at Sperone
Westwater

Swank Sadness, 1995, oil on linen, 68 x 96 in.

Swank Sadness showcases Lasker's visual manipulations as the painted lines suggest the flat drawing of a designer's marker. Lasker shows though, that this line can also be expressionistic by painting a dense tangle of black and white. Both "tangle" and "marker" play with the viewer's conception of the brushstroke. Their lack of texture makes them unable to capture subtilties of light, thus they are themselves inexpressive. However, Lasker takes pains to make the constructed stroke look spontaneous and authentic, through subtle edge irregularity as well as appropriately flattened and rounded ends. Swank Sadness could be a meticulously executed blow-up of a magic marker sketch.

In Sensible Arrangement, Lasker makes the line contradiction obvious by including gargantuan impasto strokes that are carefully heroic. The large cerulean and orange strokes are pure hue, meaning pure paint. They are unmistakably structured, with intersections of color and line planned in advance and engineered to avoid accidents of blending. The expression in these strokes is caused by their control. Lasker uses the paint in a detached demeanor which lacks the intrepid look of his expressionistic predecessors. The paint edifices defeat spontaneity, gesticulation, and emotion. The heightened shafts of paint limit the psychological impact of intersecting strokes.

Another experiment with the thickly painted line occurs in Winter Abstraction, where Lasker uses a green "weave"of paint to create extra depth by the suggestion of overlap. Restraint again makes this structure possible as Lasker has carefully crafted each stroke.

All of these works show that Lasker is not a spontaneous painter and make obvious his need to plan compositions through sketches. The use of negative space in Lasker's works is considered before paint is applied to linen. When Trees Become Flowers shows the conscious decision to interrupt an illegible green calligraphy (another investigation of line) with forms that are a "halo" of negative space. The forms themselves are positive lines of paint that repeat the width of line created by white primed canvas.

Lasker's titles give clues to the conflicts of preconceptions about the abstract brushstroke and his careful constructions. Nearly Soul and Supplemental Reality point to the fabrication or inauthenticity of his gesture. Swank Sadness questions the validity of expressionistic angst, while Sensible Arrangement describes his mode of execution and the piece's content.

Lasker's work resurrects painting from the post-modern mire as he proves that painterly issues have not been fully exhausted. In these works, Lasker investigates the historical constructs of the brushstroke, and plays with the viewer's preconceptions. His examination does not, however, prevent him from making his own discoveries in using the oil medium, and creating stimulating art in the process.

William V. Ganis

Jonathan Lasker is on view at Sperone Westwater from March 30 - April 27, 1996.