REVIEWS
ABSTRACT ART ON LINE
Linda Schrank at Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art
March 28, 2001
by Joseph Walentini
More than anything the subject matter, indeed the content,
of this work can be summed up with the words "visual rhythm".
Space within these canvases undulates throughout the entire picture
plane and remains constantly in motion. Yet, even as
the space exists in an indeterminate state, the paintings are steeped
in order and process. Schrank "weaves" her forms to construct a
multitude or restrained colors that generally lean toward warm yellows
and oranges with ample quantities of black. In this way the artist
successfully combines structure and anarchy within the work. They offer a strong
impression of defined grids that have somehow melted. Moving in for a close look
you see that each painting is constructed of dozens of tiny paintings that make up
the whole. In every painting and work on paper a characteristic wavering, jagged line divides
the picture plane in two. In some of the work such as Rumble
the line is echoed like an implied shadow elsewhere within the painted surfaces.
What defines everything in this work, the forms, color and surface, is the paint and how it
is applied. It is layered on thickly; spread and smeared into what eventually become the
lattice forms. Schrank's is a process-driven approach that creates the motion and rhythm
found within the work. The longer you take them in the more you become aware of the
subtle contoured forms they contain. This creates the implication that something, some
sort of mystery, resides beneath all those layers of paint. They begin to tap into the same
territory Pollock was involved in with his drip paintings. You see it in the way the picture
plane is annotated with bits of color emerging from the varied layers of crosshatched
paint.
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So Far
Casein on handmade paper
33 1/2" x 39", 2000
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The pieces are well presented in the gallery space. So Far, a work done
with casein paints on handmade paper, is simply pinned to the wall. It's a marvelous piece for
its delicate rippling of color and surface. There is a pleasing immediacy and rawness to this work
unencumbered by a frame or captured behind glass. All of this is coupled with the soft, supple and sensual
qualities of handmade paper. It offers a pleasing contrast to the paintings for the different
materials and how they are employed.
(Excerpted)
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