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.