More Pattern & Decoration in Hartford

�Post Dec: Beyond Pattern and Decoration,� Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT. Through Dec. 23.
Joseloff Gallery presents work of the original P&Ders from the 70s and 80s along with work by artists who incorporate the P&D sensibility in their work today. In the NYTimes, Benjamin Genocchio, who recently lambasted the P&D show at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, appreciates the sense of irony in the newer work. “The selection of work also points up differences between the contemporary interest in color, pattern and texture and the works of the Pattern and Decoration movement. In fact, the contemporary artists in the show seem to have a very different sort of inspiration, stemming from the fact that, unlike their 1970s peers, they are not reacting against anything � pattern is ubiquitous in contemporary visual culture; just another tool with which to make art. No wonder, then, that a sense of irony, even parody pervades the use of pattern and decoration in the contemporary works. Mr. Tomaselli incorporates marijuana leaf motifs into his decorative arrangements, while Eduardo Sarabia makes exquisitely painted pots and vases that look like boring old ceramics until you realize that the imagery is topical, violent and erotic. We are a long way here from a reaction against the austerities of minimalism.” Read more.