Nearly 60 years ago, the Bay Area Figurative movement freed the figure from the constraints of portraiture and illustration. The figure became a form to hold paint and the artist could use color, gesture, atmosphere and composition to explore new expressions. The paintings in this exhibition engage us in both the rich language of abstraction and in the mysteries of the human condition. The freshness of the work makes us hesitate to file it under any genre and yet the wonderful qualities that made Bay Area Figuration a valid movement in art history abound.