No Barrier Fun

One common formal thread in recent work by young artists—and in some cases by representatives of an earlier generation—has been a determined concentration on edges and margins. Some of these artists build grids only to destabilize them through a reconsideration of their boundaries; others revive ... Read more

One common formal thread in recent work by young artists—and in some cases by representatives of an earlier generation—has been a determined concentration on edges and margins. Some of these artists build grids only to destabilize them through a reconsideration of their boundaries; others revive the tradition of the decorative border, or extend the active areas of their paintings up to or around their sides. These formal strategies have a variety of ideational and emotional effects, sometimes engendering and riffing on a feeling of intimacy, at other times accentuating the impression of infinite space. In these works, the border may come to represent a portal to another time or place, or it may assume the protective, containing role of a membrane, skin, or shell. Ultimately, No Barrier Fun is as much about the void or the space of potential as it is about the barrier itself, as much about the interior as that which surrounds it. The edge, it proposes, may be both an ending and a beginning.