"Frozen"

A tapestry told in acrylic paint on canvas, Robert Petrick’s "Frozen" exists between geometric and gestural abstraction. Brightly hued gestural passages of blues, yellows, greens, and reds fill the background of the canvas in an all-over style. These more expressionistic washes of pigment are bisected and painted over with calligraphic mark-making communicated in activated white acrylic paint. These geometric additions fit together like puzzle pieces and appear like walls of an intricate labyrinth over their kaleidoscopic background. Petrick manages to harmoniously combine these two disparate forms of abstraction into a cohesive composition by maintaining a balance between their shared presence. Neither the geometric nor gestural forms overpower one another, and both reflect visual aspects of the other. "Frozen" is a masterclass in painterly expertise.