The title Entropvisions is in homage to my mother, the poet and art critic, Harriet Zinnes. In 1990 New Directions published a collection of her poems titled Entropisms, a word she made-up combining entropy - the tendency toward disorder - and tropism - the growth towards or away from a stimulus. Similarly, my short reviews combine entropy and tropism by suggesting growth towards a vision of art from the chaos of the art world. Through the back door, my title also pays homage to my physicist father, Irving Zinnes, whose long discussions with my mom got her thinking about entropy and tropism in the first place.
After the Eugene LeRoy show (see my previous post) I went to Chelsea where I saw a number of good shows, some of which have now closed for the holidays. But this interesting Hans Hoffman exhibition at Miles McEnery Gallery remains up untill Jan. 29, and I recommend the visit. Called the "Push-Pull" paintings for obvious reasons, but also the "Chimbote Mural Studies" - they were made in 1950 for an unfortunately unrealized architectural project in Chimbote, Peru - these are large, 7-foot high paintings that to my eye demonstrate how instinctively Hoffman painted. Unlike so many formulaic AbEx paintings being made today, these Hoffman paintings are full of surprise, with smooth and textured surfaces abutting each other, or gentle and rough sensibilities in conversation with passion and intellect, and even what I'm sure was a completely unintentional two-figure image hiding among the large abstract forms. (Look closely at the linear forms sitting on the top left plank of the cross in my first photo). If you can, do check out the show.