Judith Geichman [birthdate unknown: Columbus, Ohio]
oil on canvas
85 1/4 by 72 3/4 inches
Gift of Donald D. Niemann
Collection of the Illinois State Museum
Geichman seizes upon a variety of abstractionist strategies to create what initially appears to be a swirling mist of line and color. Value is manipulated and edges melt into one another. The artist’s hand is made present with heroically-scaled gestural marks. Dripping paint assaults the viewer, but this is a simple tale of a day’s activities out-and-about. Gradually images begin to surface and a carefully laid-out narrative appears: escalators, subway entrances, and even sandbox toys join one another in a tightly-knit composition.
One of the remarkable aspects of this painting is that its composition is so well-planned and crafted — Judith Geichman is one of Illinois’ most respected abstract painters — that what has been a labor involving deliberate attention to detail over an extended period of time appears to have been dashed out in an afternoon.