untitled, 1980
silkscreen, edition 24/100, 30 3/4 x 39 1/2"
Gift of Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs, 2002.6.6

Nicholas Krushenick began his artistic career as an abstract expressionist studying with Hans Hoffman.  By the early 1960s, however, his cartoon-inspired shapes, day-glo colors, and bold black outlines suggested the strong influence of Pop art as well.  The spiky forms in this print from 1980 suggest an organic inspiration—perhaps an exotic plant paired with a towering stalactite?  Krushenick, however, refuses to be pinned down:  "My images," he says, " have to have a certain kind of dynamic element.  They can't be too literal as a form.  They have to have a certain kind of mystery, so you can't identify them, but they suggest many forms." – Quoted in Ruth Fine, Graphicstudio, 1991.