Loretta Howard Gallery is pleased to present DNA, curated by Paul Sinclaire. Mirroring the change rippling through all levels of American society, the 1960s marked a period of painting defined by its unbridled experimentation. The façade of Abstract Expressionism burst and fragmented as a generation of younger artists continued to push the medium in myriad directions. This new wave of artists expanded the boundaries of abstraction, experimenting with space, optics, color and materials. Now-canonical movements such as Op Art, Color Field and Minimalism helped re-define painting in broader, imaginative terms.
This exhibition traces these various strands of painting from their postwar inception through today, where a new generation reacts to its forefathers. Shared formal concerns reveal structures of both tradition and evolution. This generation of young abstract painters employs practices that are fluid, referential, and self-aware. We encounter familiar visual systems passed down to the present and retooled to respond to the radically shifting fabric of post- millennial society.