YELLOW BIRD

Newburgh, New York

Gloria Garfinkel classifies the works in her "Hanabi" series, which are fabricated out of aluminum wedges and painted with acrylic, as "outdoor paintings." They successfully span the divide between painting and sculpture. In this generous retrospective encompassing four series of paintings, collages and sculptures, the "Hanabi" works stood out.

The fused triangular elements in these eleven constructions, dating from 1994 to 2005, balanced precariously against one another like a house of cards, also suggesting the folded delights of origami. The works are insistently decorated on both sides and every edge with bright colors and patterns that evoke Japanese motifs as well as works by such Western artists as Matisse. Scrutiny revealed that no two patterns were exactly alike. Lyrical, finished pieces in their own right, they serve as maquettes for gargantuan cousins, one of which, at 19 feet tall, dominated the space. In addition there were a half-dozen collages and 20 shaped canvases from the "Ginza Kimono" and "Kiku" series. Oilstick drawings from the mid-1980s and monoprints from the late 1990s, respectively. Spanning 20 years of creative output, this show revealed an impressive range of inspiration and expressions.

— Gerard Haggerty