William Conger

After a stroll through William Conger’s massive retrospective, you’ll shake your fist at mortality. If this is what the 71-year-old Chicago artist did during his first 50 years of painting, what could he do with a second 50 years?

Conger has never deviated from Abstract Expressionist work, even when it was considered unfashionable, but this chronologically organized maze reveals that his large, colorful paintings evolved in elegance. The oldest painting, from 1958, is an untitled mass of yellow and orange blotches painted without outlines or shading. As years pass, Conger develops the shading of his characteristic stripes and introduces geometric shapes. The images sharpen; the colors brighten and the compositions become more complex.

Black Hawk (2001) is so well-rendered that its brush strokes almost disappear. Conger’s complete mastery of the composition directs viewers first to the blue dot in the center, then the infinity symbol that curves from the canvas’s upper left to the middle of its bottom edge, finally allowing one’s gaze to rest on a willowy curve on the right.

Conger’s backgrounds are usually multicolored, but in Pioneer (2003), an endless cream-colored sky suggests infinite space. The artist’s usually straight lines wave and falter, ending abruptly before reaching the edge of the canvas. Conger’s titles and forms always tie his abstractions to something figurative; other pieces reference the circus or landscapes, for example. Pioneer also reflects his unique ability to tap into our emotions: In abandoning the veneer of perfection, Conger makes us wonder if he’s facing the abyss.

This retrospective suggests that Conger’s destined to be considered one of the great American abstract painters. It’s unlikely his work will be shown again in such breadth during his lifetime.

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