Contemporary American painting and sculpture

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fromsuchafundamentalh'structuralmcthociofdesign.Suchapainting

asGeorgeRatkai'sTheCrystalGazer,richinpersonalandpsychological

o\ertones, isstructurallycomposed inc\eryway,with abalancingof

form,color,mo\ement,space,andtexturewhichnotonlycontributesto

thespecificdescriptiveandspiritualcontentofthework,butwhichexists

foritselfaswell.Again,inaverydifferentway,SueoSerisawa,inhis

House of Cards,builds up astrongly organized, almostarchitectonic

designinwhichasenseofinteriororderandstructureisinsistedupon.

Butoften,ashasbeensaid,itisforminmotionwhichbestexpresses

ourconceptofcontemporarytruth.Theflowingqualityofdesignwhich

TomBenrimoemploysinPastoralesubtlysuggestsapenetratingmusical

quality.Formsdissolve,contoursshiftandadjustthemselvesinaninani-

matekindofdynamicmotionwhichisthesinglemostimportantfactorin

thiswork.Objectsnolonger areimportantfor andinthemselves,but

ratheras\'ehiclesforintangible forceswhichre\ealthemseh'es bythe

changestheymakeinmaterialthings,likethewindblowingthrougha

fieldoftallgrass.FrankDuncan'sThroughtheWindow,whileitgives

sufficientlyclearexpressiontosuchidentifiableobjectsasachair,table,

bowl,andsoon,isfarmoreintere.stedintheinvisibleplaneswhichlead

fromonepointinspacetoanother,giN'inglargenessandbreadthtothe

composition. Insomewhatthesame way.HazardDurfee, inSeascape

No.II,suggestsvastdistances,notthroughlinearoratmosphericper-

spective,butratherthroughmo\'ementsofplanes,whichcutthroughtan-

gibleobjectsandthemselvescarrytheburdenofthepicture.TheTrojan

HorseofMarthaVisser'tHooftexploitsmanyoftheseideasaboutspace

asamovingratherthanastaticthing.Thevoidsbecomemoreimportant

thanthesolids.Weseethroughobjects,aroundthem.Anangularseriesof

panelsinthebackgroundsurprisinglyincreasesinsizeasitrecedesfrom

thepictureplaneinsteadoftheotherwayaround:itisasifwe,thespec-

tators,wereourselvesmovingbackintothepicturedspace.JimmyErnst's

ColorIsolationis anextraordinary exampleof abstract mo\ement in

space.Herewedonotinterpretlinesaslinesalone,butratherasedges

ofplaneswhichmovesharplyandfreelyintothebackground.