The New York Optimist
March 2009
The Winter Fun Never Stops
845 cornelia 2009 oil on canvas 42x44" randee silv
endangered gesturesApril 2 --  April 18, 2009
Opening Reception: April 4th 5-8pm

M55 Art is pleased to present "endangered gestures", an exhibition of recent works by Randee Silv, on view April 2 through April
18, 2009. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, April 4th from 5 till 8 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesday through
Saturday, 12 till 6 p.m.  With this most recent group of paintings, Silv brings our attention back to the very origins of painting
while exposing the roots of our visual culture. These pieces are distinct in that they consider the process of image-making in a
way that is both current and extraordinarily old.
In “The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art,” David Lewis-Williams compares the controversial abstract
marks in Upper Paleolithic cave paintings with entoptic forms that have been documented during altered states of
consciousness.  These zig-zags, dots, meandering lines and nested curves are what we all see on the edge of our vision.  It is
within these most primordial moments, before these flickering forms congeal into recognizable imagery, that Silv finds parallels
with her own work. She asks us, in viewing these paintings, to consider whether the concept of art may have been initially
triggered by abstract rather than iconic imagery. And if we acknowledge this, these endangered marks could widen our dialogue

_______________


Non-Symbolic Language to (Re)discover (My)self           (for Randee Silv) A new breath taps
Into the vast ocean
Of unforgotten gestures
In order to dictate a drama on Art’s Origin
Without dense plots nor anagrams Yellow yellowing;
Black blacking;
Void voiding;
Line lining;
Dot dotting; In these (re)discovered
Memories of my being Air is light Without shadow shadowing Stretching fully
  To declare The sacredness of Color                      


Yuko Otomo
For further information please contact:   Edward Yelonek     M55 Art  44-02 23rd Street,  Long Island City, NY 11101  
(718) 729-2988  eyelonek@m55art.org  www.m55art.org  www.randeesilv.com  

Subways to M55 Art: E or V train to 23rd Street/Ely Avenue7 train to 45th Road/Court Square
G train to Long Island City/Court Square
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