Painters Who Take Their Cues From Science:
A Dozen Contemporary Artists Reconstruct Nature
At Baruch's Mishkin Gallery

February 4 to March 2, 2000

In an era defined by scientific marvels-whether genetic manipulation or NASA voyages-it is no surprise that artists are seeking ways to document science by creating metaphors that involve chance, evolution, and the powerful laws of nature hidden from the naked eye. In the exhibition Reconstructions: The Imprint of Nature/The Impact of Science, twelve contemporary artists visualize some of the concepts of modem science. Curated by gallery director Sandra Kraskin, the exhibition will be at the Baruch College Mishkin Gallery, from February 4 through March 2, 2000. Opening reception, Thursday, February 3, 5 - 7 p.m.

Drawing inspiration from scientific models, natural history displays, digital images, charts, and fractals, the artists use the traditional medium of painting to reconstruct these representations of the natural world. Their gestural approach can evoke such events as chemical reactions, the movement of electrons, heart rhythms, and a variety of other organic and inorganic processes. Remarkably, they do so in a painterly rather than a precisionist manner, avoiding the reductivism. that often results from depictions of science-as-art.

Dove Bradshaw's Contingency Pour creates and observes the chemistry of sulfurated potash with silver when poured on a linen surface.The activity that results over time is complicated and unpredictable, involving, as it does, the instability of chemicals and the process of oxidation.

Ellen K Levy's work, Shared Premises: Morris Elephant/Noland Plane, draws its inspiration from a display at the National Technical Museum in Prague and seeks to show kinship between technological invention and biological evolution.

Other artists in this exhibition include Richmond Burton, Lydia Dona, Vernon Fisher, Melissa Gwyn, Jane Hammond, Doug Martin, Donna Moylan, Alexis Rockman, Juan Usle, and Darren Waterston. Their ambitious reach includes studies of machine parts, the trajectory of a fly on a wall, and renderings of strange and fantastic biological specimens. Each artist is represented by a single outsized canvas, suggesting the magnitude of the project undertaken.

The Sidney Mishkin Gallery is located at Baruch College, 135 East 22 Street, New York City.
Gallery hours are:
Monday-Friday, 12 noon-5 p.m.
Thursdays, 12 noon-7 p.m.
All exhibitions at the gallery are free and open to the public.

© 2000 Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College

Zane Berzins (news office)
(212) 802-2881
zberzins@newton.baruch.cuny.edu