Charles Seliger at Michael Rosenfeld - New York - exhibition of the artist's work

Emerging as a young artist in the 1940s, Charles Seliger circulated among Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and other titans of Abstract Expressionism. The relative obscurity of Seliger's paintings may be partially attributed to their modest dimensions; they occupy much less wall space than the mural-size canvases of his early peers. A recent show of 23 paintings confirmed Seliger's long-standing commitment to small-scale abstractions. While none of the works surpassed 18 inches on a side, many invoked geologic realms of seismic proportions.

Since his first solo show at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in 1945, Seliger has remained indebted to Surrealist automatism. His mature methods continue to liberate unpredictable forms from layers of acrylic paint. Working on small panels of masonite, Seliger applies multiple coats of paint with brushes or palette knives. He then sands and scrapes through the dry surface to reveal countless passages of underlying, contrasting color. Proceeding to much finer brushes, Seliger carefully delineates the exposed patches to create remarkably dense and intricate abstractions.

Seliger's labor-intensive techniques of accretion and abrasion often mimic geologic processes. Indeed, the best of his paintings, whose surface incidents spread from edge to edge in an allover format, vaguely resemble sheer faces of rocks or minerals. This impression is enhanced by the artist's palette, which includes emerald greens, coral pinks and aquamarines. Especially when arranged tonally, these vivid colors lend his paintings a sparkling, jewel-like intensity. In Stone Echoes (2001), for example, rich deposits of red and orange mingle with patches of subdued brown, suggesting semiprecious stones embedded in a terrestrial ground. In the fittingly titled Crystal Garden (2001), various shades of blue and lavender dapple a 1-foot-square panel. When precisely outlined with fine contours, the painting's tiny tonal marks appear to crystallize before one's eyes. Given the geologic premise of these paintings, it is unsurprising that Seliger recently began to paint on small stones.

Less successful are several paintings that sacrifice nonobjectivity to greater specificity. In these works figure/ground relationships are readily apparent, and one is inclined to discern particular forms in the paintings. In Woodlore (2002), for instance, the bough of a tree spreads its yellow branches against a green background. Sunbright (2001), as well, uses horizontal bands of gold and green to create a fairly conventional landscape. While such compositions may satisfy a common desire to locate imagery amid abstraction, Seliger's paintings are far more interesting when their references to the natural world remain allusive.

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