The Philip Slein Gallery is proud to present three artists each utilizing a graphic structure of his own composition, each seemingly rigid yet each eloquently revealing the power of color and emotion that belies the rigidity of their construction.

Robert Swain, long acknowledged as a leader in a group of painters with ties to Hunter College, carefully forms grids playful to the eye yet very formalistic in their creation. These works at times are called, Color Sensation, as the formularity of their execution belies the emotion of their expression.

Dan Walsh was a student of Robert Swain. While his early works were extremely reductive in composition, he has moved to structures most frequently based on grids. His color palate is calmer, seemingly more relaxed than that of Swain, yet his work grasps the eye and holds one’s attention. Even his smallest works suggest monumentality; they too are precious in execution yet bold in their confrontation with the viewer. 

St. Louis’s Erik Spehn, now living in Philadelphia, does not share a legacy of the Hunter tradition, but he could easily be mistaken in this regard. The seeming simple first look at his canvases morphs into wonder upon deeper inspection. Spehn has his own theories of color and of construction and layering of the paint which release beauty to the observer, yet confounding those who ask the question, “How did you make these?” The answer is less important than the enjoyment of the power they emanate.