Continuing through December 18, 2010
The paintings of Susie Rosmarin are evidence that Op Art and all of its visual effects have sustained longevity. At forty-five, the painting style seems to be hale and hardy, and doing what it always has done: bring visual perception to bear on form through optical illusion. At forty-five, the painting style seems to be hale and hardy, and doing what it always did. It thus follows that Rosmarin's work is not so much old fashioned, but sticking to a well trod path. They are safe and easy to swallow and understand. There is no bucking the system of art or capitalism here, but rather reinforcing predictable boundaries.
This is not to say, however, that Rosmarin's paintings are not well made. She applies thin lines of acrylic paint using tape to demarcate the adjacent space on the canvas. "Spectrum #11" is a large grid of intricately layered lines of color that seem at once woven together, but just as readily free standing as if in the digital realm. There are twenty squares of color, shifting from green to blue to pink to yellow.
Ultimately, Rosmarin's paintings are a matter of the formalism wrought by color theory shot through the prism of steady and well-honed craft. Perhaps not such a bad thing, these are paintings that shine in their sense of perfect craft rather than any substance or engagement with thinking or politics beyond the decorative.
Dunn and Brown Contemporary
