MASTERS OF ABSTRACTION

Anita Shapolsky gallery is pleased to present two prominent members of the New York School of Abstraction, Seymour (Sy) Boardman and Ernest Briggs, at a new exhibition “Masters of Abstraction”. The exhibition will focus on different stages of their careers.

Sy Boardman (1921), who studied art both in Paris and New York, was influenced by early abstraction of the twentieth century. His earlier work is based on grid like forms, evoking the geometric structure of the world around us, urban architecture, or the human body. In 1960’s he moved towards monochromatic, hard-edge shapes of contrasting colors, often levitating at the edge of the canvas. After brief period of black canvases with dramatic white lines of primed canvas he moved to thin lines and precise simple geometric forms with minimum of contrast. In late 1984 his paintings adopted irregular shapes at the canvas’s edge and bold colors on the layered background. As he worked the ground of the paintings more, Boardman returned to the personal gesture and hand drawn line (1988), using acrylic, oil and oil stick on canvas. Sy Boardman passed away in 2005 at the age of 84. His works are in the collections of Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and others.

Ernest Briggs (1923) studied in San Francisco and later moved to New York. He belongs to both California and New York School of Abstract Expressionism. His earlier works were in figurative symbolic style. The work from the 1950’s can be characterized by loose abstractions and strong, rhythmic brushstrokes. In the 1960’s he switched between acrylic and oil, creating large canvases characterized by dark, deep colors or lighter strokes, sometimes with unfinished spaces or on unprimed canvas. Before his death Briggs simplified the form while still maintaining his wide color palette. With horizontal and vertical lines and forms the paintings were more controlled. Briggs used the basic elements of composition studies of the synergy between form and spatiality. He brought out the essence of form with maximal intensity in his works. Briggs passed away in New York in 1984. His works are in the collections of Whitney Museum of American Art, Hirshhorn Museum, San Francisco Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, San José Museum of Art, and others.