Janet Kurnatowski Gallery is pleased to present “Inside Abstraction”, June 5th through July 12th, an exhibition that brings together ten exciting artists for the first time: Srule Brachman, Brice Brown, David Cummings, Scooter Flaherty, Sam Fryer, Chris Martin, Gelah Penn, Michael Shapiro, Evelyn Twitchell and Kim Uchiyama. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday, June 5th from 7 to 9PM.

Curated by Vered Lieb; some of the visual artists showcased have shown extensively while others are new and emergent artists. All of the artists in this show are united in certain visual concerns that they express primarily through abstract means. Each of the artists uses Nature as a point of departure.

The art critic, Joseph Masheck suggests in his essay, “The Carpet Paradigm” that all abstract painting might be viewed as either a portrait or a landscape. Viewed with this in mind, one could debate the issue whether Kim Uchiyama’s or Scooter Flaherty’s painting of broad bands of color describe a landscape, or if David Cummings work derives particular meaning as a series of portraits, while Srule Brachman actually entitles his rough hewn geometric compositions, “Dancing with Ronnie”. However, the intention of the curator was to present a variety of ways of approach to making painting.

“In the l950’s four highly different approaches to painting might be said to have surfaced represented by Jackson Pollock, Rothko, Kline and Clifford Still. As watershed painters their work naturally led others who came after them to take their basic approach and ideas and run with them. Schools of painting emerged that stained and dripped on canvas, or folded and pleated them. Both Minimalism and Process Art, engendered profound experimentation with the material means of making sculpture and the spacial context it shares with painting. In all cases, whether gestured or minimal, the painting was acknowledged as a unified surface plane and the painting presented as a special object.” VL

Far from exhausting the subject matter of “Inside Abstraction”, the gallery and curator hope that this exhibition will lead to others in the near future. The Brooklyn and Greater New York art communities abound in impressive talent, and this exhibition captures but a small “slice” of the explosive creative energy and intellectual ferment that is going on there.

A short essay by Vered Lieb is available at the desk along with resumes, reproductions, and statements by the artists.