TitleLift
Artist
Barbara Takenaga
(American, b. 1949)
Date2011
MediumAcrylic on linen
DimensionsUnframed: 54 x 45 x 1 1/2 in.
SignedSigned on verso of linen, lower right quadrant in black acrylic: "Takenaga / 2011"
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, August 7, 2013
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number2013.12
Label TextBarbara Takenaga's labor-intensive paintings straddle the line between figuration and abstraction. The artist begins each work with a gestural application of paint, creating a fluid underlying structure that she can meticulously follow. Often revisiting the same composition, the artist works within a particular framework from the outset - her series from 2009, Langwidere, consisted of thirty attempts to reimagine the same composition. Evoking natural phenomena, Takenaga's dazzling compositions of dots and lines bring to mind cosmic and cellular formations while remaining grounded in an abstract pattern-based visual vocabulary. Lift represents the artist's recent introduction of horizon lines into the structure of the work, drawing a closer connection to the natural world. 
