co-organized by Douglas Melini

The Difficult Shapes of Possible Images features thirteen painters devoted to abstract image making. Encompassing a wide range of styles within this practice, these artists are commonly inspired by the world that surrounds them. They use elements of color, line, and form to distill natural and material elements as well as cultural references into unique visual spaces.

Subverting a line of poetry by Wallace Stevens, the title refers to the arduous conceptual and procedural obstacles facing artists making non-representational paintings in a period saturated with image-based work. While acutely aware of modernist traditions, each artist maintains a singularity that transcends his or her influences, having evolved from contemporary interests and concerns. Requiring a slower, more careful read than tangible, narrative-based work, these paintings are no less relevant to the current state of our visual culture.

The Difficult Shapes of Possible Images includes work by Ben Beaudoin, Jessica Dickinson, Terry Haggerty, Francis Holstrom, Clint Jukkala, Jasmine Justice, Rory MacArthur, Douglas Melini, Ann Pibal, Ruth Root, Jason Rosenberg, Chuck Webster, and Garth Weiser.