"85 Vignettes" Kite by Michael Thompson

With its freeform shapes, expressive brushwork and dripping lines in a nuanced palette of black and gray, “85 Vignettes” is part of Chicago artist Michael Thompson’s Kite series. The abstract painting invites us to examine the painting in segments, or “vignettes,” imposed by the work’s grid-like support, as well as take in the work as a whole. Thompson’s Kite series has engaged the artist for more than a decade, including works made of split bamboo frames covered with stretched muslin, paint and collaged material.