Four Abstract Artists

About

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is pleased to present Four Abstract Artists, a group show of contemporary artists representing different iterations of abstraction.  Elizabeth Gilfilen, Lucas Kelly, and Jane Schiowitz have been invited to show with the gallery, and will be joined by Fran Shalom.

Elizabeth Gilfilen’s large-scale paintings are imposing, tumultuous works of gestural abstraction. The frenzied paint application is vigorously worked, resulting in varying depths and textures on the final surface. Her color palettes are, at times, challenging, but these recent works lean more harmonious. The angst remains, however, in the mark-making.

Lucas Kelly’s sculptures are ambiguous forms intended to trigger a nostalgic response. His objects act as surrogates for memories that are just out of the mind’s grasp, the hazy remains of what has been lost to time. They represent the inability of memory to maintain narratives, yet the emotional attachment to the heart of those stories holds strong. These small wall sculptures in soft colors seemingly embody the concept of nostalgia itself.

Jane Schiowitz’s stark black and white paintings are an exploration of line and loose geometry. There is a give and take between intuitive mark-making and her imposed structure. Her process is evident, the ghosts of prior explorations are reminiscent of a chalkboard being erased and then rewritten. The final pieces can be seen, then, as a reflection on the passage of time and the process of painting.

Fran Shalom’s paintings exist on the brink of recognition. Her playful forms flirt with nameable objects, yet shift out of reality just as the viewer thinks they have begun to sense hints of representation. Her Modernist technique is balanced with a pop sensibility represented by bold color choices. The relationships she presents are fraught, rarely succumbing to easy combinations.