ART                                                                                                                                        By Maximillien de Lafayette

I do not know if those multi-colored, vibrant, intelligently striking, magnificently composed and elegantly appealing paintings are a part of a posterior, anterior, pre-cursor or a new expressive  style of Judy Cox? For, I have never seen before any of them in Judy Cox Washington’s exhibitions. If what I am looking at is the new vehicle, the new channel, the new style of Judy Cox, then, I better tell her that she FOUND THE PERFECT VEHICLE, THE PERFECT CHANNEL AND THE PERFECT STYLE MASTERY! But, if those colorful and dominant canvases belong to a vanished era in Cox’s art chronology, then, I would frankly suggest to Mrs. Cox to have a second a look at this magnificent style and give her paintings a second breathing chance. Let’s have a grand tour of Judy Cox’s atelier and chat with the artist, and if you are lucky, some of her paintings might reveal their secret to you! For her recent (I pray!) work has made a profound impact on me, as well as on many of our art connoisseurs and critics at the institute. Judy Cox calls her art “MINIMALISM”. I call it “PROGRESSIVE MINIMALISM” and should I be invited to compromise, I would call it, at least, “NEO MINIMALISM”, for the complex majesty of her style annihilates the stagnant pacifism of intellectual minimalism… For her new style drives constructive and simplistic minimalism to the edge of rudimentary curiosity of  its absence and meaningless presence!! How do I define and where do I find the progressive element (s) in Cox’s art? A-In the rhythm of her colors, for her colors move and free the canvas from conventional structural composition of lines, geometrical patterns, theme-object-subject relation. B-In the energetic quasi-hidden harmony that ties together a mental projection, objects or figures familiar to our daily perceptions and perfect unity between the freedom of a totally subjective artistic vision and the impact of the language of colors Cox uses to project herself and her chromatic quest for synchronized palette. C-In the juxtaposition of multi-layered compositions and separation of compositions delicately outlined and gently refuted by a deep and innovative sense of space and patterns so perfectly defined via the theme, the feelings, the space and time that unite Judy the Artist and the message she wishes to convey to herself, before she meets the public. This is so eloquently evident in:  LIFE’S VIEW seen on your left.

PAINTINGS ARE LIKE HUMAN BEINGS, AND JUDY COX KNEW THAT!

QUIET RAIN, 2002

Paintings are like human beings. In the human sphere, one got to be in the right place, at the right time and at the right moment, in order to succeed. On the magical landscape of the art of painting, the same concept applies. Judy Cox unveiled  that secret. Judy Cox knew that. Judy Cox knew where to draw the thin line between primary colors, secondary colors and what emanates from the very fragile and delicate separation between vibrant colors, shapes and forms that host the colors and the geography of that separation on the outside and the inner harmony on the inside. Five great masters unveiled that simplistic yet divine secret: Picasso, Leger, Mondrian, Klee and Balsamo. And now, we have Judy Cox!!  A painting has to breath like human beings. A painting has to have its own intimate moment, privacy and a sense of honest autonomy like a couple. A painting has to free itself from the bondage of aesthetics yet,  its metamorphosis development must continue to grow, and branch out freely to reach the imagination of the artist, the sympathy of the public and the “divine” in art. Judy Cox knew that! It might appear coincidental that a red square suddenly appeared on the right upper side of Cox’s painting, joined by a rectangular black presence and embraced by a white space on the left side of Judy Cox’s painting as it is clearly depicted in “DAY BY DAY”. If this is what you think, then try on your own to chose different colors and re-arrange the landscape of Cox’s painting and see what you will get. You will get an absolute chaos. You will bring to the world disorder and visual anarchy. Cox’s paintings are elegantly and intelligently composed, structured and balanced, yet, she is not restrained by an artistic dogmatic analysis. She said it herself. She told us this. Judy Cox wrote:“ “Even while painting them and stepping back and looking at them in process, I had moments of feeling calm".

End of the article.