Artjail is pleased to announce the exhibition Painting Comes Alive! Functioning as a survey of recent developments in abstract painting, the show spans a diverse range of work culled from 25 New York-based artists. We tend to think of abstract art as being non-representational, non-figurative or non-objective, yet all of these terms are used solely to describe what the work is not. This exhibition allows for a chance to focus on what the work is.

Richard Diebenkorn cited the definition of abstract as simply “to draw from or separate,” expressing his frustration with the limitations of the term in regards to art. He was indeed in a predicament, having shifted from an abstract expressionist style to a figurative one in a time when most artists were aligning themselves to the notion of “pure” abstraction. The fact that both modes of working bore similar formal qualities was seemingly lost on dismissive critics. This can also be referred to as the “de Kooning conundrum,” made apparent when Clement Greenberg said to Bill in reference to his use of the figure, “you’re dead.”

In these examples, we can see the problematic nature of the notion of “progress” in art, especially now that we have seen figuration (and painting) die and come back so many times it can make your post-neo-faux-expressionist-pre-figurative-proto-conceptual head spin. In this way, it can easily be argued that all of the work in the show is both “abstract” and “painting,” but by grouping potentially contradictory artistic tendencies together, the exhibition seeks to question assumptions about both.

Featuring: Justin Adian, Liz Ainslie, Ivin Ballen, Joe Ballweg, Erik den Breejen, Maria Calandra, Andy Cross, Joy Curtis, William Downs, Ryan Franklin, Jay Gaskill, Zach Harris, Christine Heindl, Ezra Johnson, Jim Lee, Elisa Lendvay, JJ Manford, David McBride, Kelly McRaven, Colin Ocon, Mike Olin, Carl Ostendarp, Courtney Puckett, Mathias Sias, and Wendy White.

The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to six p.m.