MAGGIE MICHAEL – THERE IS NO RISING OR SETTING SUN
2011-09-05Her new work sees a further evolution in Michael’s oeuvre following the introduction of text-based works in her exhibition All at Once (2008).
In There is No Rising or Setting Sun, text is both obscured and evident: “I incorporate the negative and positive shapes of letters in areas of paintings for an abstract recognition and texture, no pun intended. Sometimes, these areas are not saying anything; however, the letter shapes/negative spaces are familiar and exist not to be decoded, but there.” The work and spirit of Samuel Beckett are predominant, whether in appropriated text such as: “no symbols where none intended” and “The tears of the world are a constant quality …The same is true of the laugh,” or in a text-less painting referencing the curiosity of Beckett’s character Watt (from the novel of the same name), who tries to understand an abstract image. “Like abstract painting,” says the artist, “Beckett’s works are experienced, heard, and understood on instinct, pressingly (depressingly) open; the viewer fills in the spaces.”
Opposite – Danube Series: There is No Rising or Setting Sun (Night), 2011
Exhibition runs through to October 22nd, 2011
G Fine Art
1350 Florida Ave
Washington DC
20002
