The Grid

Barbara Kerwin's installation, The Grid [also] emphasized incongruities within geometric structure, but poetically placed an emphasis on the beauty of unresolved tensions: of physical presences (inherently organic) within structured spaces; of visceral masculinity confronted with emotive femininity; with fleshtone colors eerily alive, pink and healthy, but just as squeamishly, uhh…, boxed!

Finding a rhythm among these relationships seemed Kerwin's strong suit. Normally vapid formal associations of depth and texture within the framework of perfect squares here subtlely resonated the fate of flesh and blood on a time structure. Her organic compositons were presented within the classic geometric lexicon heretofore reserved for critical arguments about formal relationships and hierarchies of order.

The incongruous slips to mere irony as it strides towards the obvious. Kerwin realizes that maintaining poise and subtlety are what keeps her approach to re-conceiving the Modernist grid so very interesting.

NUMBER ONE THING TO DO IN L.A., “The Grid“, an exhibition of paintings by BARBARA KERWIN, opens Saturday at Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Broadway Gallery Complex, Santa Monica…Through April 12, (1997)