Observer: 7 New York Gallery Shows You’ll Flip For This Spring

New works from a Cuban, an Icelander and even a Brooklynite

Nathlie Provosty at Nathalie Karg
291 Grand Street
March 30 – May 8

Abstract painting has been getting a bad rap lately thanks to the various breeds of “Zombie Formalism” that have been assaulting the market and garnering plenty of ink, until quite recently. But don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! There’s still a lot of fantastic emerging abstraction that’s emerging, including the haunting work of painter Nathlie Provosty. Her near monochromes, which often feature a central “U” shape among other motifs, expose themselves from angled views or upon close inspection, where a “black” painting is likely to reveal indigo blues, violets and deep crimsons, among other colors. Her studious mix of the pictographic symbols seen in the work of Ab Ex artists like Adolph Gottlieb and the formalist surface tensions of painters like Hans Hofmann, make Ms. Provosty a complete talent, one who is set to make her mark.

March 7, 2016