The article announces "Singing in Unison: Painting in Space," an exhibition curated by Michael David at Art Cake in Brooklyn, running from October 18 to December 7, 2025. It features works from the 1980s and '90s by four abstract artists—Al Held, Frank Stella, Elizabeth Murray, and Judy Pfaff—who each explored the interplay between two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality, flatness and depth, and spatial boundaries in painting. The exhibition includes an opening reception with a cooking performance by Rirkrit Tiravanija and Tomas Vu, a panel discussion, and a closing poetry reading.
The exhibition matters because it reframes abstraction's evolution during a pivotal decade—the 1980s—when globalism, conservatism, and political upheaval shaped cultural production. By juxtaposing Held, Stella, Murray, and Pfaff, the show highlights how abstraction survived and transformed beyond Neo-Expressionism, addressing fundamental questions of pictorial space that remain relevant to contemporary art discourse. It is part of the ongoing "Singing in Unison" series by Rail Curatorial Projects, which aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue across the arts and humanities.