Swing I 24" x 24"

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With Swing I, part of the 2025 New Works Collection, James Nowak shifts his painterly vocabulary toward rhythm, balance, and improvisation. Unlike the dense gestural layers of the Symphony or Delicate Spring works, Swing I embraces sparseness and clarity, allowing each mark to carry weight and resonance. The title itself signals a connection to music and movement—specifically the improvisational cadence of jazz—suggesting that the painting is less about structural opposition and more about rhythm, play, and syncopation.

The composition is striking in its restraint. A pale blue ground establishes a cool, expansive field, functioning almost like silence in music. Upon this backdrop, a handful of bold, deliberate strokes take center stage: thick, sinuous black arcs that bisect the canvas, vibrant red patches, and sweeping yellow gestures that curve with a buoyant energy.

The economy of marks emphasizes rhythm over density. Each stroke becomes an event, a beat within a larger measure. The black arcs carry gravity, functioning like bass lines that anchor the piece, while the yellow strokes bring lift and buoyancy, recalling brass or cymbal hits. The red shapes punctuate like syncopated accents, injecting warmth and unpredictability.

Nowak’s pared-down palette underscores the work’s rhythmic clarity. The blue ground reads as open air—calm yet spacious, creating the conditions for movement. Yellow brings brightness and optimism, red injects vibrancy and intensity, while black asserts structure and weight. The relationships between these hues mirror the push-and-pull of jazz improvisation: dialogue, contrast, and sudden bursts of energy.

The emotional tone is playful yet grounded. There is a sense of swing, of motion suspended between order and spontaneity, which echoes the improvisatory character implied in the title.

Swing I can be read as an investigation into minimal rhythm in abstraction. Where Tension and Symphony Number I built complexity through density and layering, this painting suggests that rhythm can emerge from simplicity. By reducing the number of marks, Nowak draws attention to the space between gestures—the silences, pauses, and intervals that make rhythm possible.

The title situates the work in dialogue with music, specifically jazz, where swing refers to a rhythmic feel that relies not on precision alone but on tension between structure and freedom. This analogy resonates with Nowak’s broader practice: the painting inhabits a space between order (geometry, rhythm) and spontaneity (gesture, improvisation).

Swing I signals a new dimension within the 2025 New Works Collection. Where the Symphony canvases aimed for orchestral density and the Delicate Spring series embraced seasonal abundance, Swing I turns toward restraint, syncopation, and play. It demonstrates Nowak’s versatility in translating abstract ideas—whether seasonal, musical, or emotional—into painterly form. As the first in what may be a series, it suggests further exploration of rhythm and improvisation across multiple canvases.

Swing I exemplifies James Nowak’s capacity to create rhythm and vitality from minimal means. Through bold strokes, a reduced palette, and deliberate spacing, the painting captures the essence of swing—motion balanced between predictability and surprise, gravity and lift. As part of the 2025 New Works Collection, it stands as both contrast and complement to the denser canvases, affirming Nowak’s ongoing dialogue between music, gesture, and abstraction.