Burning Flame

There is an interesting show - Unfathom –  at Max Protetch at the the moment, the highlight of which, judging from the website at least is this: Burning Flame by Mira Dancy. It has been a while since I have been excited by an abstract painting; there have been stirrings, but no real excitement, and not since Mark Grotjahn way back when. What the two of them have in common seems to be the ability to unburden their paintings from the weight of abstraction leaving just its playfulness behind. And Dancy seems to do this whilst maintaining an inward gaze that is both reflective and devotional. There is an entertaining press release accompanying the show in which one of the curators – Stuart Krimko – agonizes over the use of the word “spirituality” as a means of description of the works there, and while he gives in, it is easy to see why this was such a moot point. What Dancy’s paintings seem to have at least, is a self revealing intensity of moment, like when you find yourself staring at something for a second or two too long before blinking and snapping out of it. So, if not spirituality, then perhaps finite devotion.