opposite and alternate

Introduction by Jack Rasmussen

I well remember searching out Nan Montgomery’s studio in Eric Rudd’s 52 O Street complex (originally a meatpacking warehouse) located out on the far edge of DC’s downtown in the late 1970s. Inside this interesting neighborhood, I found a recent Yale grad festooned with masking tape and surrounded by extraordinary colorful but minimal abstractions. I immediately showed her work at my gallery, and have been following her artistic trajectory ever since.

Nan has remained true to her initial vision inspired by Josef Albers and the Washington Color School, but her color fields have grown long-stemmed flowers in the interim, and their leaf arrangements inspired the title of Nan’s current exhibition. These are intelligent and beautifully resonant paintings. I must thank Ramon Osuna for helping to make this exhibition possible. It is my great pleasure to present Nan Montgomery: Opposite and Alternate here in the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center.