Mary Frank
Paintings & Works on Paper
January 5 - February 4, 2006
Opening Reception Saturday, January 7 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm

Mary Frank’s recent mixed media paintings and works on paper -- collages and monoprints -- concentrate on human and animal figures in natural and man-made exterior and interior landscapes. The work conveys a feeling of timelessness and universality. Mary Frank gives us much to ponder without leading us to specific conclusions. A color catalogue, containing an essay and interview by Eleanor Heartney, is available.

A major theme of the exhibition is that of the human body merging with elements of earth, water, fire, and air. Visions from a rich vocabulary of imagery flow through the works, evoking startling states of mind/feeling. This vocabulary, in Mary Frank’s words, “is like a strange alphabet, reflecting both the mysteriousness of the world and the urge to express the ineffable.”

Many of the works pose the questions, “Can we hold conflicting ideas/feelings at once in our mind’s eye, and if so, to what effect?” Rerpesenting the human figure in relation to architecture in Sleeper Awake, “Our usual experience -- the body inside the walls -- is reversed,” Mary observes, “The walls are inside the body. The open, roofless walls may be ruins, left-over places that have been bombed. They merge with the inner body, creating a complex interior landscape.” These figures seem ancient, stone-like, majestic -- the absolute opposite of the leaping, swirling figures in the imagined landscapes.

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DC Moore Gallery specializes in twentieth century and contemporary art. The gallery is located on the eighth floor of 724 Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5:30. Press viewings can be arranged prior to the exhibition. For more information, for photographs, or to arrange a viewing, please call Sandra Paci at 212-247-2111.