A R T   L E T T E R

The Timely Magazine of Art

Susie Rosmarin at Lynne Goode Gallery	12/1

Static.  The word in itself is ambiguous.  It implies both something which does not move and
something loaded with a disturbing impeding energy.  (There is static on the line).  Susie
Rosmarin's Static  paintings - 6 in all - are static in both senses of the word.  The underlying
system and structure of the paintings is very quiet and severe - a minute grid of grey, black and
white layers in differing combinations.  And yet in their density the pixels dance in front of your
eyes giving your vision no relief from the seemingly blank screen you are looking at.  Although
fairly small in actual size they are so powerful and unremitting that I found it extremely hard to
concentrate on anything else in the space.  By comparison the much quieter black paintings
seemed to rest too much within their own formalism whilst Phlag  and Static Studies  literally
gave too much relief in optical illusion.  But I guess that is how you know when something really
sings.- Francesca Fuchs



Susie Rosmarin at Lynne Goode	12/1

"Susie Rosmarin is a modernist"- this taunt, echoing in the back of one's mind at her one person
show at Lynne Goode gallery lends a defiant edge to her austere, precise works. In Grid Dialogs
#1, 2, and 3   the thin, brittle grid lines etch the illusion of a receding, infinite void onto each
satiny square, wavering between utter flatness and immense depth. Rosmarin's Static  paintings
are conceptually dense and visually hypnotic. At this relatively small scale (that of a TV screen)
they radiate a nervous, silvery sheen. Portraits of nothing, they evoke the blank obfuscation
which underlies the overload of media information. Static to her is a metaphor for trash; visual
nonsense which she stylizes and orders into a digital field of tiny rectangles.  Cramming together
contemporary technological references, Op art effects, and intricate, fetishistic process, the
static paintings are an overload in themselves.-B.D.



Sharon Kopriva at Barbara Davis Gallery	11/9

It's Norman Rockwell meets Tales from the Crypt. Great for a Halloween show, but then what?
Given to anecdotes, these new pieces have lost the spritual dimension that her previous work
might have had.- Bernard Brunon



J. P. Morgan Library Collection 	1/5

Reminds me of what rich people should do with their money.  One can only hope Bill Gates is as up
for the task.  Although the Magna Carta is a good start. JPM had a good eye: not for esthetics but
for 'aura'. He acquired objects (aside from their obvious historical significance) with
immeasurable aura, the secret ingredient necessary to any great art work.  Manuscripts with
notes in the margin and doodles by the author- the residue of fleeting thoughts not always present
in the finshed work, but necessary to the art process- is the most interesting aspect of the
exhibit.  These 'doodles' (like the one in Balzac's notebook) offer a kaleidoscopic glimpse into the
artist's mind. Exhibits like this remind us of the significance of the singular, rarified, handmade
object in this age of electronic reproduction. This show has resonance, says this artist.- Jeff
Elrod



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