Ricco/Maresca Gallery is pleased to present “Hester Simpson,” an exhibition of intimately scaled abstractions in acrylic. Simpson says “Tracing the arc of my small abstract acrylic paintings over the last decade reveals shifts in an ongoing fascination with geometry…The loop form in my current work implies movement, release from stasis, discovery through incident, accident, aperture.” Simpson’s delicate wood panel paintings are imbued with incredible dedication. Created over time using smooth layers of color, their visually textured depths possess a poetic mystery.

Mario Naves, who has followed Simpson’s work for over 20 years, explained his fascination in the catalogue essay for the current exhibition. When viewing Simpson’s work, “Beauty is guaranteed. “Beauty”, in this case, is a condition of an artist who has mastered her craft while remaining open to, and driven by, its challenges.” He continues, “Her patterned geometric shapes and calligraphic structures are luxurious in a way that seems incommensurate with the medium.” Earlier in Simpson’s career, Phyllis Braff reviewed the 1999 group show “The Grid” at Nese Alpan Gallery in the New York Times, and singled Simpson’s work out for special praise: “Grids can trigger sensual vibrations, as demonstrated in several handsome paintings by Hester Simpson. The broad expanses of tightly detailed linear designs over a mottled color field have a meditative quality. When these mesmerizing rhythms suddenly alter slightly, the break has the forceful impact of a ritual being challenged.”

Simpson’s work has been reviewed in the The New York Observer, The New York Times, and Artnews, among others. Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, and she has received grats and residencies from institutions such as The Adolph & Ester Gottlieb Foundation. She has been visiting art faculty at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Parsons School of Design, TylerSchool of Art and School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston; she herself attended Carnegie Mellon-University.