Shawn Hill, “Nature’s Ordeal,” Bay Windows, November 17, 1994

Small and Wet, at Bernard Toale Gallery, through Nov. 26

How forthcoming should works of art be, and how reticent in order to retain a sense of mystery? These two shows of resolutely (post) modern art don’t give away their secrets easily. The one at Bernard Toal (11 Newbury St., Boston) unites five women artists who seem to share a somewhat minimalist aesthetic; the other at the School of the Museum of Fine arts in the Grossman Gallery, 230 The Fenway, Boston) pairs a young woman with an older man in an uncomfortable (though not unwarranted) juxtaposition.

The painters in “Small and Wet” are so similar that small differences emerge more readily. Louise Fishman is the old master here. Her sturdy, gestural works come directly out of Abstract Expressionism. Landscape is the real common thread to this show. Without being specific, the calm earth tones in “Samahdi” allude to desert life (and the composition to Hans Hoffman), while “Slippery Stone” seems to be about the effects of water and weather. Two large canvases by Katherine Bradford also make distinctions between land and liquid. Using her characteristic layering of polka dots (they resemble Larry Poons’ little pellets of color, here swollen up like balloons), in one she alludes to a forest with worm spots of brown against an acid green. In the second, shimmering shapes of blue and gold suggest a more watery world.

Lucy White literally includes nature in her geometric paintings by embedding such items as leaves and segmented worms into the paint. Flat areas of pure color (green, orange, red) fit like puzzle pieces into other sections of gritty texture. There’s something of the conflict between city and country in these works, but the rigidity of the technique ultimately dominates any message. Heide Fasnacht’s imposing wall hangings of cut rubber recall maps and topography, while Drew Shiflett’s accretions of wood, scrap metal and glue suggest handmade nests for birds or insects. One has to search for the organic in this very controlled art, much as one has to search for a spot of green in a city of concrete and glass. The final result, in a show initially viewed as elegant and sparse, is a feeling of unease, of existential problems posed and left unresolved.

Shawn Hill

Constructed Drawings, essay by Nancy Princenthal, 2011, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York

“Collection Insights: Recent Acquisitions,” essay by Janet Goleas, 2007, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York

"Six Outdoor Projects At LIU", essay by Matt Freedman, 2005, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York

"Beautiful Dreamer", essay by David Gibson, 2005, SPACES, Cleveland, Ohio

“Work in Process,” essay by Kristen Frederickson PhD, 2003

"Making It Up," essay by curators David Finn and Victor Faccinto, 1999

"Correct Me If I'm Wrong," essay by Barry Schwabsky, 1997

In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the '90s, essay by Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein (catalog), '96

Margaret McInroe, “Survival,” Hunter College (catalog), '95

Charles Long, "Critical Mass",Dallas Artists Research (catalog), '94

Kathleen Cullen, "Drew Shiflett", The Interart Center (catalog), '93

Nancy Princenthal, "Idio Cognito" (catalog), '93

Janet Goleas, "An Identity With the Process," The East Hampton Star, November 10, 2011

Kofi Forson, “Whitehot / November 2010, Interviews Jill Conner on Core and Mantle,” Whitehot Magazine, November, 2010

Eric Ernst, "A Philosophical Thread Tying Two Styles Together," The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press, February 16 & 18, 2010

Christopher Hart Chambers, “Ruminations in Paper – Drew Shiflett at Lesley Heller Gallery In New York,” Dart International, Volume 12, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2009

Jennifer Landes, “Artists Do Still Live Here,” The East Hampton Star, May 14, 2009

Elise D’Haene, “The Art Scene – Top Honors For Drew Shiflett,” The East Hampton Star, May 7, 2009

Pat Rogers, “A Show That’s Fun and Exciting,” The Southampton Press, April 30, 2009

Pat Rogers, “350 Artist Members All Under One Roof,” The Easthampton Press, April 29, 2009

Sharon Butler, “Drew Shiflett: The Raw Transformative Power of Obsession,” www.twocoatsofpaint.blogspot.com, January 14, 2009

Ariella Budick, “A Whiter Shade of Pale Suggesting Angels, DNA,” Newsday, July 20, 2007

Karen Searle, "Plane & Form at Minnesota Center for Book Arts," Hand Papermaking, June Issue 2006

Jill Conner, “CustomFit,” Contemporary, Issue no. 52, 2003

Phoebe Mitchell, "Hampden Gallery Abstracts Invite Viewers Within," Hampshire Gazette, May 1, 2003

Rachel Youens, "In Review - Sculpture at Flipside," Arts, Vol. 1, Number 4, wburg.com, 2001

Holland Cotter, "Sculpture," The New York Times, May 11&18, 2001

Ken Johnson, "Invented Spaces" The New York Times, Jan. 19&26, 2001

Tom Patterson, "New York Explorers" Winston-Salem Journal, Mar. 21, '99

Tom Patterson, "All That Jazz," Winston-Salem Journal, Mar. 7, '99

Annie Herron, "Fresh Perspectives," Review, March 15, '97

Helen A. Harrison, "Artists Who Make Work Out of Play," The New York Times, January 7, '96

Tom Moody, "Critical Mass," Art Papers, July/Aug., '95

Charles Dee Mitchell,, "'Critical Mass': More Than Meets The Eye," The Dallas Morning News, Feb. 3, '95

Shawn Hill, "Nature's Ordeal," Bay Windows, Nov. 17, '94

Grace Glueck, "Update 1984-85," The New York Times, June 21, '85

Marilu Knode, “22 Wooster ‘Rhythm and Form’,” Manhattan Arts, Vol 11, No. 2, Feb. 1, '84