In the early 1980s, many young artists reacted to the reductive style and mechanized processes of late Minimalism. Their response led them to explore the expressive possibilities of figuration. A number of artists such as David Salle and Eric Fischl used the human figure; several other artists began painting biomorphic abstractions that recalled the automatic drawings and weird landscapes of the Surrealists. In fact, “Surrealist” is the perfect term for Carroll Dunham’s work, which, although totally abstract, alludes to animate objects such as flowers, pistons and cells.