Stephen Maine reviews Martha Diamond: Recent Paintings at Alexandre Gallery, New York, on view through February 13, 2016.

Maine writes: "Individually and collectively, [Diamond's recent] paintings span a spectrum of pictorial experience, ranging from the linguistic to the lushly material; Diamond construes them as both symbol and surface but avoids any sense that she’s equivocating… Diamond’s touch is still endearingly clunky, but her paintings’ formal dynamics are tight as a drum, and their thematic associations remain open-ended without being cryptic. Diamond shoehorns a tremendous amount of experience, deliberation, and studio smarts into these beautifully understated works. Young artists pursuing an interest in small, nonchalantly executed paintings should see this show."