Reinventing Abstraction is currently on view at Cheim & Read, New York, and up through
August 30, 2013. The exhibition, curated by Raphael Rubinstein, includes paintings of Louise Fishman, Bill Jensen, Jonathan Lasker, Pat Steir, Jack
Whitten, Elizabeth Murray, Carroll Dunham, Stanley Whitney, Terry Winters, Joan
Snyder, David Reed, Mary Heilmann, Thomas Nozkowski, Gary Stephan, and
Stephen Mueller.
As stated in
the gallery press release, “This exhibition focuses on New York abstraction in
the 1980s as practiced by a generation of painters born between 1939 and 1949.
. . . . . . The 1939-1949 bracket encompasses a generation marked by the 1960s,
by the social and political upheavals of the period. Rejecting formalism, these
artists found diverse means of introducing new content into their work; their
abstraction was frequently an impure abstraction. “
By the 1980s, each of these artists had established a distinctive style. As I am always curious about the threads that weave through an artist's work over time, I've selected the work of 8 artists and paired a painting from this exhibit with a more contemporary work.
Louise Fishman
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| Navigation 1981 oil on linen 25 x 22 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read | | | | |
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| Assunta 2012 oil on linen 70 x 60 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read | | |
Mary Heilmann
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| Rio Nido 1987 acrylic and oil on canvas 39 x 58 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read |
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| Sea within a Sea 2011 oil on wood panel 24 x 30 inches Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth |
Jonathan Lasker
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| Double Play 1987 oil on linen 76 x 100 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read |
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| Scenic Remembrance 2007 oil on linen 90 x 120 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read |
Thomas Nozkowski
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| Untitled (6-30) 1988 oil on canvas board 16 x 20 inches Courtesy of Cheim & Read | |
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| | Untitled (9-18) 2012 oil on linen on panel 22 x 28 inches Courtesy of Pace Gallery |
