R.H. Quaytman Chapter 12: iamb (Fresnell lens) 2008 diamond dust, silkscreen, gesso on wood 32.5" x 52.5"

R.H. Quaytman Chapter 12: iamb 2008 silkscreen, gesso on wood 40" x 24.75"

[detail]

R.H. Quaytman Chapter 12: iamb silkscreen, gesso on wood 32.5" x 20"

The gallery press release tells us that the subject of "Chapter 12: iamb", R.H. Quaytman's exquisite and very brainy solo show which opened recently at Miguel Abreu, is "painting itself and, specifically, its relationship to the blind spot." The notes go on:

Like actual vision, Quaytman’s paintings have a blind spot, whether it be from a light source in the picture, an optical illusion, a trompe l’œil effect, the absence of color in a black and white photograph, or the picture in plan. This recurring ‘absence’ enables the works to activate one another, yet it also often shifts the axis of legibility between neighboring paintings.

About the images I've uploaded here: Since her show is about ‘absence’, I suppose I should consider that I had fair warning. Color is always a problem, and the pixels on a screen can play havoc with reproduction under the best of circumstances, but the first two images above are, more than usually, only an approximation of what you will see unmediated when you stand in the gallery itself. For example, the detail I show here, of a section located one third of the way from the right edge of the painting, actually includes parts of two color fields (this is more apparent if you move back from the computer screen).

Fortunately, since it's a part of the work being shown (each piece is intended to be viewed both by itself and in the context of its neighbors) the installation is also a triumph. It's museum quality, and I mean that in a good way: I felt like keeping my voice down, I suppose out of awe or respect, and that's not my usual approach to new art.