Jack Whitten: Space Busters I, 2013, acrylic and polyurethane on panel, 16 by 20 inches. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates.
“Evolution is the symbol I am trying to capture. That’s why each work is so different; it is still in the act of evolving,” Jack Whitten said about the 10 new paintings on view at Alexander Gray. Each looks like it belongs to a different series, or like the canvas is a surface on which Whitten is in the process of perfecting various techniques. The 21 opaque white “buttons” dotting Space Busters I (2013) were made by filling an ice cube tray with polyurethane; this circular pattern is repeated in several other paintings in the show. Others, like Crushed Grid, Warped Circle (2013) and Single Loop for Toots (2012) feature an amorphous colored background with a ribbonlike geometric image suspended in the middle of the canvas, floating amid layers of acrylic paint.