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THE BREATH SERIES are mystical paintings
that contain rich layering and remarkable sense of space.
"Lerner embraces classic Abstract Expressionism's leanings
toward Asian philosophical and esthetic precepts," says
art writer Cynthia Nadelman in an essay in the exhibition
catalog. "There are sections in her paintings that absolutely
savor both of Chinese landscape painting and of calligraphy.
Sometimes an entire painting feels or looks that way, sometimes
it is a section of one of her window — like rice paper
collage elements that feels or looks that way."
The calligraphy serves mainly "as an expressive design
element, a painterly passage." Nadelman writes. "It
can be reminiscent at once of such nature imagery as a bird
in flight or a solitary reed. Or it can call to mind the combined
impression of poetry and history in an inscription down the
side of a Chinese painting.
"All of these painting events occur almost subliminally,
mediated by washes and textures that create the symphonic
backdrops against which these solo outings take place."
"Working on the floor on big expanses of canvas, Ms.
Lerner combines traditional Chinese brushwork, Jackson Pollack’s
splatter, Helen Frankenthaler’s staining and Agnes Martin’s
pencil lines to create pale, beige abstractions that are physically
assertive yet spacious and delicate.
Johnson, Ken, review, The New York Times, Friday, December 24, 1999
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