The hypnotic paintings in Jane Abrams exhibition, “Flow and Tangle,” draw viewers in, closer and closer. Then, naturally, an equal and opposite reaction occurs: the audience starts to back up, farther and farther, until the pictures come into focus again.
Despite the motif, Abrams’ artwork does not feel repetitive. Two distinct works “Capricorn Morning” and “Silvery Pond” seem only tangentially related with their tangled brushwork and pale tones of blue and green. Abrams’ labyrinths of plants deflect attention from any one thing. The rhythmic density of the flora is like a subway station at rush hour full of energy, ambiguity, and wild uproar as demonstrated in “Elijah’s Fish Tangle.” Abrams’ “Duranes Pond” echoes Claude Monet’s and Vincent Van Gogh’s appreciation for natural forms and light. Even Abrams’ energetic brushwork in the background has links to Van Gogh’s intuitive understanding of the relationship between energy and matter.
Abrams, a native of Wisconsin, for the past thirty years has lived and worked in Los Ranchos Village in the North Valley near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her travels to Mexico, Central America, Spain and Asia have introduced exotic subjects into her pulsing, colorful canvases which deal with themes of man and nature. The jungle, with its hidden wonders and mystery, is often times the setting for her work.
Abrams is Regents’ Professor Emeritus from the University of New Mexico where she taught painting and drawing from 1971 until 1993. Her work is included in public collections across the United States and in London, Costa Rica and Spain. She continues to exhibit her work and paint in her studio in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.
The Mariposa Gallery, located in historic Nob Hill on Route 66, remains one of the oldest contemporary craft galleries in the country, exhibiting the finest contemporary art, jewelry and ceramics in New Mexico since 1974.
Jane Abrams’ exhibition, Flow and Tangle, will hang through August 31 at the Mariposa Gallery, 3500 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, (505) 268-6828 www.mariposa-gallery.com
