August 2 - September 13, 2014Monday - Saturday, 10:00am - 5:30pm

Reception: Tuesday, August 5, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Catalogue Design: Dallas DunnPhotography: Jeffrey Sturges Printing: Project Graphic Management, Long Island City, NY

(Back cover) BARBARA TAKENAGAWine Dark with Star, 2013Acrylic on canvas, 42 x 36 inches

VANCE KIRKLAND (1904–1981)Explosions of Energy on a Sun 21 Billion Light Years from Earth, 1980

Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

R E S T L E S S U N I V E R S EI n n e r T h o u g h t / O u t e r S p a c e

We are living in an advanced age. More than in anyperiod of mankind’s history, technology has enabledus to have access to knowledge literally at our finger-tips. Questions are not denied answers for long. Wehave set up systems of communication so advancedthat we are able to carry on multiple conversations ondifferent platforms simultaneously and over great dis-tances. This sounds like order and yet, more oftenthan not, it feels like chaos.

There is, however, a great cosmic equalizer. Foraccess, one only has only to “look up.” We are aspecies unified by a fascination with the mysteries andgrandeur of the universe. Its sheer immeasurable sizechallenges us, makes us question our existence, ourorigins, and our spirituality.

Interest in the worlds beyond our own, whether meta-physical or purely scientific, has produced some of themost evocative works in the history of art. Featuredin our current exhibition Restless Universe are eightvisionary artists, whose curiosity or compulsionencouraged them to “look up” and contemplate thecosmos. While these artists’ interpretations vary, the

motivation to express the humbling and inspiringexperiences with the universe has been singular.

WANG MING, a Chinese born, self-taught artist firstbecame interested in the cosmos while working as anair traffic controller in Taiwan (1947-1951). In 1951Wang immigrated to the United States, residing inWashington, DC. It was here that he devoted himselfto painting full-time, developing a personal aesthetic

that combined the calli-graphic nature of Chinesepainting with the currenttrends of abstract expres-sionism in Western Art. Hestated, “I have never limit-ed myself to Eastern orWestern standards of beau-ty. My standard of beautycomes from the beauty ofthe cosmic world in theinfinity.”

Circles, used in many cul-tures to symbolize unity,wholeness, the cosmos, andinfinity, are often featured

in Wang’s work. In addition, Wang's paintings fre-quently lack a sense of gravity. This is evidenced inthe majestic painting Moment of Joy (1986-91) inwhich circular forms float weightlessly above a gray-blue ground painted with splatters in what the artistcalls “an imagined idea of space.”

In 2009 the National Air and Space Museum inWashington, DC mounted a solo exhibition of WangMing’s work.

BARBARA TAKENAGA’s work, much like thework of Wang Ming relies heavily on the circle as animportant device. Takenaga’s approach, thoughmeticulously ordered, produces a psychedelic kaleido-

ENRICO DONATI (1909 – 2008)Mystery of a Birth, 1993

Acrylic and ground quartz on linen, 36 x 32 inches

(left) Le Corpuscule et la Cité , c.1940Oil on canvas, 26 x 44 inches

scope that resembles mandalas, crop circles, planetaryor celestial formations. Small circles of varying sizeundulate across the canvas in dizzying patterns. InLines of Force (2013) a thin horizontal line separatesthe canvas into two sections with concentric circular“bursts” of precisely arranged dots radiating out fromthe center. These “bursts,” which float on a swellingbackground varying in shades of red that range fromdark to an almost burning brightness, suggest a majorgalactic action playing out on a limitless scale.Takenaga’s painting evokes awe in its masterful tech-nique. The harmony created in her spirited constella-tions draw us closer to a nature well beyond our imag-inations.

ENRICO DONATI was an artist fully imbued with amysticism based on the natural world and the cycle oflife. His surrealist paintings from the early 1940s cap-ture distant atmospheric scenes enlivened with deli-cate forms that could easily be perceived as plants oranimals, though certainly not of our planet. Lookingat Le Corpuscule et la Cité (c.1940s) it seems as ifDonati was predicting imagery that would be seenfifty years later when the Hubble telescope waslaunched into space. The primary forms of the paint-ing, situated on a restless background of inky blacks,blues, and reds, glow with a vibrancy not unlike to theHubble images of individual galaxies floating throughour universe. Though Donati eventually moved onfrom his Surrealist approach, his works continued tomaintain a sense of mystery deeply tied to the naturalworld.

In the later works of Donati, the viewer is offered amore primordial vision. The infinite backgrounds andsense of weightlessness are replaced with a strongsense of gravity. Sparked by an interest in native arti-facts and fossils, Donati began to incorporate materi-als such as dust, sand, and crushed quartz onto thecanvases. Monolithic forms jut up against each otheron solid grounds that suggest barren lunar landscapeswhich he called "Moonscapes." Though the"Moonscape" paintings of the 1950s were largely col-orless, consisting of earthy grays, blacks, and browns,

it was not long before Donati's strong sense of colorreemerged in the work. Borrowing from his earlySurrealist paintings, Donati began to build his tex-tured forms on colorful aerial backgrounds, often witha distinct horizon line emphasizing the weight of hislunar fossils. Gashes in the heavily textured formsreference ancient mark-making or glyphs as seen inthe seminal painting Lunar Island (1982).

In the late 1940s another Surrealist, GORDONONSLOW FORD, was establishing a new kind of artbased on the ideas of a shared unconscious and an“opening up of the mind” through a process he called“spontaneous painting.” Onslow Ford was alreadyrecognized in the global art community for his contri-butions to Surrealism and his lectures in New YorkCity at the New School for Social Research, whichintroduced automatism to such artists as MarkRothko, Jackson Pollock and William Baziotes. Itwas, however, in Onslow Ford’s solo exhibition,"Towards a New Subject in Painting" (1948) at theSan Francisco Museum of Art, that he introduced hismetaphysical concepts to a larger public.

Onslow Ford believed in a universal spirit of creationthat could be attained through the experience of spon-taneous painting. Inspired by Eastern philosophy andcalligraphy - lines, circles, and dots, became essentialforms in the artist's work starting in the late 1940s. Asseen in Untitled (1999), Onslow Ford's artistic exam-ination into the "inner worlds" perfectly reflects acommonly shared vision of outer space. As he con-tinued to explore these concepts, Onslow Ford's paint-ings drew greater allusions to the cosmos. As inCosmic Current (1999) the ground of the later paint-ings became almost entirely black which he referredto as "the void." “The void” is energetically populat-ed by star-like shapes, circular planetary clusters, andwhite lines and spirals, which he called "live linebeings." These “live line beings” suggest humanity’splace in the universe.

JACK WRIGHT a fellow visionary artist and friendof Gordon Onslow Ford, was also deeply interested in

the spiritual aspect of art and its exploration of scienceand consciousness. A visual kinship is exhibited inboth artists' relationships to inner thought and outerspace.

Known for his pointillist technique, Wright’s abstractpaintings typically consist of dots in harmonious colorvariations that seem to shimmer before revealing thesubtle image underneath. The patterns that Wright soprecisely employed radiate with an ethereal splendorthat makes them appear like constellations. The dotforms subtly move around the canvas or often clusterclose together evoking a galactic mass.

Wright's paintings bear a striking resemblance to artof the Australian Aborigines which often depicts theindigenous culture's concept of "Dreamtime.” Thisanimistic concept, in which time and space do notexist and the past, present and future are one entity,sought to answer questions of origin. Wright alsoexplored similar metaphysical questions through hiswork. In a 1991 letter to Gordon Onslow Ford, Wrightwrote, “Indeed, I do have faith in the mysterious func-tioning of the universe, the galaxies, black holes andfuture surprises.”

Abstract Expressionist painter RICHARDPOUSETTE-DART also believed in a reality beyondperception and saw the role of the artist to be that of a"seer." Though never fully expressionist or fullyabstract, he was an ardent Transcendentalist andbelieved that the use of symbols had the power to pro-voke the viewer into deeper states of consciousness inwhich questions of what exists beyond ordinary reali-ty could be contemplated. He felt paintings "reflectedlife as a continuum with infinite possibilities." Thereis no question that Pousette-Dart considered the cos-mos in his exploration of greater truths. In his studiojournals and many of his titles (Exploding Cosmos,Dance of Earth and Stars, Night Landscape) Pousette-Dart makes direct reference to the universe, galaxies,and the world beyond our own.

GORDON ONSLOW FORD (1912-2003)Untitled (1999-027), 1999

Acrylic on paper on linen, 36 1/2 x 63 1/2 inches

BARBARA TAKENAGALines of Force , 2013

Acrylic on canvas, 54 x 45 inches

Modern and Contemporary Art, Denver Art Museum)observed, “Though he gives these paintings space agetitles, such as Nebula Near Saturn, these are not sci-ence fiction paintings, these are paintings about theadventure of the human spirit.”

ROBERT McCHESNEY’s “Galaxy” paintings(1998-2004) are full of robust activity. With their ref-erences to clouds, stars, and globes, the works areabstract but certainly not non-objective. This distinc-tion was important to McChesney who felt that hecould “portray, in abstract painting, more of the truenature of things than in realism.”

Beginning with an underground of chaos achieved bysqueezing and manipulating wet paint across the can-vas, McChesney then began the process of achievingorder from that chaos, emphasizing elements thatpleased him and painting out those that didn’t. As inhis early work, circles colonize the paintings. In manyof the “Galaxy” paintings, such as Galaxy #48 (2004),the circles are banded and enclose swirling gaseouscloud forms, each a tiny contained universe. There isalso a sense of biology present in the works. Forexample Galaxy #51 (2004) can as easily be perceivedas cell forms or blood platelets as much as cosmic ele-ments. It is this complexity that so completely cap-tures the idea of cosmic art.

From the tiniest organisms on our planet to the fur-thest reaches of deep space there are patterns in lifethat are unavoidable and which tether us together. Theword cosmos defines the world or universe regardedas an orderly, harmonious system. The artists whochallenge themselves to capture the phenomenon,emotional significance, and vastness of the universecreate works that inspire us to see that which is notalways immediately evident, but is, at its core, thetruth of life.

Dallas Dunn 2014

In his early works Pousette-Dart employed a languageof symbols that suggest fields of cosmic energy, celes-tial imagery and planetary orbs. The composition ofthese forms creates a kinetic force. As his workmatured, Pousette-Dart, using pointillism, created anew kind of light-infused color field painting thatobliterated any foreground or background. Though atfirst glance these paintings appear to be monochro-matic, upon further viewing the complexities of thework is revealed in the intricate web of subtle colorvariations layered one over the other. Pousette-Dartis quoted as saying, “I strive to express the spiritualnature of the universe. Painting for me is a dynamicbalance and wholeness of life; it is mysterious andtranscending, yet solid and real.”

VANCE KIRKLAND’s dazzling painting Explosionsof Energy on a Sun 21 Billion Light Years from Earth(1980) is an excellent example of the artist’s maturestyle. In viewing Kirkland’s early landscape works itis evident that the artist had always possessed a strongappreciation for the fantastic. It is not until the late1950s, when Kirkland began to explore abstractionthrough a series of works made by combining oil paintand water, that he developed his highly personal visu-al flair.

Kirkland’s abstractions frequently begin with a gradi-ent background onto which a mixture of oil and wateris applied giving the picture plane nebula-like formsthat bend and twist across the canvas like currents orshockwaves. The forms are then emphasized withdots in complimenting and contrasting hues. Theintricate and unique color relationships in Kirkland’spaintings are among the most stunning aspects of theartist’s work. Kirkland possessed the remarkable abil-ity of synesthesia, a phenomenon in which music canbe perceived as color. Listening to classical music, hewould make extensive notes of the tonal combinationsand then transpose these into color arrangements.These glorious works, though always pure abstrac-tion, are meant to convey the energy of space. In“Vance Kirkland’s Visual Language,” the 1994 docu-mentary for PBS, Dianne Perry Vanderlip (Curator,

ENRICO DONATI (1909 – 2008)Lunar Island, 1982

Mixed media on canvas, 50 x 50 inches

WANG MING(right) Moment of Joy, 1985/1996Acrylic on canvas, 68 x 60 inches

WANG MINGThe Search of Infinite Cosmic World, c.1964

Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 37 inches

(right) I'm Always In Space To See The World Of Beauty, circa 1985Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 48 inches

ROBERT McCHESNEY (1913–2008)Galaxy #51, 2004

Acrylic on panel, 24 x 28 inches

JACK WRIGHT (1919-2003)Untitled (8803), 1988

Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72 inches

JACK WRIGHT (1919-2003)Metamorphosis, 1982

Acrylic on canvas, 19 x 19 inches

CHECKLIST

ENRICO DONATI (1909 – 2008)Araignée, c. 1945Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

Birth of a Malachite, 1990Mixed media on canvas, 30 x 36 inches

Le Corpuscule et la Cité, c. 1940Oil on canvas, 26 x 44 inches

Lunar Island, 1982Mixed media on canvas, 50 x 50 inches

Mystery of a Birth, 1993Acrylic and ground quartz on linen, 36 x 32 inches

Tribe, c. 1970Acrylic and sand on linen, 36 x 32 inches

VANCE KIRKLAND (1904–1981)Color Vibrations in Space, 1970Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

Explosions of Energy on a Sun 21 Billion Light Yearsfrom Earth,1980Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Red on Blues (Valhalla Series), 1965Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches

The Illusion of Mysteries Near Mars, 1975Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

Untitled (Pure Abstraction/Nebulae), 1959Oil on canvas, 36 x 22 inches

ROBERT MCCHESNEY (1913–2008)Arena #73, 1960Enamel and sand on canvas, 69 x 41 inches

Barranca #18, 1978Acrylic on panel, 36 x 36 inches

Galaxy #12, 1998Acrylic on panel, 24 x 36 inches

Galaxy #47, 2003Acrylic on panel, 28 x 36 inches

Galaxy #51, 2004Acrylic on panel, 24 x 28 inches

WANG MING (b.1921)Artist's Creation Has Unlimited Way To Decide TheFinal Vision, 1982Acrylic on Lucite box, 44 x 80 inches

I'm Always in Space To See The World Of Beauty, c. 1985Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 48 inches

Inner World and Outer World, 1985/1995Acrylic on Japanese paper, 22 3/4 x 17 3/8 inches

Moment of Joy, 1985/1996Acrylic on canvas, 68 x 60 inches

One Two Three, 1988Acrylic on canvas, 64 x 36 inches

The Search of Infinite Cosmic World, c.1964Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 37 inches

GORDON ONSLOW FORD (1912-2003)Cosmic Current, 1999Acrylic on paper on linen, 36 x 71 1/2 inches

Heart to Heart (2), 1990Acrylic on canvas, 27 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches

Premonition, 1947Casein on cardboard, 18 7/8 x 24 inches

Strawberry Fair, 1949Casein on paper, 17 5/8 x 21 5/8 inches

Untitled (1966-043), 1966Acrylic on linen, 74 1/2 x 51 inches

Serpentine Saffron, c. 1960Acrylic on paper, 9 x 11 1/4 inches

Untitled, 1976-77Acrylic, oil and watercolor on paper, 22 1/4 x 29 1/2inches

BARBARA TAKENAGA (b.1949)Green Light, 2013Acrylic on canvas, 42 x 36 inches

Lines of Force , 2013Acrylic on canvas, 54 x 45 inches

Wine Dark with Star, 2013Acrylic on canvas, 42 x 36 inches

JACK WRIGHT (1919-2003)Metamorphosis, 1982Acrylic on canvas, 19 x 19 inches

Signals from Where, 1985Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 48 inches

Soro Mystica, 1981Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

Three Possibilities, 1991Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

Two Figures, 1976Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72 inches

Untitled (8803), 1988Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72 inches

JACK WRIGHT (1919-2003)Signals from Where, 1985

Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 48 inches

DAVID FINDLAY JR GALLERYESTABLISHED 1870

724 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY212-486-7660 www.davidfindlayjr.com