Matthew Fisher’s graphically pared down beach scenes at Shrine Gallery are as carefully arranged as a store-front display, puffy clouds even resembling cut-out, stage-set backgrounds. Although the paintings suggest precise arrangements by an unseen hand, Fisher’s perspective is shaped by the understanding that nature predates and will survive humanity. Here, ‘The Subject of a Dream’ features a dark void, presumably representing the earth, in which a fish and shell have been extracted from their natural context and offered as symbols for place. Floating in space and outlined in a white border that further sets them apart, Fisher’s apparition makes the beach and its inhabitants strange, forcing a reevaluation of their existence in time and place. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 4th).
