New York
Carol Ross’s small but strong show featured a series of abstract paintings and three large relief sculptures, the latter acting, in some ways, as the center of the exhibition. Made of light- and dark-colored veneers, the organic quality of these works—evident in their general outlines and in the interlocking shapes of their interior compositions—belongs to a popular dialect of Modernism. Indeed, there is some connection between Ross’s sculptures and the rounded, puzzle-pieced works of Jean Arp, though Ross’s works are inevitably her own, with an emphasis on design qualities rather than three-dimensional surfaces. The contrast between dark and light shapes, their edges joining up with each other, emphasizes a feeling of graceful flow. Ross, whose recent works have consisted of Minimalist aluminum sculptures, has returned to the warmer material of wood. As a group, the sculptures engage in a close conversation; while they present individual identities, their sequential relations and camaraderie are also clear, so that their effect is cumulative. Placed fairly high up on a single wall, the reliefs looked over the work in the rest of the gallery. …see the entire review in the print version of July/August’s Sculpture magazine.
