Over the past few years, Florence Putterman’s vibrant paintings and monotypes have taken a new direction from her previous colorful abstractions and glyphic images created since the early 1970s. Her recent work is representational and seemingly autobiographical, comprised of familiar subjects—birds, humans, household animals—that appear to construct a narrative. On the surface, the narrative suggests an environment of feminine encounter with events from her life, but it simultaneously seems to provoke metaphorical messages of global magnitude which engages a personal interpretation from the viewer. Monotypes, works on paper created as both unique and original graphic art, play a vital role in the process of Putterman’s painting. In her recent work, Putterman uses the monotype to reflect the narrative of her paintings—recast in new light with the encounter reinterpreted by a variety of individual treatments giver each print. The Lore Degenstein Gallery’s current exhibition of thirty-four paintings, monotypes, and sculptures will explore these narrative elements in Putterman’s work, comparing her various approaches to the different media. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.   Valerie Livingston   Cast of Characters for War and Peace. Florence Putterman. Sand, crushed shells, and acrylic on canvas. 88 x 93"