Judith Geichman: New Paintings and Works on Paper

February 9—March 30, 2013

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Judith Geichman, opening Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 5 – 8 PM. This new series of black and white abstract work was created through a process of adding and editing, a gestural layering that experiments with a new language of abstraction.

Within each of Geichman’s paintings, marks, stains, pours and drawings conjure unexpected relationships to landscape and to the figure. Each square-format painting is composed of acrylic and enamel on canvas. Typically restrictive, this Modernist structure liberates Geichman’s use of arrangement, movement, and rhythm. Positioning the paintings like a theater in the round, the square establishes multiple approaches to make and to view each piece.

Geichman’s paintings are rich with art history, and include influences from both Western and Eastern canons. From Imagist Ray Yoshida she incorporates graphic mark making as a vehicle to build each painting, while New York School artists such as Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler inspire Geichman’s stained canvases. Her study of Chinese scholar’s rocks provides an interest in atmospheric spaces whereas she derives the use of pattern and curvature from Arabesque sources.

On view in gallery two, Geichman’s new works on paper are immediate and economical. The artist’s exploration of the Chicago cityscape, as well as recent travels to Iceland and Ireland, inspired her to experiment with new tools and techniques in her studio. Before translating her latest ideas to canvas, she drafted a body of paper pieces. Formal contrasts between light and dark, figure and ground, and flat and volumetric spaces allow Geichman to imagine a world, a space, and a place in each piece.

Judith Geichman: New Paintings and Works on Paper is on view through March 30, 2013. The gallery will host an artist talk and closing reception on Saturday, March 30 from 1 to 5 PM.

Judith Geichman is an Adjunct Professor of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received her MFA in 1978. She is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowships,The Margaret Klimek Phillips Fellowship and participated at The Gil Society Residency in Akureyri, Iceland, as well as the Visiting Artist Residency at the American Academy in Rome. Past solo exhibitions include Julius Caesar, Chicago Cultural Center, Spertus Museum, and Evanston Art Center. Her work was the subject of a two-person show (alongside Phyllis Bramson) at Carrie Secrist Gallery in 2010.