Fields of solid color greet visitors to Gagosian Gallery’s survey of Brice Marden’s abstract paintings from the mid-60s to 2023, the late artist’s first major NY solo show in 20 years, which showcases his evolution from early monochrome works to canvases featuring calligraphic lines over richly colored, shallow spaces. Inspired by an exhibition of Japanese master calligraphy and his travels in Asia, Marden explored thick curving and later more angular lines and glyphs, spending decades refining the relationship between the painting’s surface and its depth. Here, in the late work ‘Rowdy,’ red lines suggesting organic forms advance beyond a tangle of darker marks in the top register, while below is a long panel that Marden likened to the strip of paintings at the base of a Renaissance altarpiece. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 12th).
