Louise Fishman / John Zurier April 3 - 28, 2001 Louise Fishman At once spontaneous and deliberate, Louise Fishman's work is densely constructed, full with underlying layers. These expressive works draw attention to the complexity of the very material from which they are made. Fishman's paint is a sensuous medium that is "ground-up earth and rocks; � earthy, plastic and metallic," as she is quoted in a recent New York Times article. As the critic John Yau writes of Fishman's process, "Through �adding and subtracting and adding again, she is able to arrive at something quite unexpected. The surfaces are layered, dug into, torn open, and peeled back." Louise Fishman has been the recipient of several prestigious awards and grants including the Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation.
	John Zurier Zurier's new presentation of medium-sized canvases continues the refinement of his practice of quiet, atmospheric painting. These softly hued works are reductive but with a strong human presence. Light brushstrokes are applied so that gesture is faintly visible. His pigments are chosen with careful regard both to their esthetic effect and to the technique and tradition in which they were formed. All of Zurier's works are painted on stretched linens that are manufactured in Russia. These thin-profiled canvases imported from Moscow provide the support for his paintings and, nearly by coincidence, participate in the theme of his inspiration: Russian culture, especially the writings of Osip Mandelstam, Konstantin Paustovsky and Andrey Platanov. For many years the artist has immersed himself in Russian literature, music and film, partly towards a better understanding of his own cultural roots. Of these canvases the artist says: "What I love about them is their sturdy, awkward and defiantly hand-made quality. I love that people unknown to me have made them and I can still see the traces of their hands on them� They are not machine made on an assembly line and everything about them speaks to a quality of time and human imperfection." A reception for the artists will be held at Gallery Paule Anglim Thursday, April 5, from 5:30 to 7:30pm.