Spatial Awareness

I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
—Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson's opening line serves as both the inspiration for this exhibition's title and an invitation into the contemplative spirit of Paul Gruhler's work.

Gruhler’s geometric compositions in paint, paper, and aluminum offer viewers a world of possibility akin to that evoked by poetry. He compares his pursuit of the essence and refinement of color and form to a poet striving for “that right word, right place, and right flow.” Reading poetry each day—along with meditating and observing the landscape around his Vermont home—is an essential part of how Gruhler prepares his mind for making art. Poetry, in particular, reminds Gruhler that meaning often emerges through discovery rather than certainty. It encourages him to work intuitively, trusting the creative process rather than trying to control its outcome.

For more than six decades, Gruhler has embraced abstraction as a vital way of making sense of the world. As a young artist living in New York City, he encountered the minimalist and almost monastic qualities of Frank Stella's black stripe paintings, an experience that profoundly influenced the development of his own hard-edge geometric style. In Gruhler's work, fields of vibrant color are bordered and divided by thin bands of paint and negative space, establishing a balance of tension and harmony.

During these formative years, Gruhler also developed a deep appreciation for poetry, frequently attending readings by writers including Robert Frost, one of his favorite poets. "Initially, I was more interested in poetry," Gruhler recalls, "but realized early on that I had no way with words." Although he ultimately found his voice through paint rather than language, poetry has remained an essential part of his creative practice. It nurtures the attentiveness, discipline, and openness that define both his process and his art.

Possibilities focuses on the last decade of the artist's long career—a period remarkable for the continued evolution of his visual language. At a stage when many artists settle into familiar patterns, Gruhler has continued to experiment, discovering new forms, materials, and ways of seeing. During a 2018 trip to Sicily, he became captivated by ancient diamond-shaped mosaic floors and began incorporating this geometry alongside the linear and rectangular forms that had long defined his work. In 2022, he extended this exploration by rotating the very framework of the canvas from square to diamond, intensifying the form's dynamic energy. Around the same time, he began working in aluminum, creating kinetic sculptures whose planes move in response to air currents and whose surfaces reflect ever-changing patterns of light and shadow.

Poetry serves as an interpretive thread throughout the exhibition. Selected collaboratively by the artist and curator, the poems are not intended to explain Gruhler's paintings but to accompany them—inviting visitors into the same spirit of attention and openness from which the work emerges. Together with Gruhler's abstractions, they ask us to linger with ambiguity, discover unexpected connections, and dwell in possibility.

—Alison Crites, curator

For more than 60 years, Paul Gruhler (b. 1941) has produced an extensive body of work—paintings, drawings, paper collages, and kinetic sculpture—all within the framework of geometric abstraction. A self-taught artist, he opened his first studio in Manhattan in 1962 and entered the city’s competitive art world. Several prominent older artists befriended Gruhler early in his career, most notably the celebrated sculptor, Michael Lekakis, who introduced Gruhler to Alexander Calder, Isamu Noguchi, Louise Nevelson, and Barnett Newman. Meanwhile, Gruhler exhibited his work widely in galleries and museums in the United States, Mexico City, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Moving to Vermont in 1993, Gruhler now lives in Craftsbury. He continues to work daily in his studio, which overlooks the Green Mountains. Gruhler’s paintings are held in numerous national and international public and private collections.