‘Pathway to Abstraction’
Agora Gallery
530 West 25th Street, Chelsea
Through January 12, 2013
It’s difficult to see a parallel between the works chosen
for this twelve-artist group show.
In one sense, they each exhibit traces of Abstraction using sources of
color to create non-pictorial forms.
Yet the framed fiber works from artist Kathleen Barefield do not seem as
committed to this category. Her
use of color shows signs of being too rigid, forming solid squares, spheres, and
overly pre-meditated trails of stitching.
Meanwhile, the Lady Gaga and Dazzling fiberglass sculptures by Emily Grieco-both resembling undressed
department store mannequins-confuse the mood of the show with their whirlwind
of cartoonish polka dot, checker, and zebra print acrylic surface, which the
artist has applied in a childish color-by-numbers way. Although Grieco’s Nightlife painting is a successful and a justifiably abstract
piece, Lady Gaga and Dazzling simply do not belong.
Canadian artist Tyice Natasha, however, contributes three
marvelous pieces to the exhibition, which feel unforced and genuinely
expressive. In her acrylic and
pastel pieces, Tyice reveals scenes of eloquent golds, reds, and bronze hues meshing
under a cage of tangled and erratic strokes of black curved line and earth-toned
curlicues. Her use of color is
harmonic and appears to be applied fluidly.
Although Agora Gallery is known for its support of emerging artists, this show feels like a showcase of creative people that took too long to emerge, missing out on being able to employ the trends of their time. In addition to Barefield, Grieco, and Natasha, the artists showcased here each present a jarringly different style, medium, color scheme and theme in their work. They each also seem to operate with inspiration from conflicting eras. Susanne Zimmer’s paintings, for instance, instantly feel more like 1920s Impressionist paintings, rather than modern and Abstract. There are too many ideas being presented throughout the gallery, disallowing for any one of these “new artists” to really have a voice or call attention to themselves. Seeing all the works together in one space simply creates an overwhelming volume of visual noise. Thus, one starts to think that the exhibition’s title “Pathway to Abstraction” is more of an excuse for chaos than a theme for an art show, especially since two other group exhibitions (“The Odyssey Within” and “Sensorial Realms”) are on display in the same space. The fact that there is no partition or signage signifying where one exhibition starts and another one ends inevitably adds to the overall confusion of the show, causing the works in Pathway-whether they are abstract or not-to be inevitably over-shadowed.
*writing style inspired by NewYork Times art reviewer, Roberta Smith
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