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.

Maja Kihlstedt & Upstate NY Weekend galleries
2024.7.24
Like last year, this year’s Upstate NY Weekend of art events and gallery exhibitions included many exciting shows, from Steven Harvey’s large Who’s-Who popup display in Ellenville of work by, among others, June Leaf and Gandy Brodie, early paintings by Ruth Miller, Paul Resika, Lennart Anderson, Raoul Middleman, Bob Thompson, Wolf Kahn, plus artists of younger generations, such as Kyle Staver, Gregory Amenoff, Mary Flinn, Peter Acheson, Chuck Bowdish, and Susan Lichtman, to the intriguingly diverse “The Librarian” installation at Lockwood Gallery in Kingston of art made from or about books, from Private Public’s show of Debra Darcy’s light-filled and subtle paintings reminiscent of dreams over misty ponds, and finally, Pamela Salisbury’s smorgasbord including Susan Jane Walp, Ying Li, Deborah Kahn and Mark Milroy. Unfortunately, all these shows just closed, but still open through August 1, and definitely worth the trip, is “Precision of Line,” a group show of drawings at the Spencertown Academy that includes intense drawings of botanicals by Maja Kihlstedt. These are large (most are 22x30 inches or larger) graphic drawings of simple weeds, shown in all their complexity, with hidden segments and hidden meanings. Each drawing could be looked at for hours, allowing exploration of the depths behind and behind again, of the light that organizes the complexity and creates mystery beyond, of the joy of discovery and the loving tenderness and expertise of the artist. Under her probing eye and hand, Maja transforms her almost scientific scrutiny of, for instance, the bristles of a dandelion or the petals of an iris, into metaphoric suggestions of architectural structures, creatures, and other natural forms. These were slow drawings to make, and are slow drawings to observe, but giving them their time will take you to another place where you might meander into the unknown and walk into a real yet magical world of wonder.  

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt, detail of previous drawing

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt, detail of previous drawing

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt, detail of previous drawing

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt

Maja Kihlstedt

Bob Thompson

Chuck Bowdish

Gandie Brodie

Gregory Amenoff

June Leaf

Kyle Staver

Lennart Anderson

Mary Flinn

Paul Resika

Peter Acheson

Raoul Middleman

Ruth Miller

Stanely Lewis

Susan Lichtman

Wolf Kahn

Ying Li

at Lockwood Gallery

at Lockwood Gallery

at Lockwood Gallery

Deborah Darcy

Deborah Darcy

Deborah Kahn

Mark Milroy

Susan Jane Walp

Ying Li