Laundry detergent, toilet paper, toothpaste, and erasers are all materials dedicated to removing dirt or error that have been manufactured to disappear once their work is finished. But Tom Friedman makes abstract formalist sculptures that emphasize their particular material qualities—their aqua-freshness, and their squeezability. Dry detergent was miraculously splayed in a blue galactic swirl on the floor; diluted green toothpaste was painted onto the wall like an expanse of David Hockney water; and an indeterminate length of toilet paper was perfectly rerolled and displayed on a pedestal without

Of all the Chicago Imagists, Barbara Rossi has most consistently achieved an equipoise between a mania for technique and a commitment to iconography with profound spiritual implications. Since the late ’60s her work has constituted a deeply personal and rather hermetic quest for images achieving the state of grace that has traditionally been the highest and most noble aim of picture making. This midcareer retrospective of over 60 paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works was a call to conscience, reflecting everywhere Rossi’s effort to create a parallel universe mirroring the most fundamental