Beyond the Surface

Alice Baber, Sohyun Bae, Anna Bogatin Ott, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Ryoko Endo, Ioanna Gouma, Rachel MacFarlane, Susan Roth, Francine Tint, Xinyan Zang

Upsilon Gallery is thrilled to present Beyond the Surface, an exhibition celebrating the work of ten extraordinary female artists whose vibrant abstract creations invite viewers to transcend the two-dimensional plane. This remarkable showcase unites renowned pioneers like Alice Baber, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Susan Roth and Francine Tint, with rising stars SoHyun Bae, Ryoko Endo, Rachel MacFarlane, Anna Bogatin Ott, and Xinyan Zhang. Together, they illuminate the transformative power of feminist expression in a time of societal and cultural complexity.

Judy Chicago and Alice Baber, trailblazers in their fields, have laid the groundwork for female artists to break boundaries and embrace creative liberation. Chicago’s use of symbolic imagery explores femininity, while Baber’s innovative “pouring” technique revolutionized abstract art, demonstrating the infinite possibilities of color and form. Building on this legacy, Cecily Brown merges emotion with movement in her dynamic compositions, Francine Tint captivates the viewer with her gestural, pouring techniques, and Susan Roth experiments with materials that challenge the confines of the flat canvas.

The dialogue continues with Ryoko Endo and SoHyun Bae, who infuse their works with themes of womanhood and cultural memory, bridging the past with the present. Endo’s energetic explorations of color and texture find inspiration in earlier generations, while Bae reimagines abstraction as a vessel for historical and personal narratives. Emerging voices Rachel MacFarlane and Xinyan Zhang bring fresh perspectives, reconstructing personal memories into dreamlike spaces. MacFarlane’s surreal landscapes emerge from intricate paper constructions, while Zhang’s hybrid techniques blur the boundaries between dimensions, crafting abstracted figurative expressions.

Beyond the Surface is a call to look deeper—both literally and metaphorically. These artists navigate themes of control and chance, permanence and transience, identity and cultural heritage. By pushing the boundaries of materiality and metaphor, they reveal the paradoxes beneath the surface, inspiring new generations to challenge limitations and redefine artistic expression.