James Bohary's Abstract Expressionist Paintings at Elizabeth Harris Gallery

James Bohary, a 65-year-old painter, presents seventeen abstract works at Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New York, drawing from Abstract Expressionism with influences from Willem de Kooning and Philip Guston. His canvases, created over thirty years, feature encrusted surfaces, saturated hues, and brushy strokes that evoke landscapes of upstate New York, Puerto Rico, and Newfoundland, though these references are poetic rather than literal. Bohary's method involves jarring colors and varied strokes that impart color or superimpose grids, avoiding consistent figure-ground relationships. Paintings like "Cross Country Winter" (2002) use horizontal slashes to convey depth, while "Sid-City" (2005) employs irregular grids and thrusts of color to suggest urban environments. Titles such as "Whale-Blow-Outside" and "Ken-Bali" (2003) offer interpretive possibilities without explanations, with the latter hinting at structures and shrubs through color sequences. Unlike his teacher Guston's placid works, Bohary's art seeks external stimuli and avoids descriptive or mannered expressionism, representing a personal take on the movement. The exhibition highlights his non-formulaic color use and rhythmic compositions that expand against canvas edges.