ArtDaily: Patternings: Ed Epping and Barbara Takenaga

The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) presents Patternings: Ed Epping and Barbara Takenaga, a new exhibition that features the artwork of Williams College faculty members and explores the theme of patterns, whether actual or implied. As a college museum, WCMA maintains an annual schedule of exhibitions that feature faculty members, either singly or in groups. Though the projects in this exhibition are disparate projects, the conjunction of the two within one gallery introduces the possibility of confluence and raises some wonderful questions. Are there, for example, patterns at work in matter, whether real or imagined, that relate to patterns of custom such as language or behavior, whether individual or institutional? Barbara Takenaga’s intricately painted images of abstract patterns seem to evoke either deepest outer space or microscopic inner space—galaxies or electrons. Intricately detailed, her paintings allow viewers to suspend their disbelief even without benefit of specificity. Many of her paintings appear to be in motion as well, capitalizing on the involuntary retinal action of the human eye to certain color and shape combinations. In this way, she depicts a universe on indeterminate scale that appears to be actively expanding before our eyes. Takenaga’s work is shown regularly in galleries and museums across the country—she is Professor of Art in the Art Department at Williams College.