Louise Fishman, Night Shining White

Full of active color and form, Night Shining White is a loosely woven fabric of brushstrokes, matter, space, and light that stand like a wall of accretions, sediments, and erosions. Skeins of black float like a loosened bundle of yarn before a shimmering illusionistic field, separating the viewer from the background while still allowing flashes of white and blue light to shine through. Louise Fishman brings a controlled force and physicality to the painting; the movements intrinsic to her process remain evident on the canvas as large gestural brushstrokes, scraped and sanded passages, and raw color troweled onto the surface.

Feminism, gay and lesbian rights, and Jewish identity, and Holocaust awareness are motivating themes essential to Fishman's practice. Born in Philadelphia, she received her BFA and BS from Tyler School of Art and MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1988 Fishman traveled to Auschwitz, Terezin, Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest.