McKenzie Fine Art presents “Linear Abstraction,” which examines of a few of the ways in which artists are using line in abstract imagery these days.
Here’s an overview: Mark Dagley paints spherical webs of interlaced lines that reference information technologies and social networking sites. Gilbert Hsiao uses optically-charged, shaped canvases, vibrant color and repeating op-art patterns. Maureen McQuillan’s monochromatic networks of shadowy lines created with camera-less photography suggest both natural and virtual phenomena.
Gelah Penn’s site-specific installation, “The Naked Kiss,” is a jumble of colored monofilaments and other tendril-like stuff that explores the complexities of movement, flow, expansion. Sort of like beach debris in winter without the weather-beating. Mary Temple repeats and overlaps elliptical shapes in a series of one million individual gestures. And finally, Gary Petersen’s elegantly painted parallel lines playfully flex, angle and curve as they define voids and create op-arty movement.
“Linear Abstraction,” McKenzie Fine Art, New York, NY. Through February 7. Artists include Mark Dagley, Gilbert Hsiao, Maureen McQuillan, Gelah Penn, Gary Peterson, Mary Temple
Beautiful work. A few years ago, during a period where I was drawing a lot and had a few breakthroughs, I started viewing form as being comprised of nothing but lines and curves (and planes, but they are defined through the use of lines and curves). It was a simplification that helped see both representational and abstract images with much more clarity.
Distilling the elements further to just lines helps clarify even further, which will then only help theviewer and artist when they return to contemplating planes…