radical departure from her previous figure painting, this unique body of work is composed of vintage papers, book covers and pages of old handwritten diaries and ledgers. Resonant with memory, these are the ephemeral stuffs of connection between generations. The work, intimate and urbane, testifies to the elegiac aspects of typesetting and bookbinding in an electronic age. Cursive script, our first experience with disciplined drawing, earns a threnody of its own.

“Every book is an embodiment of mind,” explains Ms. Mullarkey. “When I hold an old book, I remember the story of an aged librarian who wandered his collections, stopping to stroke them and muttering: ‘Don’t worry my darlings. They’ll never turn you into microfiche.’”

Ms. Mullarkey has written on art and cultural issues for various national publications, including The New York Sun, The Nation, Crisis, Commonweal, Hudson Review, Arts, Newsday , and The New York Times. She is an member of the International Association of Art Critics (A.I.C.A.), the National Arts Club, and was elected to Who’s Who in American Art in 1991. Ms. Mullarkey’s work is included in various corporate and private collections. This is her first solo exhibition at George Billis Gallery.

The George Billis Gallery marks its tenth year in the Chelsea Art District and opened a second gallery in 2004 in the burgeoning gallery district of Culver City in Los Angeles.