current state of abstraction as to provide a gateway into further exploration of each artist’s oeuvre. Much of the work presents a concern with formal considerations but the show does not ignore conceptual exploration, gestural passages and mixed media; Lael Marshall’s piece, for example, could have easily found a home in Sutures.
At opposite ends of the exhibition (literally and figuratively) are works by Susan Smith and Mary McDonnell. Smith’s piece is one of the smallest and is composed of primary colors. It is seemingly straightforward, an initial impression that is challenged by an unexpected juxtaposition of media. What appears to be a simple formal construction of three squares becomes strangely visceral and moving in its elegant handling of materials.
McDonnell on the other hand is represented by a large work is unruly and fairly bristling with color which seems to emerge in spite of its dark palette. It is also a profoundly gestural work that is barely contained by the canvas, as if she just managed to capture the presence of some unknown force.
In between these pieces is Joan Waltemath’s painting where hard edge black forms lay atop a field of expressive and beautiful colors, reading perhaps as blips of data floating across our lives. This painting acts almost as a map of the exhibition; it has aspects of almost every work in the show containing as it does, an exploration of color, an authority of line, the power of “the edge”, an expressionist sense of abstraction and the layering of elements.
tually right,” says BAHS president Anita Rogers. “They have very different backgrounds and different roles. A house manager oversees the structure of the staff and typically does all of the hiring and firing. They handle scheduling—making sure a chauffeur is always on call, housekeepers shifts are covered, and that a replacement is available if someone calls in sick. They’re also responsible for the budgeting, financial planning, and overall management of household.”
Tribeca is the place to be on Thursday, June 21, 2018 when the New York City neighborhood hosts the Spring edition of Tribeca Art & Culture Night (TAC Night). Offered four times a year, TAC Night features art performance, dance, artist tours, gallery talks, open studios, workshops and more taking place across the Downtown New York neighborhood.
kshire, UK in 1945. He studied anatomy and fine art at the Birmingham School of Art. He moved to the island of Crete in Greece in 1962, which is when he began painting his most prolific work. Rogers went through many stylistic periods, ranging from fully figurative to abstract. He died in 2001, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work. Seventy-five percent of his estate is owned by his daughter, Anita Rogers.
To better understand this concept of “the divine joke,” I turned to Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996), in which Carolyn Burke, Loy’s biographer, explains that Loy’s notion was that art could be a “‘divine joke’ which the public did not get because it had been trained to see things in just one way” whereas “the artist saw each object with fresh eyes.” Burke quotes Loy directly:
Anita Rogers Gallery and Ugly Duckling Presse are teaming up to celebrate the current exhibition “
Anita Rogers Gallery at 15 Greene Street presents