During 1993, Susquehanna University opened the new Lore Degenstein Gallery in its inaugural year with a large exhibition of paintings by Florence Putterman. The exhibition included an analytical catalogue that argued for the artist’s work to be placed in the history of postmodernism relating to feminist narrative. Ten years later, a retrospective of subsequent paintings and sculptures reinforces the artist’s pursuit of this tradition with her depictions of figures and subjects that suggest a personal statement defying interpretation. Color is still an exciting aspect of her work, vibrant and saturated, with emphasis upon the exotic palette that might recall the Caribbean and southern environs. Since Putterman spends half a year in Florida, it is not surprising that she responds to the brilliant, high-key chromas of her southern home. It is possible in this exhibit to trace aspects of the artist’s earlier work, particularly noticeable in her characters, which are apparent in the intensity of her narratives. The paintings describe a continued relationship with representational art. Though seemingly autobiographical, they are decipherable in terms of familiar subjects, birds, humans, and household animals, that appear to construct a narrative. The narrative immediately suggests an environment of feminine encounter with events from the artist’s life, but it simultaneously seems to provoke metaphorical messages of global magnitude that fit the current definition of postmodernism. Summarizing properties of postmodernism, historian Diana Crane states, “Like the modernist, the postmodernist was often interested in problems of light and visual perception but, unlike the modernist, he or she was also concerned with the subject matter and the expression of feeling.” Challenging modernism in style, meaning, and intention, postmodernism is a pluralistic art developed since the 1970’s. It is most evident in Putterman’s work by her inclusion of subjective narration that arouses a heightened sense of drama or emotion. One such painting, New York Stories, 1999, shows a cast of characters that might have emerged from her earlier work on the series, Bird, Hand, and Man. The harsh coloration with prevailing reds and golds describes the flashing neon of Broadway, figures reaching towards each other to weave an indeterminate tale. A huge bird emerges from one corner of the painting reminiscent of earlier “stories” that were equally as enigmatic. It should be noted that Putterman’s work is quite confrontational, given the brilliance of the colors, the strength of the implied narrative, and the scale of the paintings. Most paintings in the exhibition measure at least four feet in one direction; one is a diptych (two paintings shown as one), doubling the effect by virtue of its size. Dreams, Voices, Illusions, 1995, a six foot canvas, bears the same name as an earlier version that is filled with similar iconographic images: birds, the spiral, tropical trees, and fantasy animals. In the later painting shapes are more succinctly defined, almost sculptural in their origin. The viewer may choose to parallel these forms with several wooden sculptures in the exhibition, which have shapes that seem to be described in the paintings. A contradiction to that notion is apparent when comparing the dates of their execution: these sculptures seem to emerge in the artist’s oeuvre later, around the year 2000. Several assemblages of found wooden objects painted brightly with similar colors (Intersection, 2002) attest to the artist’s facility with forms, both illusionistic and actual. The sculptures bear a familial resemblance to works of Louise Nevelson, an American sculptor from whom Putterman has expressed admiration, though their appearance is quite different given their coloration. Nevelson’s sculpture is monochromatic, usually entirely black! The exhibition includes forty large paintings and several sculptures in the artist’s later style, allowing an assessment of the evolution of her work over the past ten years. As a currently significant player in the artworld, Putterman was recently chosen to have her work represented in an exhibition of animal sculptures in nearby Harrisburg. Her submission may surprise visitors of the Lore Degenstein Gallery by its preview in this exhibition, an added encouragement to visit this show.   Valerie Livingston   Dreams, Voices, Illusions, Florence Putterman, Oil on canvas, 1995, 72 x 62" Collection of the artist