postcript from the press release for ‘…’

“Lest we find this press release too self-consciously “clever”, let me reaffirm that all these artists are crucially interested in being a part of the traditions of abstract painting, while turning the perhaps misapplied seriousness of its legacy on its head. They all seek a way of making a sincere and poignant abstract expression of feelings and ideas, but use various methods of distancing themselves from the myth of the lone artist pushing paint around with their heroic brush; in fact none of these artists use a brush per se.

To be a young artist who engages with the daunting abyss of the abstract tradition, these artists critique and burlesque the enormity of the philosophical trajectories of abstraction, while not quite wanting to let them die. The humor is there to humanize abstraction and to acknowledge the widely perceived futility of it, while the artists themselves do not see abstract approaches as futile. Perhaps the more apt quote (elided of course) would be from Herman Hesse “It is an … idea that the more pointedly and logically we formulate a thesis, the more irresistibly it cries out for its antithesis.”

An earlier version of this post had the quote attributed to Matt Jones (Check out his tumblr), when in fact it is written by Kathy Grayson and is part of the press release.  Apologies for the confusion.