17 October to 15 November 2008

Elizabeth McIntosh

Modernism, and specifically geometric abstraction, has always given McIntosh something to respond to. She attempts to resist the reverent nature of pure abstraction, through the constant tweaking of very subtle details. In 2004, the introduction of the triangle as a dominant form in her work resulted in a new architectonic reference. Since then, McIntosh has explored how the triangle, while twodimensional on its own, becomes three-dimensional when multiplied and juxtaposed with similar shapes of various colours and tones. Though much of McIntosh’s previous work has employed a number of different formal disruptions to create a more complex and diverse space, her recent body of work has no devices. For this group of paintings, she came up with a prescribed palette of bright colours that are repeated with minor variations in each piece. The paintings themselves offer little evidence of previous underpainting or decision-making. The only demonstration of process in the work is visible brush marks. These bold paintings continue to provide the optical experience of her previous work but achieve this with more economical means. The optimism of these new works seems very timely.