Catskill Art Space (CAS) presented an exhibit of artists James Esber, Jane Fine, Tracey Goodman and Jim Lee on Saturday, August 31, which will run through October 26.

James Esber uses a variety of media to disassemble and distort the often cliched images of Americana. The pawed-over icons of popular culture that he is drawn to include gunslingers, flag wavers, tattooed hipsters and children holding flowers. He “turns faces into abstracted landscapes of meandering marks” through hyperbolic mark-making done with a myopic focus.

His color choices start with his depicting a mood, juxtaposing colors unpredictably in an uncommon way. Employing “automatic drawing” which stems from the subconscious, “dreamlike images” are produced. He avoids drawing from life because for him, “images are a more emotionally potent source to fuel” his work, especially those related to childhood.

Jane Fine’s paintings drift toward figuration in brightly colored landscapes of imaginary worlds of giant flowers and picket fences. She is inspired by the slogan “the personal is political”, as an “incurable optimist in a very anxious time”. The imagery in her paintings reference stereotypical girlhood, contrasted with an instability expressed by dripping paint, patches and faux masking tape. 

She paints her name in meditative repetition, synonymous with 20th century normalcy. It also serves as a way to re-anchor herself in the present, asserting strength and self-definition.

J. Fiber, a collaboration of the work of James Esber and Jane Fine, who are a romantic couple, began in 1987 in the creation of birthday and holiday cards for friends and family members. 

In the 1990’s, while they were a distance apart, they met on weekends to sweetly collaborate on pencil drawings. At first, it was a disaster, with the painting out of the other’s work in an ongoing argument. Upon the death of Jane’s mother in 2007, they made a respectful choice to add to the drawings, passing them back and forth between studios. This led to six months of fruitful collaboration that was shown at Pierogi Gallery in 2008. Presently, it continues as a summer project at homes in Florida and Provincetown.

Tracey Goodman works in a studio, visiting sites when prepping a show. During a visit to CAS in 2023 when river water levels were high, she came to realize the historical flooding that occurs in the area, which also affected the gallery. Here, local rivers and the popularity of fly-fishing have influenced her work, depicted by plaster fish from a nearby trout hatchery. 

The title of her exhibit, “Choose any hour on the clock”—author Paul Harding in his  novel, ”Tinkers”, explores the metaphor of the interior of a clock as an encapsulation of a period, highlighting  the loss of what has passed and what is now.

Jim Lee pursues exploration and process in his portion of the exhibit. His aversion to polished products results in cobbled compositions that combine painting and sculpture. Playfulness is emphasized, using materials in both formal and practical ways, such as using the joint where two swaths of canvasses are stapled, as a line, instead of actually drawing it on the surface. His dedication to “confusing the viewer’s visual perception” with its physical actuality is an ongoing concern. Lee’s interest in “what can be communicated with minimal visual information” results in paintings that question rather than answer.

Catskill Art Space is located at 48 Main Street, Livingston Manor, NY 12758. Contact Executive Director Sally Wright: sally@catskillartspace.org. Telephone: (646) 696-1044.