Variant on a Theme

Beautifully designed and yet very painterly. A very pleasing work of art.

Symmetry and its opposite are two of the most magnetic polarities in art. Whether the work is figurative or abstract, it falls closer to one side of the symmetry spectrum or the other. In many ways, major artistic movements can be read as reactions to a prior allegiance to one of these poles. Renaissance painting is a symmetrical response to the Italo-Byzantine style that preceded it. Fast forward 500 or so years, and the Minimalist’s hard-lined geometric abstraction is a response to the Abstract Expressionist’s utterly asymmetrical and gestural painting. While falling far more on the side of symmetry, Jen Hintz Eggers’ Variant on a Theme keeps a foot in both camps. Variant on a Theme’s protractor-like circles are firmly in the minimalist tradition with echoes of Frank Stella. However, Eggers frees her brush in the upper lavender, purplish section and explores more enigmatic passages of color.