Raphael Rubinstein

What a beautiful little book. I read it, at last. You will get through it in a single sitting, not because it is short, which it is, but because of the way each short tale of a contemporary artist satisfies, creating a desire for another, like a box of truffles. The small book feels like a treatise against International Art English, too. All of the proper nouns and provenances and influences are missing, leaving behind stories that feel like biography, nonfiction, fiction, poetry. It is a show more reminder of what drives contemporary art, insightful, eccentric, obsessed human beings. show less

This exhibition -- along with curator/critic Rubinstein's essay -- admirably captures a fascinating but previously undefined period in the history of abstract painting. While many of these artists attained a fair level of success in the art world, their achievements were eclipsed by the more easily marketable Neo-Expressionism and Neo-Geo movements that overlapped the decade. Which is too bad, as these painters were more interesting and complex.

To hear from many of the show participants, show more seek out David Ryan's Talking Painting: Dialogues with Twelve Contemporary Abstract Painters. show less