confining it within the forms, texture becomes form by occasionally spilling out to the edges and defining the parameters. The color, though often bright, is nevertheless held in check by softer, more muted tones. Color too plays an important role in defining space.  Together, with the application of the texture, it assists in having the forms appear to explode at times within the picture plane. While these paintings have an affinity to the earlier modernism practiced in the 30s and 40s the references are indirect because with these paintings, as in her earlier work, Cecily Kahn continues to carve out her own unique territory.

Atsuko Tanaka was originally a member of the Gutai Bijustu Kyokai (Concrete Art Association), an avant garde movement founded by Jiro Yoshihara in 1954. According to the gallery press release, �The Gutai group brought together different artists who had experienced the destruction wrought by World War II and whose common goal was to break with tradition and create entirely new modes of expression. Guitai artists emphasized materiality in art-making, as a way of silencing the artist�s �imperious� voice and enabling materials to speak freely.� The work in this show is primarily from 1980 to 2002 and includes paintings and drawings. The imagery in

Atsuko Tanaka (detail) at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Cecily Kahn at Lohin Geduld Gallery

Atsuko Tanaka at Paula Cooper Gallery

these pieces  immediately brings to mind electronic circuitry;  primarily for the way in which the circular forms seem �connected� by the lines.  But other references are suggested too such as microbiology or, on the opposite end, celestial mappings.  However, imagery is not the main thing, rather it is Tanaka�s obsessive application of complexity that drives the content of this work.  She uses two types of pattern in her art. The first and most obvious are the circles within circles that vary as to size and color. They punctuate the picture plane and in their multiplicity form larger relationships and so larger, more generalized forms. The other type of pattern is found in the multiple lines that weave in and around the circle forms. Sometimes they group together to established a density of line but more often loop off on their own. As with the circles, they consist of solid color that tends to shift only when bunched together. What is interesting is how their looping, even sensual, application, mimics the circles.

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