- Dec 18, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 12
Presented in conversation with Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s, this exhibition invites you to experience four contemporary artists continuing the tradition of abstraction: Heather Hutchison, Joseph Marioni, Jane Swavely, and John Zurier.
Category: Abstraction, Color, Contemporary
Heather Hutchison, Rising Tide, 2019, mixed media, reclaimed plexiglass, and birch plywood box, 29 7/8 × 29 7/8 × 3 ¾ inches. Collection of the Artist, Kingston, NY. Photography by Heather Hutchison.
Light, scale, and space:
Accompanying Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s, the exhibition Painting in Color features four contemporary artists whose work continues the tradition of abstraction into the 21st century. Heather Hutchison (b. 1964), Joseph Marioni (1943–2024), Jane Swavely (b. 1959), and John Zurier (b. 1956) explore color, light, scale, and space in artworks that foreground visual perception and invite quiet reflection.
Like Olitski, who envisioned color suspended in the air like a fine mist, these artists explore painterly techniques to express visual and tactile experiences drawn from the natural world. Employing innovative approaches to painting, their works heighten sensory awareness, sharpen how we see, and invite new ways of looking. Together, the artists in Painting in Color advance the legacy of Jules Olitski’s spray paintings and affirm the lasting energy of color and abstraction.
This exhibition is generously supported by Dr. Emily Leff, with additional support by The Wolf Kahn Foundation, and the Currier’s Susan E. Strickler Exhibition Fund.
Credits:
From left to right
Jane Swavely, Not Titled for Now #1, 2024, oil on canvas, 43 × 34 inches, Courtesy of the Artist and Magenta Plains, NY.
John Zurier, Between the Waves, 2024, glue-size tempera on linen, 48 × 30 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York, NY.
Joseph Marioni, Red, 2024, acrylic and linen on stretcher, 34 × 37 inches. Estate of Joseph Marioni, courtesy of Yares Art, NY. Photography by Adam Reich.
The organizers:
This exhibition is curated by art historian Alex Grimley, PhD, in collaboration with Bruce McColl, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Currier Museum of Art, in conjunction with the exhibition Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s.
Related exhibitions:
Rediscover the iconic Sprays of this modern master with deep roots in New Hampshire.
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