Building Models: The Shape of Painting

Curated by Saul Ostrow

Ron Gorchov, Gwenaël Kerlidou, Russell Maltz, Joe Overstreet, Joanna Pousette-Dart,
Harvey Quaytman, Ruth Root, David Row, Ted Stamm, and Li Trincere

Opening on September 5, 2025 – January 17, 2026

David Row
Phantom, 2022
oil on linen, 52 x 89 inches
Courtesy Locks Gallery and the artists
Photo by Joseph Hu

Building Models: The Shape of Painting is the latest installment in an ongoing series of exhibitions I began curating in 1985 under the general heading Building Models. This project encompasses two sub-series: Painting Between the Paradigms and Strategies. Influenced by the structural and conceptual shifts that fueled the emerging critique of Modernism, my intent with these exhibitions is to index the diverse nature of abstract painting’s formalisms as they transitioned between 1951 and 1974-the year Artforum famously announced the so-called "death" of painting. During this period, painting was critically re-evaluated, shifting conceptually from a mode of representation to an event or object in the world.

By spanning three generations, this exhibition invites viewers to reconsider how formal decisions about shape and structure are never neutral but instead carry significant conceptual and aesthetic weight. The show offers a review of abstract painting’s alternative formats-those conceived to both extend and challenge the conventional rectangular (quadrangular) shape that had long been seen as essential to painting. The artists featured here have critically re-examined the functions of painting’s traditional format, especially as it was challenged by Modernism’s self-critique-a period when artists sought to ground their medium’s capacities in its own material conditions. It was during this era that the painting’s support and surface, once largely overlooked, could no longer be regarded as passive; instead, they emerged as active agents in shaping composition, content, and concept.

Reflecting these historical and theoretical developments, the works in this exhibition present a diverse range of approaches that address what had been suppressed, rendered unattainable, or constrained by material conventions rooted in formalism. By moving beyond these conventions, the artists probe the ongoing relevance and complexity of abstract painting, fostering a dynamic interplay between the real and the depicted.