Joe Novak - Paintings

Joe Novak’s intense and productive research into the pictorial effects of color and light corresponds to an important moment in the history of late twentieth century abstraction in the United States. An obviously expanding audience was ready and well-prepared to acknowledge that some of the most real, or authentic, art experiences were those that relied not on illusions of specific things but on the actual components of art itself, such as pigment, surface, edge, form and shape.

Paring an artist’s subject down to just those elements that contribute to direct visual and sensory response is considered not only valid -- especially because it is so universal -- but is also considered an approach central to modernism. For the individual creative artist, like Novak, it is always a road characterized by exploration and discovery. The survey, “90 Paintings, 1981-2000,” reflects his evolving ideas about a painting’s potential to deliver a significant experience.

Concentrating initially on what he found to be a tremendous range of pulsating light effects available through black and white pigments, Novak established the roots for his special expertise in expressive optical contrasts. Later, when he adapted this knowledge to a range of bold color spectrum tones he produced the body of work that is at the core of his reputation. A number of key examples appeared in the retrospective exhibition presented by the Hood Museum of Art in 2002.

Resonant chromatic intensities and the related psychological and emotional effects are part of Novak’s investigations. His emphasis on building a painting with carefully studied nuanced gradations sets his work apart. In Novak’s art, gentle changes and subtle orchestrations tend to draw in and hold the eye. Following the delicate vibrations invites lengthy engagement, introducing a time element. Such situations inevitably become meditative. They are non-aggressive, largely non-associative and non-specific, and encourage the imagination to identify with another, perhaps more soothing world.

New York City
June, 2004