Urban's entire oeuvre drives a wedge between the subjective expressions and freely improvised compositions that have characterized Abstract Expressionism since the middle of the twentieth century. From thickly built-up and scraped encrustations of his smaller paintings to the consummately suave maneuvers of his larger ones, Urban's work is more indebted to Dubuffet's mute scrawlings and Jasper John's inscrutable brushstrokes than to the movement's free-wheeling gesturalism. Two essays and an interview with the artist.