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Kahn, Cecily (born 1959) Blown Oil on canvas 17 x 28 inches

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Cecily Kahn
born 1959

Celebrating the dynamic possibilities of abstraction, Kahn creates a painterly universe where elements appear to collide with joyous abandon, fluidity, and grace, to forge an abstract language that is recognizable throughout her work. Although the paintings seem effortlessly improvised, carefully weighed and balanced elements are combined with real aplomb, as Kahn both brushes and pours the paint onto her canvases. To some, her images may symbolic or even narrative; but if this is so, Cecily Kahn isn’t telling. Viewers will have to imagine their own. And that is part of the magic of abstraction.

Kahn’s abstract images offer something for everyone. Even the casual viewer will find it difficult not to succumb to their glorious color. More careful viewing will reveal Kahn’s ongoing dialog with the history of abstraction, with allusions to cubism, Matisse cutouts, and American art of the 1930s and 40s. As critic Hearne Pardee wrote recently in Art in America, “Kahn reminds us that when the world is too much with us, the virtual world of abstraction can offer a refreshing, hedonistic pleasure, like the purely formal play of dance or music.”

Cecily Kahn lives and works in New York City, where she shares a studio with her husband, David Kapp. She studied in Italy and at the Rhode Island School of Design. Kahn exhibits principally in New York, but she’s also had exhibitions in New England and Europe. The exhibition at Thomas Deans Fine Art marks her debut in the Southeast.