Thomas Micchelli reviews the exhibition Baker Overstreet: Frown Upside Down at Fredericks & Freiser, New York, on view through March 30, 2013.

Micchelli writes: "Overstreet’s symmetrical designs, built up over time, with traces of previous decisions establishing the bases for further formulations, emerge as an infrastructure for channeling the wellspring’s flow. The paintings’ resemblance to 1980s-era video games does not diminish their impact but rather connects the process of their making with the primal euphoria aroused by color, movement and light, made all the more affecting by the scruffiness of their surfaces, as if there were only enough emotional space available for the essence of subliminal urges, not for the representation of their source. It also makes the imagery’s inability to translate into jpegs simultaneously fitting, ironic and poignant."