A short essay by Barry Schwabsky written for the exhibition Fade Away curated by Alli Sharma.  Fade Away explores "paintings that oscillate between representation and abstraction." Schwabsky writes: "the fact that so many painters today are working along the broad and very porous border between abstraction and images is a sign that this boundary is, in itself, an object of great fascination. It’s as if the potential for transition had become more urgent than identification with a fixed position. Mobility trumps rigor."

Fade Away is on view at Gallery North, University of Northumbria through May 26, 2011.