Last night’s opening at Flowers Gallery in Chelsea was an enjoyable event. By 7pm the gallery was filled to capacity with artists and art-lovers who were viewing the work and reconnecting with friends. The show featured work by over 50 artists chosen by jurors Matthew Flowers, Carter Foster, and Julie Heffernan. Although all the work was created by NYAA academy alumni who study the traditions of academic art, the work was surprisingly abstract, taking many design elements from modernism. The show was comprised of several light and airy works as well as pieces with a thick, built-up paint texture. Michael Owen’s painting entitled “Don’t Tread on Me” was of a garden hose coiled up in the center of a white panel. Another piece entitled “Happy Church” depicted people falling out of a church/person’s ass. A common theme seemed to be the integration of a traditionally rendered figure over an abstract or minimalist ground, as in Alphonso Dunn’s painting “Forced Ripe.” I have to wonder whether this show depicts a trend among the 500 works submitted or if the jurors favored work with this aesthetic. All-in-all the show was a cohesive display of what figurative-modern fusion looks like.