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.
Mark Rosenthal Studio Visit
2024.3.16
Mark Rosenthal
is a force of nature, in his energy, invention and passion for art, and
so it was with great pleasure that I was able to visit his studio, see
his tremendous output, and talk with him about his process. For years
Mark had been making abstract paintings with complex movements of
contrasting color and texture, but more recently has focused on large
paintings with figurative references, and by extension, suggestions of
narrative. These new paintings, however, actually
aren’t a new interest for him at all, but rather a continuation of
interests that have run through his art since art school days, when he
made wonderful paintings of fantastical characters in fantastical
situations. Mark says that even his “abstract” paintings are
figurative, as people in emotionally-driven situations are hidden within
the abstract forms. His working process has remained similar
throughout his career, as well. Beginning with what might read as one
of his abstract paintings, Mark lets his imagination wander, finding the
story from within the colored shapes, letting one possibility lead to
another, trusting the fluidity of his mark-making and the spontaneity of
his ingenuity, until shapes begin to coalesce into meaning, and meaning
begins to create more shapes. But content is never literal, never
absolute, always open to new interpretation. In fact, Mark seems to
enjoy pitting opposites against each other: the sharp painterly
construction of color and form with the unpredictable game of things
represented, of dark against light, and good against evil. We might
sense political overtones, comments on human nature, references to
novels or parables, or perhaps just a whimsical anecdote. For years
Mark taught art to young children, and from his spontaneous openness to
the flow of his unusual image-making, clearly he and his students shared
simpatico connections toward a freedom of expression and excitement with discovery.
discovery. We are all fortunate that one of his smaller paintings
currently is on view at Equity Gallery, through March 23, in a show
including many other wonderful artists as well, and curated by Alexandra Rutsch Brock, Patricia Fabricant, and Christina Massey.