Katherine Bradford's 'Mother Paintings' at CANADA Gallery challenges notions of contemporary significance

Katherine Bradford's exhibition 'Mother Paintings' at CANADA Gallery in New York City ran from April 15 to May 15, 2021, marking her third solo show at the gallery since 2016. The exhibition featured new works exploring maternal themes through Bradford's distinctive painterly idiom, with pieces like 'Mother’s Lap' (2020) and 'Bus Stop' (2020) demonstrating her evolving approach to form and color. Bradford, described as an artist at the height of her powers, employs a humorous humanism and narrative color sensibility while avoiding repetition across her career. Her previous CANADA shows include 'Fear of Waves' (2016) with cosmic bathers and 'Friends and Strangers' (2018) focusing on social interactions. The 'Mother Paintings' depict figures in relational scenarios, with elongated arms serving psychological functions and color achieving ferocious autonomy reminiscent of tachisme or Hans Hofmann. Art critic David Cohen references psychologist D.W. Winnicott's concept of the 'good enough mother' to contextualize Bradford's exploration of maternal archetypes and human presence. The review positions Bradford's work against pessimistic views about contemporary art's significance, notably contrasting with critic Blake Gopnik's assessment that current art lacks truly important developments. Cohen argues that Bradford's exhibition represents art history in the making, with formal decisions carrying symbolic weight tied to dualities of archetype and humanity.