Tag: ab exp

Rita Ackermann at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

A haze of cool colors hovers over and obscures energetic line drawings featuring human figures in Rita Ackermann’s new paintings at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, creating a juxtaposition between painterly gesture and drawing.  Titled ‘Mama,’ each painting links in title to a feminine source while channeling an Ab Exp style better known for its male adherents.  Simple drawings of circles and an occasional animal add in a child’s touch, further complicating the family relationships alluded to in the paintings. (On view in Chelsea through April 11th).

Rita Ackermann, Mama, Midsummer Night’s Dream, oil, acrylic, and ink on linen, 77 x 65 inches, 2019.

Lois Dodd at Alexandre Gallery

Plants, ponds and (for a time) cows generated New York painter Lois Dodd’s subject matter as she painted the natural world in canvases that provocatively mix figuration and abstraction. This 1963 image, painted on summer vacation in Maine, continued Dodd’s studies in pattern, merging avant-garde painting style with bucolic pleasure. (At Alexandre Gallery in the 57th Street area, through Feb 25th).

Lois Dodd, Cows, oil on linen, 72 x 76 inches, 1963.
Lois Dodd, Cows, oil on linen, 72 x 76 inches, 1963.

George Condo at Skarstedt

George Condo’s Picassoid jumbling of classic Condo facial features on the left and a sketchy blond Ab Exp muse on the right make an arresting couple at the entrance to Skarstedt’s Chelsea gallery. They’re also an amusing counterpart to the current Picasso show down the block at Gagosian Gallery. (In Chelsea through Dec 20th)

George Condo, Double Heads on Blue and Silver, acrylic, charcoal, pastel on linen, 78 x 110 inches, 2014.