Link to Post:
http://art-rated.com/?p=564
Jonathan Beer interviews painter Jochen Plogsties about his work and development as an artist.
Plogsties, whose practice includes appropriation and re-interpreting existing paintings, comments: "the more I want to make an accurate copy, the more I see my individuality. The closer I get, the farther away I feel. Before I started making this work, I had a pretty clear definition of what a copy was. But the more I do now, I become more and more unsure. Is it even possible to make a copy of a painting? Everyone talks as if that is a possibility but I think it really isn’t possible. You could never really figure out the layering or the materials. There are so many ways to get close to the original, and if ten different people can do it differently, the question arises of whether there might be way to actually copy something."
Link to Post:
http://www.furiousdreams.com/blog/?p=12673
Victoria Webb interviews painter Ryan Coleman about his work and process.
Discussing influences Coleman remarks: "I tend to lean toward abstraction and obscuring the subject matter or imagery into something which contains a shroud of mystery. I’m drawn to work that has a bit of this mystery in it, and one artist in particular who comes to mind in regard to this is J.M.W. Turner. I saw an exhibition of his a few years ago at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and was deeply moved by his paintings. I was also struck by the size and commanding presence they emit, and that they teeter between abstraction and representation."
Link to Post:
http://artnewengland.com/blogs/altoon-sultan-a-studio-visit/
Craig Stockwell visits the Vermont studio of painter and blogger Altoon Sultan.
Stockwell writes that Sultan "has moved into a rich, connected and powerfully self-directed engagement in a wide field of artistic endeavor and questioning. She is living art rather than simply going to the studio... At present there are several different projects going on, all purposeful and all ardently communicated through postings on Facebook: First, there are the paintings. The paintings are small tempera-on- parchment formal studies of the color and forms of machinery. The paintings are vivid in their clear presence and are evidence of a love of close-slow observation. Then there are sets of textile abstractions that have developed using traditional rug-hooking techniques with hand dyed wool; here abstraction sings simply and boldly. The textiles are both accomplished and casual in a blend that recalls Richard Tuttle."
Link to Post:
http://bombsite.com/articles/6728
Richard J. Goldstein looks at the recent work of Stephen Posen which merges painting and photography.
Goldstein writes: "Access and memory are two words that come to mind when viewing Posen’s work. His initial question of communication in turn became one of recognition. How does the viewer comprehend recognizable space through added layers of concealment? This comprehension is all about access to the recognizable ground which, when visually obstructed, relies upon memory and intuition to complete the picture... Through the years, the strategies may have changed but the game is still the same for Posen: how one accesses meaning in the languages of paint and photography via memory."
Link to Post:
http://youtu.be/a1AntEoZ7S4
Painter Mike Cockrill discusses his new work with James Kalm.
Kalm notes that "After nearly forty years of working as a figurative painter, with a background of training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, and battling notions of aesthetic good taste with his own weird version of 'bad painting,' the unexpected has happened. Cockrill has begun a series of semi abstract works. Declaring 'I was tired and sick of my own work' the artist begins painting and thinking about classic Modernism, and how he could use it" to move his work in new directions.
Link to Post:
http://www.gorkysgranddaughter.com/2012/08/franklin-evans-july-2012.html
Christopher Joy and Zachary Keeting visit the studio of Franklin Evans. Evans discusses multiple elements of his art practice including abstract painting, trompe l'oeil, collage, and installation, and sound works. The video includes a sample of one of Evans' sound pieces playing while the camera pans the studio.
Evans' exhibition eyesontheedge was recently on view at Sue Scott Gallery.
Link to Post:
http://art-rated.com/?p=544
Jonathan Beer and Lily Koto Olive interview painter Kristine Moran about her work and process.
Moran comments: "...because my work depends largely on the painting process itself, even the most detailed sketch will at times translate into something completely different on canvas. For the most part, the paintings tend to morph into unexpected territory as they evolve. I find that if I try to stick too closely to the original intent, my paintings become didactic or too illustrative for my liking. On the other hand, if I’m able to stay completely open, the subject matter emerges through painting. A certain brush stroke or gesture will make me suddenly shift the direction of the work into a new direction, and it’s imperative that I stay open to these unexpected turns."
Link to Post:
http://studiocritical.blogspot.com/2012/08/ward-schumaker.html
Valerie Brennan interviews painter Ward Schumaker about his work and studio practice.
Schumaker remarks: "I like to work on a very defined, consistent group... then follow that with a group of things that veer wildly in different directions... Most important and most uncomfortable is that once a direction is decided upon, I have to be willing to drop it when that Other Thing takes over - intuition, divine guidance, whatever you call it - that thing that almost everyone I respect seeks: the moment when one feels he/she is not in control, that something separate or higher or deeper or more knowledged has taken over."
Link to Post:
http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/conversations/in-conversation-michael-shaw-interviews-fritz-chestnut
Michael Shaw interviews artist Fritz Chestnut.
Chesnut remarks: "I hope to make something vulnerable in that I am accountable for it, putting it out there and backing it up. Painting for me is a super risky thing and sometimes it comes easily. Other times I have a hard time turning off my mind and am prone to some challenging moments in the studio where I am completely blocked creatively. If I am not in the zone and have too much chatter going on in my mind it is hard to get to that place where I am ok making mistakes. In my experience you need to make tons and tons of mistakes before making anything successful."
Link to Post:
http://www.paintersbread.com/2012/07/page-whitmore-interview.html
Michael Rutherford interviews painter Page Whitmore.
Whitmore remarks: "I derive immense tactile pleasure from making and materiality. In alignment with some of the tensions in my work, achieving a high level of craft is important to me with the minimalist painting-esque objects, whereas some works I show are industrially manufactured; almost artless. My work has multiple personalities, and I am interested in showing the work as two completely separate modes of thinking and making."
