Jack Tworkov (1900-1982) was among those bold founders of the New York School who brought Abstract Expressionism to America and the world. But for a while, in the late 1940s, he sometimes applied his formidable energies to portraying some women whom he knew, not as formal portraits, but as impressions of their personalities, as might be felt as they sat in the studio one morning, chatting with the artist. So, this is a fun show, because these were smart, lively, urban women, and Tworkov enjoyed their company, as he applied a variety of color schemes and designs to make expressive snapshots of each, not as models, so much as friends. The glory of Ab-Ex painting is a sense of freedom—anything goes—but there’s a certain tension in how a woman presents herself in public, and that tension is the glory of these paintings and drawings. (Chris Miller)
Through May 23 at Valerie Carberry Gallery, John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan.
Lost in Translation: A Review of Crip* at Gallery 400 The strongest works in the exhibition succinctly express the ways the artist relates to their own body while calling out how the artist’s body and body of work has been perceived or coded against norms or ideals.
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