Karin Davie

Canadian-born Karin Davie’s Chinatownblues no 2, which is typical of her practice, consists of lines and shapes and colors that undulate, twist, bulge, vibrate, billow, turn and even writhe before our eyes. She draws inspiration from a wide range of sources including the work of artists Morris Louis, Gene Davis, and Frank Stella and Moira Dryer, as well as cartoonists, pop culture, design, literature, dance. Dryer uses stripes not only as an exercise in color and form, but also as a re-contextualization of earlier styles, quoting various visual languages and art approaches and making them her own. Davie turns the abstract form of the stripe, “something that everyone already knew,” into a language, an icon, a symbol filled with representational meaning of a history of gestures that preceded her.

Davie also draws inspiration from dance and performance, and is specifically influenced by the work of American choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown. Brown’s focus on the movement of the body and the forces of gravity on dancers can be seen in the sweeping forms of Davie’s abstract gestures on canvas. Davie has noted that she considers the physicality of her material, allowing for the paint to drip, as well as the physicality and the properties of paint in its bulges, bends, twists, and distortions.

Karin Davie (Canadian, born 1965), Chinatownblues no 2, 2006, oil on canvas, 84 × 108 inches. Gift of Emily and Teddy Greenspan, 2020.24.