Amy Sillman's 'Alternate Side' Installation at Dia Bridgehampton Explores Painting's Boundaries

Amy Sillman's site-specific installation 'Alternate Side (Permutations #1–32)' at Dia Bridgehampton features 32 untitled monotypes displayed alongside painted and screenprinted walls. The monotypes, created during a residency at Two Palms, incorporate asemic writing and recurring forms like zigzagging lines and ovals against hazy color fields. Sillman's work challenges conventional interpretations of feminist painting that emphasize spontaneity and affect, instead pursuing structured investigations into painting's fluidity under self-imposed constraints. Her practice over three decades has evolved from earlier paintings depicting tragicomic sexual encounters and mythological scenes to this current exploration of precision coexisting with democratic viewing. The installation includes frenzied applications of unconventional materials like turmeric on south walls, creating quasi-Fauvist vibrancy, while north walls feature ink spatters and screenprints with condensed forms. Sillman deliberately collapses binary oppositions between language and perception while resisting painting's ontological purity. The exhibition continues through May 25, 2025, as documented in ArtReview's October 2025 issue. Sillman's work is often discussed alongside contemporaries Laura Owens, Jacqueline Humphries, and R.H. Quaytman, artists who gained prominence since the early 1990s through large-scale examinations of postmodern image circulation.