Diamond #49, 2020. Vinyl, pigment, polymer emulsion and oil on canvas. 51 x 51 inches. — *Diamond #49,* 2020. Vinyl, pigment, polymer emulsion and oil on canvas. 51 x 51 inches.

Diamonds
Joan Snitzer

GALLERY I

October 16 — November 15, 2020

A.I.R. Gallery is delighted to present Diamonds, an exhibition of photonic dreams and new paintings by New York artist Joan Snitzer, opening on Friday, October 16, and on view through Sunday, November 15, 2020.

Diamonds is an installation of Snitzer's latest work. In these new paintings, Snitzer looks back at 20th-century abstraction, foremost the structuralist references of the grid, to explore abstract functions in a contemporary context. This new body of work is a continuation of Snitzer's ongoing endeavor to reconcile aleatory procedures with the human desire to control the unknown. The expansive quality of Snitzer's painted surfaces stands in contrast with the works' limited, geometric structure. The installation viewed is simultaneous, a superlunary accumulation of diamond-like forms, and an indeterminate contemplative space.

Diamonds stages a measured and unpredictable allegory in hypnotic color and form events. Each painting is executed by hand-pouring pigment into pools of aqueous solvents, demonstrating the tendency of different color pigments to move at different speeds even in the viscous medium of paint. Mounting a fluid mood in washes of richly saturated color, the paintings present a full, continuous surface reminiscent of an expanse of land, the sea, and beyond. The organic accumulation of marks and material creates a comforting and seemingly infinite space. In their delicate and adamant retreat from a traditional sense of mastery, choosing instead to seek beauty in chance, Snitzer's romantic works resist a Western tradition that typically favors masculine authority.

Joan Snitzer lives and works in New York City. She has been associated with A.I.R. Gallery since 1974. Diamonds is her seventh solo exhibition as an artist member of the gallery. Snitzer's work has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad. She is a faculty member in the Art History Department, Barnard College/Columbia University.

View the Press Release here.
View Snitzer’s page here.

Joan Snitzer in conversation with Rachel Felder, October 19, 2020. Video by Georgica Pettus.