Abstractions | 2018

(SANTA FE, NM) Nüart Gallery is pleased to present, “Abstractions 2018" a group exhibition of new work by six contemporary artists working in abstraction. The exhibition will run June 29th through July 15th 2018, with an opening reception on Friday, June 29th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.

Just as artists have always attempted to reproduce literal reality, artists have also always used abstraction to express landscapes, figures, shapes, and their inner worlds. In this exhibition, Nüart presents six artists with uniquely singular visions working in the language of abstraction.

Using a minimum of gestures, Jane Cook employs deft instinctual composition and formal use of color to create paintings suggestive of landscapes-- abstract environments that feel at once ambiguous and specific.

Joseph Ostraff’s paintings evoke the varied shapes and motifs of human cultures and geography. Using subtle color gradations and rich patterning, Ostraff creates works with startling compositional depth.

Richard Berman paints nuanced works of visual depth using multiple layers of glazing. His geometries reveal their subtlety slowly over time, gradually unfolding in layers of complexity.

In Lauren Mantecón’s mixed media paintings, pearl-like forms, clouds, orbs, and feathery murmurations are set against deep layers of color and surface texture. Mantecón builds up and then veils her mark-making, her layers alternating between obfuscation and revelation.

Leopoldo Cuspinera Madrigal paints etherial abstractions of landscapes with deeply textured material surfaces. The paintings suggest the imprint of human activity on nature, and explore how the terrain becomes almost a memorial of those interactions.

Shar Coulson’s organic forms hint at figures, animals, leaves, and other organic references that feel nearly recognizable, while her lush application of paint plays with contrast as well as a spectrum of tonal shifts.