nature and metaphor
Introduction by Jack Rasmussen
A show of new work by Nan Montgomery is cause for celebration. We have waited a lifetime for this consummate body of work to appear.
Thirty years ago I was wandering through Eric Rudd’s artistic warren at 52 O Street, in way downtown Washington, DC, and came upon the studio of Nan Montgomery. She invited me in, and I noticed virtually every available surface of her studio was festooned with used, partially painted strips of masking tape. She was making large-scale geometric abstractions at that time, and I immediately fell in love with their unusual combination of intelligent design, finely-nuanced of color, and obsession.
I showed Nan’s work then, and have followed her artistic trajectory ever since. Slowly and deliberately, she has found her own way to a perfect balance between abstraction and representation, hard edges and subtle modeling, intellectual rigor and emotional embrace. Her latest work is all we could wish for: beautiful surfaces and depths of meaning.
It is especially satisfying to see this body of work at the Osuna Gallery, where so many great Washington talents have found their audience.
