ArtSeen
Eva Lundsager
Wherever
Greenberg Van Doren May 24–July 7, 2006

As Wherever, the title of her first New York solo exhibition in nine years suggests, Eva Lundsager paints abstracted iconic landscapes whose imagery lingers somewhere between familiar and otherworldly.
In small- to medium-sized works, Lundsager uses a complex palette that defines each piece’s distinct atmosphere, from somber browns, deeply saturated cobalt blues and glowing reds, to soothingly lighthearted pastels (it is interesting to note that green is infrequently used). Compositionally, vast skyscapes are usually employed as epic backdrops for more detailed conglomerates of vivid lines and broken-up forms, generating an overall sense of dialogue between universal grandeur and microcosmic existence.
In “Maddenlump,” “Merry Munk,” and “Little Screamer,” by means of broad, simplified strokes, Lundsager pays open homage to, as well as loosely translates, the fiery skies that dominate many of Edvard Munch’s “Frieze of Life” works. Capturing the brooding light that is so characteristic of the Northern hemisphere, Lundsager adopts the dramatic mood that in Munch’s oeuvre has served to underscore Munch’s own angst and emotional despair. However, because Lundsager’s abstract landscapes are devoid of any human presence, the effect is less psychologically charged, and the expressionist skies serve a more generalized symbolism: they function as a fascinating framework for the artist’s vision of nature as forceful spectacle. In that sense, Lundsager’s work connects with the European Romantics, and an idealistic association with J. M. W. Turner’s ecliptic seas or Caspar David Friedrich’s panoramas might not be too far-fetched.
In spite of this, there is a whimsical quality to Lundsager’s compositions and an overt playfulness that enables her own voice to shine through. One of the exhibit’s most successful paintings, “Hermit Style,” contrasts expansive color fields with confined areas of great detail. A light rose and yellow tinted sky, reminiscent of a spring sunrise, adds a strangely soft glow to the otherwise predominantly ash gray grounds. However, this soil is far from infertile, and various mysterious structures made of dotted lines and curvilinear swirls have begun to populate the scenery. As they thrive, so might our trust in the eternal cycle of life, which proves that even a lava field will at some point serve as a breeding ground for new life forms.
Looking at Lundsager’s works it becomes clear that it is the moment of transition, when nature morphs from one state to another—like the time before a thunder storm when the darkening clouds foreshadow the theatrical release to come, for example—that remains the most inspiring touchstone for her painting.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
[Exemplary Title in the Theme of “From the Threshing Floor ”] [?]
By Carlos LaraAPRIL 2020 | Critics Page
Carlos Lara is the author of The Green Record (Apostrophe, 2018) and Like Bismuth When I Enter (Nightboat, 2020). He lives with his wife and son in the greatest goddamn city on the planet, Los Angeles.

Luigi Ghirri: The Idea of Building
By David RhodesDEC 20-JAN 21 | ArtSeen
The exhibition is curated by the artist Matt Connors, and comprises 29 vintage prints together with archival material, handmade exhibition invitations, books, commercial work, presented in vitrines. The title of the exhibition is taken from a text by Ghirris widow, Paola Ghirri, in which she describes his attitude to not only printingeach print is handmade and uniquebut also to his construction of images and fascination with hand-built objects. The photographs, usually taken frontally, have often been taken for montages, when in fact the various parts of the composition existed in place out in the world already, and are simply framed by Ghirri using the photographs own rectangular limit.
James Hyde: Public Sculpture
By Hovey BrockDEC 20-JAN 21 | ArtSeen
This exhibition extends James Hydes current practice of combining photographic imagery with paint and other materials on a variety of flat surfaces, including linen, board, and steel. Playing with the conventions of painting, these works have aesthetic appeal, but Hyde is after bigger game.
Alienation ?
By Robert C. MorganDEC 20-JAN 21 | ArtSeen
By transforming the single word of the shows title into a question, the gallery provokes viewers to come to terms with its meaning.