Without cynicism, these painters stage studio experiences in which one sees acts of painterly lovemaking accumulate over time. By tenderly examining the surfaces of their works, one can reconstruct the painterly decisions, additions, revisions and erasures that lead to the finished image and thereby reconstruct the narrative by which the artists fall in love with their own work.

In each and every piece in the show failure has been risked and sometimes encountered. Several of the artists spoke of moments of desperation in the studio when the works felt unsalvageable and almost ended up in the dumpster. In each case the next studio decision allowed the artists to become re-enraptured and let these experiments take on a public life forever in the artists' official output.

Painting: A Love Story includes 15 artists from New York, Boston, Houston and El Paso, including Richard Aldrich, David Aylsworth, Andrew Brischler, Joseph Cohen, Matt Connors, Keltie Ferris, Geoff Hippenstiel, Eva Lundsager, Jason Middlebrook, Sam Reveles, Cordy Ryman, Amy Sillman, Shane Tolbert, Scott Treleaven and Charline von Heyl.

On view through March 23, 2014.