Robert Sagerman describes his process as a meditative practice. The paintings are comprised of a thick impasto of daubed oil paint, applied individually with a palette knife to create a dense field of color. Sagerman painstakingly records and documents every action associated with the making of a work including the colors used, number of marks per color, and the time spent for each color. This data collection enables him to methodically build a "system" in paint on the canvas. Sagerman purposely applies paint, as if enacting a sacred ritual derived from the Jewish mysticism of the Kabbalah, until all options have been exhausted and his "system" implodes with infinite possibility. The results are formally beautiful, accomplished paintings with incredibly tactile and luscious surfaces.

Born in Bayside, NY in 1966, Robert Sagerman received his MFA in Painting and MA in Art History from the Pratt Institute in 1998, his MA in Religious Studies in 2000 from New York University and is currently working towards his PhD in Jewish Mysticism, Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. Sagerman has participated in numerous exhibitions in New York, Atlanta, and Chicago. Recently, he was included in Painting as Process: Reevaluating Painting, a group exhibition with Gerhard Richter and Robert Ryman at the Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore. His work is represented in the Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum in Hagen, Germany. The San Francisco exhibition continues through July 2, 2005.