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Rough Cut Block, 2012, acrylic paint, 11 1/2 by 9 by 9 inches
  • Courtesy the artist and Greg Kucera Gallery
  • Rough Cut Block, 2012, acrylic paint, 11 1/2 by 9 by 9 inches

A little while ago, Margie Livingston won an award that funded her building a huge paint-pouring operation in her studio. Since then, she's been experimenting with what happens when she takes liquid and makes it solid. In the rough-cut "log" above, you can imagine the thing drying for months, maybe years. Maybe never being really dry, despite the rough texture of its surface, calling to mind splinters. This sort of unseen, gradual sag and motion of the material is reminiscent of Matt Browning's sap paintings and sculptures, or even the slow entropic march of Alex Schweder's mold growing inside the wall at Western Bridge.

Several of Livingston's works are assembled in a show in a small room at Greg Kucera Gallery this month. On the wall accompanying the pieces is her slightly abashed statement about how beautiful the objects are. And they are. Her abashedness is both understandable and endearing. Nobody wants vacant beauty. But there's a prettiness here that can't be denied, and I don't see why it should be. Look.

90 Color Test, 2012, acrylic and grommets; 90 squares, 8 by 8 inches each, 78 by 86 inches overall
  • All images courtesy the artist and Greg Kucera Gallery
  • 90 Color Test, 2012, acrylic and grommets; 90 squares, 8 by 8 inches each, 78 by 86 inches overall

Detail of 90 Color Test.
  • Detail of 90 Color Test.

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