The title Entropvisions is in homage to my mother, the poet and art critic, Harriet Zinnes. In 1990 New Directions published a collection of her poems titled Entropisms, a word she made-up combining entropy - the tendency toward disorder - and tropism - the growth towards or away from a stimulus. Similarly, my short reviews combine entropy and tropism by suggesting growth towards a vision of art from the chaos of the art world. Through the back door, my title also pays homage to my physicist father, Irving Zinnes, whose long discussions with my mom got her thinking about entropy and tropism in the first place.

Graham Nickson at Betty Cunningham & Colter Jacobsen at Tibor de Nagy
2022.10.17
The (basically) all black-and-white exhibition of Graham Nickson at Betty Cunningham Gallery, and much quieter work by Colter Jacobsen at Tibor de Nagy Gallery - both shows just closed - were well worth seeing. Nickson claims finding the value patterns for his paintings is an extremely important part of his process, something made clear by the inclusion of a painting and its accompanying black-and white. The title of the exhibition, Black and White, is appropriate, as Nickson's paintings follow the stark value contrasts of black, white and just a few gray's found in his works on paper. This value pattern creates a harsh flattened effect of adamant, in-your-face color. On the other hand, Jacobsen sees in the grays of atmospheric nuance and questions. The real and imagined, mathematical pattern and natural irregularities, scientific drawing and sensitive visual observation, morph seamlessly from image to image, and within one image as well. Jacobsen's work creates a world of contemplation and interior wanderings, while Nickson's throw themselves at us with intense exteriority.

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen