The New Criterion: Critics Notebook
February 2025
Future Proof,” at Westbeth Gallery, New York (through February 23): Founded in 1936, the American Abstract Artists association continues to attract artist-members of high quality. “Future Proof” is an exhibition of seventeen of them, now on view at Westbeth Gallery in the West Village. The show ranges from the biomorphic transfers of Stephen Maine to the casual geometries of Jason Stopa, the oceanic currents of Joanne Freeman to the crystalline edges of Sonita Singwi. Curated by Jared Linge, the colorful exhibition reveals abstraction’s continued vitality. —JP
The New Criterion

Installation Shots
Click image to start slideshow

Video of Exhibition Feb 8, 2025

February 5 – 23, 2025
Opening reception Wednesday February 5th, 6-9p

Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014
Gallery hours: Wed – Sun, 1 – 6p

Featured Artists: Jeffrey Bishop, Jacob Cartwright, Joanne Freeman, Lynne Harlow, Carl E.
Hazelwood, Pinkney Herbert, Jane Logemann, Stephen Maine, Russell Maltz, Tom McGlynn,
Manfred Mohr, Lisa E. Nanni, Jim Osman, Sonita Singwi, Melissa Staiger, Jason Stopa, and Li
Trincere

“Art has political consequences, which is to say, it reorganizes society and creates
constituencies of people around it.” – Dave Hickey

Future Proof is a group show curated by Jared Linge for American Abstract Artists, featuring 17
of the group’s members.

This exhibition examines the way that longevity in art can meaningfully
shape communities and cultural landscapes over time. Here, “longevity” refers to the ability of
art to endure, develop, and proliferate on its own terms, regardless of trends and
circumstances. In an industry where social media and the art market reduce discourse to an
endless succession of changing fashions, Future Proof positions communities of career-long
practices as an alternative model. In this context, longevity is achieved both in open systems of
making, and an intergenerational collaborative spirit.

These seventeen artists define abstraction in our present day by exploring a range of material,
formal, and methodological approaches. Works have been selected with an eye towards range
and contrast: from more coolly conceived formal viewpoints to the immediacy of space and raw
materials. With a knowledge of abstraction’s history and the potential reinterpretation of its
variables, these artists collectively champion the legacy of non-objective art as a vehicle for
embodying critical thought.

AAA was founded in NYC in 1936 to counter critical neglect of abstract art made in the United
States, and is one of the world’s longest continually active artist organizations. Westbeth Artists
Housing in New York City is the world’s largest artists’ residence community. Westbeth and AAA
share a common commitment to the lifelong fostering of artistic community, making Westbeth
Gallery the ideal location for this exhibition.

Jared Linge (b. 1985) received a classical education in Drawing & Painting and Art History at
the Laguna College of Art and Design. After eight years of experience working in contemporary
art on both coasts, he founded High Noon in New York’s Lower East Side in 2017 with an
interest in exhibiting under-represented artists with a gallery model that is collaborative and
artist-centered. He has curated over 70 exhibitions throughout his career, focusing on work that
is grounded in art historical context with an emphasis on craft and hybrid practices. In the fall of
2024, the gallery moved to a new permanent location in New York’s TriBeCa neighborhood.