Dorothea Rockburne's New Cut Canvases Bridge Abstraction and Minimalism

In the 1980s, as expressive and figurative forms emerged, the tension between rigorous abstraction and poetic transcendence became central to non-objective painting. Dorothea Rockburne's recent cut canvases, created over the past two years, mark a new direction in her career. These works are painterly in execution, sumptuous in physical presence, and almost romantic in evocation. They provide an ideal pretext to explore the relationship between contemporary abstract painting, sculpture, and the austerity long associated with Minimalism and its antecedents.