When artists pull at polarities, they activate the pictorial surface, reshaping the creative process. The push and pull between the polarizing optics of black and white, the dichotomy between active gesture and flat ground, and the explicit contrast between tactile surfaces and crystalline flatness are hallmarks of much postwar and contemporary art. The tension that arises from this interplay carries the work to new realms. Exemplified by the paintings and sculpture in this exhibition, these seemingly opposing aesthetic approaches, rather than working against each other, act in concert to energize modern art.