Tag: Bortolami Gallery

Mary Obering at Bortolami Gallery

Inspired by her love of art history and travel to Italy, New York-based artist Mary Obering infuses modern, minimal style with references to early Renaissance art to create dynamic and luminous paintings.  Bortolami Gallery’s current presentation of her work from 1972 – 2003 includes this 1992 painting that balances light and dark colors in a way that moves the eye around the canvas, creating a lively circular movement enriched by glowing panels of gold leaf.  Blocks of color in egg tempera – painted to show the artist’s hand through fluctuations of color – have an extra vibrant glow, adding to the uplift and pleasure of the piece.  (On view in Tribeca through Feb 26th. Masks and social distancing are required.)

Mary Obering, A2 + Y2, egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed panels, 2 panels, total dimensions: 84 x 84 inches, 1992.

Caitlin Keogh at Bortolami Gallery

Incomplete female bodies are Brooklyn painter Caitlin Keogh’s signature subject matter, so it’s fitting that human hands are alluded to in this painting titled, ‘The Gentle Art of Making Friends.’ Intertwined with flowers reminiscent of medieval tapestries, this decorative pattern of weaponry has been (temporarily at least) converted into a trellis evoking a well-groomed garden more than an arsenal. (At Bortolami Gallery through Oct 29th).

Caitlin Keogh, The Gentle Art of Making Friends, acrylic on canvas, 96 x 72 inches, 2016.
Caitlin Keogh, The Gentle Art of Making Friends, acrylic on canvas, 96 x 72 inches, 2016.

Barbara Kasten at Bortolami Gallery

Barbara Kasten, Construct XIII, 1982, Polaroid, 10 x 8 inches.
Barbara Kasten, Construct XIII, 1982, Polaroid, 10 x 8 inches.

Barbara Kasten’s photographed constructions from the mid ‘70s to the present at Bortolami add some welcome historical background to the recent vogue for abstract, set-up photography (think Sara VanDerBeek and Eileen Quinlan).  Mirrors and light create enticing spatial ambiguity in some constructs, but not this one from ’82, in which awkwardness enlivens the image.  A disappearing backdrop, hovering shapes, twisting light beams and tense wires lead the eye around an aesthetic obstacle course.