Sept 2016 –Line into Color, Color into Line features a 25-year retrospective of Helen Frankenthaler’s work and shows at Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills with works from the Frankenthaler foundation, curated by John Elderfield discussed here. And the LA Times here. And the Creator’s Project here.
As discussed in “Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques”, stain technique was quite revolutionary in its inception:
… staining, like poured paint, is a kind of process painting. In the evolution of abstract painting techniques, stain techniques developed after poured paint. While early drip techniques led to a proliferation of allover composition, stain technique led to an acknowledgment of the resolute flatness of the resulting optical field. And if poured paint gives a sense of glistening water, a stained painting gives a sense of colored air–of weightless emotion and a “dissolving” surface.
Frankenthaler’s work is discussed several times in the book Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques .