EMNA ZGHAL

Zghal’s oil paintings, watercolors, and etchings borrow patterns from nature—the rings in trees and nubbles in bark, the dapple of sun through leaves, water shirred by wind. Her palette is almost rainbow-bright, and the piquant color organizes the small, all-over abstractions into networks of nervous lines that flirt with—but don’t quite coalesce into—figures. The suggestion of organic materials and bodies intensifies Zghal’s unabashed lyricism, and viewers are asked to check their suspicions about beauty at the door. Through Jan. 17. (M.Y. Art Prospects, 547 W. 27th St. 212-268-7132.)

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/art/2009/01/19/090119goar_GOAT_art?printable=true