Abstract paintings that want to tell a story

DURHAM -- It's a rare artist who can take an abstract work and turn it into a narrative. So you have to give Casey Cook props: Her show of nine paintings, currently on view at Branch Gallery, manages just that feat.

She might hook you with a bright green ribbon of color against an empty cream background, or a bold, cartoonish shape in the center of a seven-foot square painting. Then, as your eye follows, the form folds, twists or spurts into something unexpected: a flourish of pink lines, blocky letters or a juicy burst of tangled, faintly anatomical forms. Think of it as an art fractal, with each form sprouting another variation on the theme.

Discovering these elements feels like a happy accident, but the work is extremely deliberate.

Cook strikes an almost impossible balance between big, bold elements and tiny details; between her relentlessly spare spaces and the sudden collision of forms; and between static elements and kinetic, arcing passages that look as though they're peeling away from the canvas. The work constantly pulls you in two directions, reminding you who's in charge.

Consider "Snaggletooth," in which wide, ivory brush strokes are clearly visible on the surface of an otherwise smooth, pink background. On closer inspection, some of the strokes appear to be a simple swipe of the brush across the canvas. But others seem to be painted forms to create the illusion of a brush stroke, in Pop Art style.

Wedged between the bigger acrylics on canvas are four small text paintings. As with Cook's large works, the tiny details of these pieces are at first overshadowed but deliver unexpected twists. Each renders a phrase in blocky abstracted letters, stacked so that the viewer follows them not only left to right, but also down and around. Deciphering the message -- which takes a few seconds -- reveals an almost creepy level of neediness.

"BECAUSE IT'S SCARY HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE," reads one.

"WHERE WOULD U B WITHOUT ME," reads another.

This is abstract art as treasure hunt, work that rewards you for looking closer, then closer, then closer still.

This is yet another ambitious show with New York roots for Branch Gallery. Cook lives in New York, where her work has been shown at major galleries, including Lehmann Maupin in Chelsea.