Robert Kelly at Linda Durham

Robert Kelly, who has been represented by Linda Durham since 1984, frequently shows at both her New York and Galisteo, N.M., galleries. In this, his ninth solo exhibition with Durham, his collage paintings have a refreshing lightness and simplicity.

Kelly begins by affixing blank and found printed paper in irregular grids to a canvas: long strips, squares or triangular shapes cover the surface. Painted on top of this carefully prepared ground, in thin yet opaque oil, are predominantly geometric shapes. A coating of clear resin seals them in; the surfaces are polished, almost impenetrable. Even as recently as 2002, Kelly's works included collaged handwritten notes and small sketches, as well as antique botanical drawings; small leaves and flowers appeared in otherwise abstract compositions. His palette drew from nature: heavy, dense ochers, browns, taupes and alizarin crimson.

The 17 new works, all 2003, range dramatically in size from 7 by 5 inches to 80 by 114 inches. In them, Kelly applies only red, black or blue paint to as lightly off-white ground of blank sheets of paper. The contrast of dark shapes with the creamy off-white is bolder than in many of his earlier works that utilized closely valued earth tones. The paintings almost seem to vibrate. One of the most striking, Assemblage Babel IV, exemplifies this strategy. Thirteen rows of collaged off-white paper strips stretch horizontally across the canvas. Painted on top of the paper, in bluish black, is a stacked "column" of squares, rectangles and triangles, densely and haphazardly arranged, so that spaces between them allow the ground to peek through. A similarly composed painting in red, Assemblage Rouge, was exhibited alongside Assemblage Babel IV. Perhaps the gem of the series, Assemblage Babel V was a vibrant cobalt hue.

Eight paintings from Kelly's "Orillas" series added a perceptual twist to the show. In these works a few loose curlicue shapes and drips in midnight blue are painted on the cream-colored paper collage. The paintings are then, in an innovation for Kelly, cut into four to five segments and recombined in variations of the original compositions. The works are paradoxical: by disassembling and then reassembling the pieces, Kelly seems to undermine visual "completeness" by a fragmented presentation. Yet it nonetheless feels as though the image is a cohesive whole. Although minimal in form, these are some of Kelly's most interesting paintings to date.

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