ART-PRESENTATION: Marilyn Lerner-Harmonies – dreamideamachine ART VIEW

Marilyn Lerner believes that the language of geometry is infinite and embedded in every culture, and that both colour and nuance of surface are integral parts of the dialogue. Her dynamic abstract geometric paintings draw on the power of colour and a vocabulary of elementary shapes and symbols. The use of circles, ovals, squares, rectangles and triangles result in works that range from the spare to the intensely complicated.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: CUE Art Foundation Archive

The exhibition “Harmonies” by Marilyn Lerner at CUE Art Foundation is comprised of a series of vibrant, geometric abstract paintings on wooden panels and shaped supports. While Lerner’s paintings appear to strive towards perfection, that is not the aim of the artist. Up close, one clearly sees her hand at work in the brushstrokes on these slowly realised paintings. For a number of years Lerner built a wide variety of geometric shaped formats for her paintings but eventually settled on the traditional square and rectangle. She now works on wooden panels fabricated to her specification with bevelled edges so that the paintings seem to almost float off the wall. Geometric abstraction is present among many cultures throughout history both as decorative motifs and as spiritual signifiers themselves. Lerner has always been interested in non-western cultures. She made numerous trips to Morocco and Tunisia in the ‘70s, and to Asia in the ‘80s, trips that greatly influenced and encouraged the geometry in her practice. The works of the exhibition are informed by Lerner’s wide-ranging travels, as well as her fascination with music, particularly Algerian Raï folk music. Created over the past two years, the paintings in this exhibition are the latest embodiment of a singular, rigorous practice, an exploration of colour and form that Lerner has pursued for decades.

Info: Curator: Deborah Kass, CUE Art Foundation, 137 West 25th Street, New York, Duration 8/9-15/10/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00, http://cueartfoundation.org