Hannah van Bart at MARIANNE BOESKY Mary Obering at BORTOLAMI

James Kalm spends a lot of time thinking about the historic and stylistic realms of contemporary painting here in the New York art scene. Sometimes, during his sojourns around the gallery neighborhoods, your correspondent is struck by the contrasts of aesthetics that brings each of the contesting exhibitions into sharper focus. Hannah van Bart is an Amsterdam based artist who continues a tradition of Dutch expressionism, with a salute to the Trans-Avantgarde. With “Places and Beings”, the sixth show by the artist at this gallery, van Bart presents character studies of people and animals, many in snowy gray landscapes. “The Window Series” by Mary Obering is a group of works that were fabricated in 1973. Appearing initially as Color- Field paintings, closer inspection reveals that they are free-hanging leafs of painted cotton canvas bound along the upper edge with finishing nails. Now, nearly forty five years after their conception, these Matisse inspired works, might have finally arrived at a point where, at least a portion of the art viewing public, might receive them. This program was recorded October 22, and October 26, 2019.