Galerie Gris in Hudson, NY, is exhibiting paintings by Chris Gallagher. This exhibition of oil paintings reflects the artist’s longtime interest in invisible information and energy endlessly suspended in the circulation of the cosmos and the scientific observation of distant phenomena. The parallel linear bands of luminous color pulsate from edge to edge on the canvas and register the hand of the artist through the slight imperfections in the brushwork. The bands run vertically, horizontally or diagonally, in some cases possessing a gentle curve. They are built with multiple layers of paint that achieve glowing, vibrating streams that suggest the dizzying blur of technological information. The striations are densely packed and seem to be part of a boundless field suggesting expansion beyond the edges of the canvas--thereby creating an ongoing intuitive response and capturing something much larger than the canvas itself or, perhaps, something infinitely smaller. The exhibition also includes “Tondos”, circular format paintings that reinforce the astronomical associations and create the illusion of buoyant, slowly rotating spheres.
Elizabeth Davis
