A solo exhibition featuring works from Westport artist, Liz Leggett.

Abstract art has always been deeply rooted in the seeming undefined, but when looking at the works of Westport artist, Curator and mom, Liz Leggett one encounters an apparent frenzied depiction of the depths of life on the contemporary woman who does it all and finds balance and meaning through her paint brush.

Abstract Expressionism is not a new trend in the art world, originally ascribed to the male artist who through his stroke and often wild application of paint reinforced his masculinity through the new movement, understandable considering the movement begins after WWII when men came back from war and needled to elbow the women out of their jobs. But what does it mean when a contemporary artist, and woman, employs the same drama and dynamics to her application of paint and subject? Is it a means to equalize the art world? A way to consume and redefine patriarchal artistic language and practice? Does this type of paint application mean certain emotions, is it all just symbolic of something else, something more personal, something inherent in the artist? All good questions, and one can argue that all of the above are behind this artist’s venture in Abstract Expressionism and in so doing much of the work can be seen as a response to the questions posited here.  After Party, for example, presents the viewer with an initial explosion of color, drips, and squiggly lines, but after closer inspection one is able to discern why the piece is titled so – martini olives are all over the place, a green pumpkin and what could be an electric heater. With a color palette of blues, black,  greens and red there are levels to the piece and ways in which to interpret – the background is blue – suggesting daylight, the day after a party and what many encounter the morning after – but in that ‘mess’ are memories, good, uncomfortable, but also hassles; did the kids get enough sleep, did we make too much noise, “ugh, I have to clean this mess”- was the party worth it? What is different in Leggett’s work, unlike that of Pollack, is she is documenting and explaining her life and what she does and in so doing she creates a new language that is not masculine, patriarchal or expected – this is the language of Liz Leggett. Leggett’s powerful language is further seen in Holding Pen, another large scale work that through palette and line creates a grid and other geometric shapes that in their entirety suggest a mask – is this the intent? Is this the artist, why are some lines stronger than others, why this palette – all these questions and others are what is central and behind any kind of abstraction – what does it all mean? Abstraction can be looked at in many ways – easily one can apply psychoanalytical theory, color theory, and even feminist theory, and in the case of Liz Leggett all these theories find comfort in her work – but the greatest attribute that affords all these associations and approaches are found in her lines. It takes great courage to create a line that stands out and alone yet unifies, and Leggett’s lines do just that, they unify the artist and the viewer in the field of interpretation. The are the entrance into the work, and hold everything together – they break expectation, order, and award the viewer with distinct vignettes into this person’s life and in so doing give meaning to what we often consider the mundane, which though through this artist’s hand are elevated to the sublime.