By Audrey Diamond
Notably, Pat Lipsky identifies with a famous quote by Paul Klee: “Color and I are one, I am a painter.” Indeed, Klee influenced Lipsky’s choices in her famous Pat Lipsky color field paintings.
Originally, she burst onto the scene in the late sixties. At that time, gestural abstraction was her prevailing mode. Using the stain technique, she sponged acrylic paint onto raw canvas. This process created a watercolor effect on a huge scale.
At the edges, she often deployed splatters. In a way, this served as an homage to Jackson Pollock. Through this method, Lipsky expressed personal joy. Specifically, she created defined ribbons of color that appeared to undulate.
From Stain to Grid
Two years later, the delineations started to blur. Throughout, the raw canvas background delivered a “look at me” pop. However, in the seventies, she started putting color next to color. She arranged these in large, precise grid-like pictures.
According to Lipsky, these grid paintings reflect the confinement of living in Manhattan.
Raised by a painter mother, Lipsky had her first one-woman exhibition in 1970. There, the André Emmerich Gallery showcased her work. Often, galleries exhibited her next to Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol.
Originally, the painter grew up in New York City. After graduating from Cornell University, she received an MFA from Hunter College. There, her mentor was the sculptor Tony Smith.
Defining Lyrical Abstraction
At the time, her painting coincided with the “Lyrical Abstraction” movement. For example, the 1969 canvas Spiked Red demonstrates Lipsky’s approach. It features reddish hues interspersed with bands of blue.
In the New York Times, critic Hilton Kramer praised the work. He noted that she re-introduces the drip and splatter of abstract expressionism.
Subsequently, Lipsky participated in the influential exhibition “Lyrical Abstraction.” This show traveled the country and culminated at the Whitney Museum. Art critic Noel Frackman highlighted Lipsky’s freshness. He found that her style sustained a mood celebrating the sheer splendor of color.
Evolution in the 2000s
By the eighties, Lipsky expanded her palette. She included a wider range of colors in more delineated forms. Later, in the 2000s, she continued redefining her image.
Critic Ken Johnson associated these pictures with music. He noted their “seductive egg-shell surfaces.” Furthermore, he linked them to painters like Frank Stella. He wrote: “The effect is polyrhythmic… enhancing the feeling of Bach-like musicality.”
From this point on, Lipsky began to hone her images. Recent exhibitions contain repeating colors in simplified forms. In 2018, Lipsky continues to reinvent both her work and herself.
