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As the exhibition title “Cadence” implies, there is a cyclical pattern to Jill Nathanson’s paintings. In the artist’s current show at Berry Campbell in Chelsea—consisting of a dozen or so pieces remaining on view through June 30—each painting returns to a fundamental premise. All of the works rely in part on an easily grasped compositional process to create subtle color relationships that in turn complicate what seems at first a predictable formula.

Empirical Empyrean (2017), the title of one of Jill Nathanson's fifteen abstract paintings in "Cadence" at Berry Campbell, says it all. Each painting is built out of discrete, translucent color areas that thicken where they overlap. As they coalesce into fields, juxtapositions of hue prompt the eye to unify the compositions. The color transcends local incident, while the translucency generates an overall glow.

At Berry Campbell in Chelsea, we have “Jill Nathanson: Cadence” (through June 30). This lovely show, of 17 shimmering veils of color, picks up where the artist’s notable last show left off, and carries the unique presence she has established on to new triumphs.

Not many art lovers know Darby Bannard, even though he lived a long time and accomplished many things. In the late fifties, Bannard and his friend Frank Stella inspired themselves to make pictures that were very direct, to the point not many recognized them as “paintings” until almost 10 years later. In a letter to me he said the rules they followed were “the work should be very simple, flat, symmetrical and inexpressive.”( 1 ) The result, for Bannard, were pictures that can be described as direct, “in your face”.

Today, we’re meeting Jill Nathanson, a contemporary painter whose work feels summery and uplifting, and stands out from your typical pretty abstracts. Her solo show at a New York gallery just opened, so find out what you need to know about the hows and whys of her work.

Summer brings together 34 works by 7 artists who combine skeptical clarity with a mindful and at times humor-tinged desire to locate the intersection of spiritual and physical presence in daily life. The natural world serves as a doorway into a highly rarefied metaphysical realm where the sea of consciousness surges against the tangible world. Here all is in flux as distinctions between self and soul, body and spirit, past and present, mortification and bliss, confinement and escape all blur and waver. Summer celebrates the disparate elements of the Earth, while exploring the human connection to nature.

Now on view at the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation in Portland is an exhibition featuring 20 works from eight of Maine’s artist-endowed foundations. Not only is it a worthy introduction to these institutions, it is a fascinating and beautifully installed exhibition.

An artist who belongs to the Color Field legacy, according to the gallery, Jill Nathanson is a painter who goes beyond that tradition to reduce painting to its physical essence. At Berry Campbell, Nathanson will present 19 recent works, including important large-scale paintings.

Berry Campbell joins David Zwirner and Gagosian at the Seattle Art Fair in August! West Coast here we come!

We are honored to be working with Bunny Williams and Drake/Anderson for the Kips Bay Designer Show House to raise money for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. You'll see paintings by Stanley Boxer, Charlotte Park, Stephen Pace and James Walsh.