Barbara Takenaga

Paintings

March 1 - April 1, 2006

VIEW EXHIBITION IMAGES

Barbara Takenaga’s expansive visual palette is full of dense abstractions. Peppered with discrete elements which radiant and spiral outward from a central vanishing point, and dots, lines, and orbs that dance across the surface of her paintings like variables in an elegant calculus, Takenaga’s pieces radiate with an aura of whimsy and the unknown. Dazzling, circus-like colors ignite, expand, and contract against muted backdrops—rendering a hallucinogenic power similar to the psychedelic optical art of the 60s. Her perfectly calculated shapes also approximate the uniformity of fractals and microscopic organisms. Takenaga’s deftly conveyed sense of cosmic grandeur is especially potent in her Night paintings, which depict the wonder and awe that result from scrutiny of the nighttime sky.

Barbara Takenaga’s recent solo shows include Gregory Lind Gallery; McKenzie Fine Art, New York; Colorado University Museum, Boulder, Colorado; and McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas, Texas. Selected group shows from the past year include the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, The Painting Center, and Pavel Zoubok Gallery, all in New York City; DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts; and the Tang Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Takenaga has been reviewed in a number of publications, including Art in America, ARTnews, and The New York Times. Takenaga is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. She lives and works in New York and currently teaches at Williams College in Massachusetts.

• ARTIST INFO
• Press Release