Adam Rabinowitz's Psychedelic Abstraction Defies Categorization at Oolong Gallery

Los Angeles-based artist Adam Rabinowitz presents "GONGGONG" at Oolong Gallery in Tribeca, New York, through July 4, 2026. The exhibition features paintings that blend abstraction and figuration, employing a palette of pinks, blues, and purples reminiscent of West Coast psychedelia. Works like "Gonggong Music" (2026) and "Moon and Doodle" (2026) invite close viewing, revealing hidden details such as a cartoonish crescent moon or railroad tracks forming a face. Rabinowitz's process combines painting, printmaking, and textile techniques—screenprinting, staining, bleaching—on linen. The title references the dwarf planet 225088 Gonggong, the Chinese water god of chaos, and the sound of a gong. The review compares Rabinowitz to Barnett Newman, Joan Miró, James Turrell, and Ed Ruscha, situating his work within West Coast Minimalism, Light & Space, and Neo-Pop. Paintings like "Fear of Painting 1" (2022) and "Baby Jericho 1" (2022) feature recontextualized imagery, while "Big Cloud City 3" (2024) evokes Chinese literati landscapes. The review argues Rabinowitz resists easy categorization, rewarding prolonged engagement.