American abstraction - disappearing at Saatchi Gallery

Half of the Abstract America Today show has been displaced by Xavier Mascaro's bronze boats and other sculptures, and the rest is due to come down soon (9 Sept). I was astonished at the media - knitting! machine embroidery! fabric collage (ok, canvas)! weaving! There may have been some paint... 

It's sometimes difficult to define abstraction - can written (ok, knitted) phrases be "abstract"? 

Lisa Anne Auerbach, Find Your Inner Metal Voice, 2011
(it's described as "Merino wool stitched onto stretched linen")

I found the framed weavings by Brent Wadden impressive - they're made from reclaimed yarn, needing ingenuity when supplies run out ... just like a lot of handicraft traditions ...

Cullen Washington Jr uses the grid as a compostional device, and uses "canvas, paper, tape, found materials" for his constructions -

Ivan Morley uses "a vintage embroidery machine" - this work barely fits between floor and ceiling (and a peek round the back shows a blank canvas instead of lots of loose ends) -

Big seems to be desirable when abstraction is involved. Also big was Xavier Mascaro's work Departures, of which this is the tail end -