A hurlyburly is a real-world Tumblr of sensory and dimensional elements, but it denotes a vision or experience that's more captivating and even funhouse than actual chaos or anything destructive. The idea that not only modern art but life itself is a bit of a hurlyburly is at the heart of Edith Beaucage: .hurluberlu, on view through April 3 at downtown's CB1 Gallery. The title refers to the Quebecois version of the word (Beaucage is a native of Canada), where its meaning emphasizes the idea of a more personal eccentricity, charm and extreme originality — and Beaucage's paintings, as is only right for an expat, land somewhere in between these worldviews. Combining abstract shapes and color fields with gesturally rendered people and things in her very large oil-on-canvas paintings, Beaucage examines the complex system of signs, language and imagination that drive human society. Her vibrant patterns, panchromatic brushstrokes and quirky way of drawing things result in images that are a little retro in their round, blocky style, and yet somehow not only tribal in their fundamental presentation of information and textural surfaces, but also scientific in their innovative, almost infographic examination of how people experience and self-organize the crazy, mixed-up world in which we're living.

Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: March 1. Continues through April 3, 2011

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