Corbett vs. Dempsey

Morris Barazani

By Alan Artner. Chicago Tribune, February 6, 2009

When in the mid-1970s the Museum of Contemporary Art mounted a show of abstract art in Chicago, it was relatively short on painters, a condition that did not change when the museum returned 20 years later to address a half century of art in the city. Morris Barazani, however, was painting abstractly here throughout that time, additionally serving for decades as the head of the school of art and design at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Corbett versus Dempsey gallery, a home for the unsung of all stripes, now presents a selection from 35 years of Barazani's paintings and collages, and what a diverse group it is. Some works exalt color, others line and still others the expressive gesture. Most of them are bold. But "Love Knots," from 1996, is lyrical and restrained in both its color and line. And several works that at first seem free eventually reveal a bracing geometric armature, surround or underpinning.

Barazani's collages are delicately complemented by three from a former studio-mate Ronald Ahlstrom, which are more indebted to Cubist syntax. Barazani's, on the other hand, rely on an allusiveness and heft that fairly overpowers despite their small compass. A stirring performance.