The patterns and interactions of everyday life form the fabric of Brigid McCabeÕs newest paintings Ñ a vernacular world of daily observations that read as visual meditation. McCabe maps the mundane into rhythmic grids, grids that not so much control and confine, but whose easy playfulness serves to reinforce and highlight. Her sunny yellow and orange lattices, interlaced with rich blues and the occasional surprise of pink, disclose as much as they conceal Ð glimpsing and reinforcing such simple moments as yesterday morning and tomorrow afternoon.
From the controlled space and color of Hans Hoffman and Sean Scully, McCabeÕs spare symbology travels through the evocative pathways and portals of Hundertwasser and the luscious meanderings of HockneyÕs Yorkshire hills. Her eye embraces the routes of single days, tracing the voyage from breakfast to bedtime with a sense of joyful trepidation. Her brilliant palette glides the eye over abstract surfaces richly and spontaneously worked with lines, squares, intersections and angles. Closer study reveals the layers of time Ð as well as space Ð that engage McCabeÕs quest. Pale yellow and transparent white squares drift loosely over red grids, like clouds passing over a free-form Mondrian. The playful mystery of the concealed grids, the patchwork of possibilities that remain far below the surface, makes reference to the ironic metaphysics of Squeak Carnwath and the undulant mazes of Terry WintersÕ intaglios.
McCabeÕs fictional world of squares and grids occasionally erupts with symbols from her daydream domesticity. Bicycles, bugs, birds, shower fixtures, tomatoes, peas, a red church Ñ all inventory of childhood memories and tonightÕs dinner. Words are her second language. Color, shape, light Ð these form her primary vocabulary. A vocabulary of objects, animals, daylight and utensils transformed into orange, yellow, blue Ð the colors of a day in California.
From a distance many of the largest canvases, with their recurring squares and repeated interlocking grids, suggest birds-eye glimpses of the urban environment, haunted by the 80s imagery in Godfrey ReggioÕs Koyaanisqatsi. From macro to micro, they are typically drafted into freehand squares and cubes. Individual elements, recorded a la prima, may eventually find themselves pollinating larger works. After lengthy ÒconversationÓ between colors and symbols, the final work comes together McCabe explains, Òall of a sudden.Ó Beneath layers of paint, the pentimento images Ð the history of her process Ð co-exist with the ultimate surface. ÒThe satisfaction I get is with a line, or a brushstroke that pulls it all together,Ó McCabe explains.
The appeal of this work is immediate Ð but not easy.
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Christina Waters, PhD