Steps Above Cliche

Katherine Bowling's paintings at Greenberg Van Doren gallery venture into cliched subject matter territory (moonlit nights, birds in flight, desolate beaches). Thankfully, Bowling's technique and colors are intriguing enough to keep the viewer looking. Bowling paints on spackled wood panels; the brushstrokes are smooth and flat. Her color palette is both ominous and dreamy. How I wish, however, that she had eliminated the moon or the crashing waves from these images. I found her monotypes of moths in flight, which look like vertebrae, a case in which subject worked well with the artist's technique. (Images via Greenbery Van Doren gallery)