Barbara Takenaga

Edited by Debra Bricker Balken and Martin Fox, Contributions by Christina Olsen, Jim Shepard, and Geoffrey Young.

At once conceptual and decorative, Barbara Takenaga's swirling, patterned paintings have been called "psychedelic" and "cosmic." Takenaga's approach to painting is both highly structured and disciplined. In this collection of over sixty paintings, the evolution of Takenaga's celestial bodies and ecstatic compositions is traced over a 20-year period. The luminous reproductions allow readers to study her intricacies of form and color. The book includes an essay that examines Takenaga's work in relation to historic precedents and current aesthetic developments; a brief consideration of Takenaga's career by novelist Jim Shepard; and a poem by Geoffrey Young.

This book accompanies the exhibition, Barbara Takenaga: Awestruck, which is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s work in nearly a decade. Bringing together paintings made over the past 25 years, the exhibition highlights dazzling demonstrations of the many approaches to abstraction that have shaped Takenaga’s career. Featuring some 45 works from institutional and private collections, this exhibition includes paintings up to her most recent, revealing Takenaga’s continued expansion of her practice across increasingly ambitious canvases, opening new paths within her ongoing exploration of abstraction. Takenaga reminds us that painting is a discipline shaped by both action and chance, so too is looking and perceiving: we make the work through our active gaze. Known for her mesmerizing, intricate compositions, this exhibition examines Takenaga’s work through four thematic sections: an emphasis on process, a masterful confusion of scale, an embrace of illusion, and reverent nods to art history. Together, these strategies work to upend the viewer’s expectations, engaging imagination and stoking curiosity.

About The Author

Debra Bricker Balken is an independent curator and writer who has organized numerous exhibitions on subjects relating to American modernism and contemporary art.

Christina Olsen is an American curator, scholar, and museum director. In 2017 she became the director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Jim Shepard is an American novelist and short story writer who teaches creative writing and film at Williams College.

Geoffrey Winthrop Young was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering.

Publish Date: October 31, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Category: Paintings - Subjects & Themes - Abstract Art
Publisher: Williams College Museum of Art & Delmonico Books•Prestel
Trim Size: 9.88 x 0.7 x 11.31 in
Pages: 143
US Price: $34.95
CDN Price: $45.00
ISBN: 978-3-7913-5700-3

Barbara Takenaga

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