John Goodrich reviews the exhibition Jean Hélion: Five Decades at Schroeder Romero & Shredder, on view through June 30, 2012.

Goodrich writes: "Rather than presuming a role for art – as transcendent object, or omniscient sign – Hélion simply absorbed, with a remarkably astute eye, great instances of traditional painting, and pursued its possibilities in his own way. While many a postmodernist artist might toss all of tradition down the drain, Hélion found it vibrant and rich enough to re-invent from within. And yet, a wide, anarchic streak informs Hélion’s process, relying as it did on independent and spontaneous experience."