Hooper’s 1961–62 paintings borrow little from his earlier work which is one reason for the importance of this exhibition. In earlier shows his technical facility was developing to a point of danger; now his emotional response to abstracted, organic forms make their bid. A catalogue insert speaks favorably of the large canvas collages; but I prefer the series of small, carefully worked studies in balance and penetration. Though Klee-like, I responded to May 1962—No. 1 where two little “dumbells” of opposite sex attract and repel one another in a nautical dance of love. In this work, as in others, the subdued color and incisive texture (reminiscent of the scarification on the abdomen of a New Guinea tribesman) enhance the primitive symbolism.
––Henry T. Hopkins
