Dana DeGiulio

Molly Zuckerman-Hartung is a contemporary American painter and writer. She creates abstract, process-based works whose experiments with disparate materials and methods such as collage, sewing and assemblage, push beyond traditional notions of painting and verge on the sculptural. Critics characterize her approach as dialectical—both carefully considered and provisional—and identify in the work a handmade, punk culture-like rejection of conventional taste and consistency that is paired with a deep regard for the diversity and history of painting. Zuckerman-Hartung's paintings and wall pieces employ a diverse visual language of gesture and mark-making that partakes in and also deconstructs the conceptual frameworks of modernist practices. New York Times critic Martha Schwendener described them as "a firestorm of techniques and effects: bleaching, dyeing, staining and sewing linen, silk and humble dropcloths." Though mostly abstract, Zuckerman-Hartung's work engages the broader world through collaged imagery and text, cultural and aesthetic references, and suggestive titles that can serve as anchors.