K a r e n   J a c o b s
acrylic on canvas

to the gallery exhibit

Abstract painting isn't something that just happened in the 1950's and then disappeared. This particular form has developed and matured over the years, comfortably melding itself into the realm of varied traditions of easel painting. The universal components that make up a work of art isn't relegated to preconcieved ideas of what constitutes a painting but rather what painting is about in the first place. 

I find there is something so very engaging in the  skillful and creative works of Karen Jacobs which I think sets her apart from the norm.  Her in depth understanding of color, mass, line, shape and space is more than a mastery of technique but is the fluency of language that speaks with a profound wisdom of what painting can be about.

I consider this artist's work to be a classic example of the timelessness of art, divorced from cultural references, pointedly addressing the core of essential experience.  Her work is an active ingredient, stirring up an emotional rapport and participation, not from our minds but from another place of understanding.

There is a sensual quality underlying the surfaces of these paintings that is lush and rich but at the same time elusive and mysterious. Experiencing these pieces, I seem to be oscillating between physical gratification of the visual senses and the sense of discovery and happenings on a prolonged personal journey.

The elements of recall, the embodiment of meaning and the interjection of my own interpretation of what is seen, is something that is an individual response, different for everyone. That is what I believe constitutes the power behind these works, the elasticity of experience that the works  encourage from the viewer.   

 Chris Ray - exhibition curator

to the gallery exhibit