Gradation

Because of the important role abstraction has played in the advancement of contemporary art discourse over the last one-hundred years, the exploration of “new abstraction” will be featured in an exhibition curated by artist Garth Weiser. “Gradation” will present a selection of abstract painters all presently working in New York City. The project presents a variety of artists currently working within the different models for approaching the weight and history of painterly abstraction, as it can range from a more gestural language to hardedge Minimalism. The paintings included in the exhibition will be installed in an order that attempts to bridge these extreme positions by relying on gradation from one color to another. The artists all approach the making of a new painting differently but draw from similar indices of Minimalism, gestural abstraction, design, process, and Pop art traditions. The artists that make up “Gradation” similarly combine, reduce, copy, and diffuse modes of painting from the last century. While the results are often visually diverse, the paintings themselves are linked by this conceptual approach.