Dorothy Hood’s Artistic Exploration of the Psyche Through Landscapes
# **Dorothy Hood: Remembering an Abstract Surrealist Pioneer**
The late American painter **Dorothy Hood** is finally getting long-overdue recognition with *Dorothy Hood: Remember Something Out of Time*, her first New York solo exhibition in 43 years. Hosted by **Hollis Taggart Gallery**, the show highlights Hood’s evocative, large-scale paintings, abstract collages, and surreal drawings, reaffirming her place in modern art history.
## **A Life Shaped by Art and Experience**
Born in **1918 in Bryan, Texas**, Dorothy Hood’s artistic journey was shaped by her extended stay in Mexico during the postwar years. Immersed in **Mexico City’s vibrant intellectual and artistic circles**, she met and was mentored by muralist **José Clemente Orozco** and befriended artists like **Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and filmmaker Luis Buñuel.** Unlike many artists of her time, Hood straddled multiple artistic worlds, blending Latin American **Surrealist influences with Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting.** Instead of adhering strictly to a single movement, she identified her work as “**Abstract Surrealism.**”
Her career continued to flourish after she **returned to the U.S., settling in Houston**, where she maintained strong relationships with leading scientists and astronauts from NASA. These encounters likely influenced her cosmic, otherworldly depictions of landscapes and abstract compositions.
## **A World of Evocative Color and Form**
The **Hollis Taggart Gallery exhibition** immerses visitors in Hood’s signature aesthetic, showcasing her powerful **red-toned**, large-scale paintings that evoke vast and mysterious landscapes. Several works, including **”Going Forth V” (1997)** and **”Brown Cloud Floating” (c. 1970s–80s),** create a sense of dislocation. Their forms and colors suggest **lava flows, deep-sea terrains, or extraterrestrial vistas**, capturing the duality between familiar and unknown worlds.
Hood’s approach to abstraction was distinctive—she used fluid brushstrokes, transparent layering, and intense color fields to evoke **emotion, memory, and dreamlike sensations.** Her compositions demonstrate an affinity with **Mark Rothko’s meditative color explorations** and **Arshile Gorky’s dynamic biomorphic forms.**
## **Exploring the Psyche Through Art**
Hood’s paintings often reflected her **inner world**, describing them as “**landscapes of my psyche.**” This idea is particularly evident in **”Tough Homage to Arshile Gorky” (c. 1970s),** where deep red forms are entwined with jagged blue-gray fissures, suggesting both emotional intensity and structural instability.
Several of her works, such as **”Untitled” (c. 1980s) and “Blue Waters” (c. 1980s),** further showcase her use of **disruptive patterns, fluid surfaces, and tonal gradients**, reinforcing a sense of weightlessness and depth.
## **From Abstraction to the Figurative**
Although best known as an abstract painter, Hood also explored **figurative and surreal elements**. The exhibition includes **five large-scale figurative drawings**, reminiscent of **science fiction imagery and mythical creatures.** Works like **”Terrible Flower” (c. 1970s)** feature contorted humanoid forms that appear both alien and intimate, showcasing her deep fascination with surrealism even outside the realm of abstraction.
## **Collages That Conjure Timelessness**
Hood’s collages complement her paintings and drawings by capturing an **ethereal, temporal dislocation.** In **”Picasso is Everywhere” (1982-97),** she incorporates a **Paloma Picasso logo**, stationery fragments, and abstract cutouts, creating a commentary on both personal and artistic history.
Meanwhile, **”Untitled 1050″ (1982-97)** blends images of **Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Evening Star No. III” (1917), a fallen autumn leaf, and an experimental physics image from a particle collider**, bringing together science, nature, and art in a visually arresting composition.
## **A Rediscovery Long Overdue**
Hood’s ability to simultaneously capture the **cosmic grandeur of space, the painterly expressiveness of the subconscious, and the structural elegance of abstraction** makes her work incredibly relevant today. She was a bridge between **Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Color Field painting,** yet her work has been overlooked compared to male contemporaries like **Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko**.
With **renewed interest in women artists of the 20th century**, *Dorothy Hood: Remember Something Out of Time* serves as a well-deserved reevaluation of **her pioneering career,** ensuring she secures