The six artists in this exhibition have each pursued an individual approach to abstract painting through cycles of development and evolution over many years. They span a range of generations and their works demonstrate areas of common interests within a framework of diverse practices and processes.

Joan Mitchell first earned recognition during the era of Abstract Expressionism. She juxtaposes forceful gesture with atmospheric areas within a dynamic spatial structure. Already evident in her paintings of the 1950s were portents of later works that depart from the historical canon and extend the range of her innovation.

Louise Fishman has created a body of work that emphasizes the physicality of the medium of oil paint and its capacities as a medium of expression. Her paintings achieve a union of substance and application in compositions that harness both grid and gesture.

Harriet Korman is an inquisitive painter who periodically revises the ground rules within which her work is generated. The parameters that determine the end results have come to moderate the role of freehand gesture and advance the organizing elements of plane, shape and color.

Melissa Meyer establishes compartmentalized structures of calligraphic gesture over patchwork blocks of sheer tones. Meyer subordinates the physical properties of oil paint and pushes the medium towards radiant color that achieves the luminosity of watercolor.

Jill Moser’s work is built on a foundation of line and space; its development propelled by an inseparable connection between painting and drawing and a commitment to the performative aspect of mark-making. Her works are simultaneously refined and impure, precise and unpredictable.

Denyse Thomasos challenges the abstract-representational divide and constructs blocky units of space and volume. Oil paint would be too slow for her. Fast-drying acrylic allows her to build layer over layer with controlled spontaneity – revising, repainting and restructuring until the painting finds its unsteady balance.

We have borrowed the title “Before, Again” from a 1985 series of Mitchell paintings for its poetry and temporal connotations. Exhibitions of works by these six painters chart a timeline through the gallery’s history during our two decades in three locations. Within the boundaries of a diverse program that includes sculpture, video, photography and digital media, the gallery is recognized for its commitment to painters.