Link to Post:
http://paintingperceptions.com/guest-posts/philip-guston-a-problematic-centennial
Thaddeus Radell reviews the exhibition Philip Guston: A Centennial Exhibition at McKee Gallery, New York, on view through April 20th, 2013.
Impressed by the show, though not by every picture in it, Radell writes that the exhibition "is an inspiring, if problematic, offering from one of the most pictorially demanding and ‘image-ridden’ painters of the second half of the last century. The current exhibition marks the centennial of his birth and seemingly celebrates the artist’s rebirth into figuration. All of the works, except the impressive The Year (1964), date from the late period during which Guston began to draw and paint single objects in a highly condensed manner. His boldly colored figurative narratives are solidly removed from the subtle tonal resonances established in his mid-career abstractions. The Year remains a resilient and potent statement of Guston’s ability to address key issues of the New York School while enigmatically retaining and nourishing a commitment to simple, massive forms that are, quite obviously, figuration."
Link to Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-seed/anne-harris-new-paintings_b_2985056.html
John Seed interviews painter Anne Harris on the occasion of her exhibition of new paintings at Alexandre Gallery, New York, on view from April 6 through May 11, 2013.
Seed writes: "The gradual evanescence of Harris's imagery is occurring as a feature of what she acknowledges is a 'long standing evolution.' She confides that 'over the years I have become more and more interested in the the idea that I am painting a slice of air.'... Emotionally, technically and stylistically Harris is walking a tightrope, and she seems genuinely thrilled to be there. Describing one of the 'invisibles' to me on the phone, she tells me that, 'the figure might have less weight than the air: I love trying to paint dense air. The entire painting becomes the body. It is exciting to me that everything is skin and air.'"
Link to Post:
http://www.supremefiction.com/theidea/2013/04/gallery-chronicle-april-2013.html
James Panero reviews six exhibitions currently on view in New York: Thornton Willis: Steps at Elizabeth Harris Gallery (through April 13), Painted on 21st Street: Helen Frankenthaler from 1950 to 1959 at Gagosian Gallery (through April 13), Sanford Wurmfeld: Color Visions 1966–2013 at the Hunter College/Times Square Gallery (through April 20), Judith Braun: May I Draw at Joe Sheftel Gallery (through April 21), Paul D’Agostino: Twilit Ensembles at Pocket Utopia (through April 21), and Joe Zucker: Empire Descending a Staircase at Mary Boone Gallery (through April 27).
Link to Post:
http://www.artextrovert.com/2013/03/dina-deitsch-and-evan-j-garza-talk.html
Christopher Joy talks to exhibition curators Dina Deitsch and Evan J. Garza talk about Paint Things: Beyond the Stretcher at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, MA, on view through April 21, 2013.
Garza comments: "This exhibition really originated, I think, with a conversation about Jessica Stockholder's work. Jessica has been working in a very sculptural practice for the last 20+ years." He notes that works by Stockholder use "painting as a foundation for a sculptural object which in many ways is a kind of precedent - a visual aesthetic… lens by which you can examine the rest of the exhibition." Deitsch adds that although Stockholder's work lends itself to multiple interpretations, the work is also about "making everything painting, bringing the world into it, opening up painting."
Link to Post:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-review-brad-eberhard-thomas-solomon-20130321,0,4440821.story
Christopher Knight reviews the exhibition Brad Eberhard (dis-solve) at Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles, on view through Apr 20, 2013.
Knight writes: "'Way Out,' the most beautiful of the six [paintings on view], is a cave painting. Blood-red pigment was poured along the upper edge of the 4-foot-square canvas and ran down the surface, recalling methods used by Jackson Pollock and Morris Louis. The dribbles provided the initial contours of an irregular pattern of abstract, organic shapes, which cover the entire canvas. Eberhard filled in the shapes with pink, green, ochre and brown, sometimes scraping off the paint and starting over from scratch. Adding and subtracting forms and colors yields a rough but elegant look. The result is an abstract Color Field painting with oddly figurative overtones."
Link to Post:
http://altoonsultan.blogspot.com/2013/03/abstraction-image-and-paint.html
Altoon Sultan vists two exhibitions of abstract painting: Painting Advanced at Edward Thorp Gallery (through April 20) and Andrew Masullo at Mary Boone Gallery (through April 27, 2013).
The two shows, Sultan writes, "got me thinking about how important the quality of paint was to me: paint itself, how it looks, how it works, how each artist uses it." In the work of Masullo, she finds that "the images are enchanting, but for me the love of paint is missing," while the five painters work on view at Edward Thorp each have "a very different approach to image and materials, each with a rich and sensuous use of paint."
Link to Post:
http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/03/translucence-talk-with-lucinda-cobley.html
Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews painter Lucinda Cobley on the occasion of the exhibition Lucinda Cobley: Sequence at Wade Wilson Art, Houston, TX, on view through April 27, 2013.
Anderson writes that "Cobley is intellectually engaged with her process of painting and printing on transparent materials such as etched glass and clear plastic. The artist possesses impressive knowledge of her materials and at times sounds like a scientist when discussing light refraction or the chemical properties of marble dust. Her practice is to apply oils or acrylics mixed with minerals and pigments such as alabaster, malachite or marble dust, onto stacked sheets of Mylar, frosted plexi, or glass, so that textured paint, reflected light and shadows resolve into meditative translucence."
Link to Post:
http://hyperallergic.com/67886/catherine-murphys-challenge/
John Yau blogs about the work of Catherine Murphy, on view at Peter Freeman, Inc., New York thorugh April 27, 2013.
Yau writes: "Murphy doesn’t generalize, doesn’t develop shorthand for her subjects, doesn’t use paint in any way that announces painterliness or style. Rather, she does something far more difficult and demanding — she remains devoted to her subject, however plain and ordinary. And if the subject requires that Murphy paint layers of flesh-colored tissue paper or flakes of falling snow seen through a window on a windy night, then she will take up the challenge. Think of all the artists who become content to produce examples of their brand with just the right little twist. There is none of that in this exhibition. Every painting and drawing is distinct, no variations."
Link to Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-eckhardt-kohler/matt-bollinger-at-zurcher-studio-road-of-ashes_b_2968506.html
William Eckhardt Kohler reviews the exhibition Matt Bollinger: Bed on the Floor at Zürcher Studio, New York, on view through April 28, 2013.
Kohler writes that the works in the show (which include an installation and collage works) address "the theme of despair and loss... a slow moving katabasis; the dystopic descent of bottoming out, depression and loss of social standing. Robert Bly, in his book Iron John, calls this the 'Road of Ashes.' In mythology katabasis refers to the heroic descent into the Underworld. [Bollinger's] images however are firmly placed within familiar this-worldy narratives and contexts of cheap beer, homelessness chain link fences and empty lots full of rubbish."
Link to Post:
http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2013/03/thomas-germano-response-to-roberta.html
Sharon Butler posts a defense of the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by painter Thomas Germano.
Germano questions the prevailing tendency to dismiss Pre-Raphaelite painting: "While some will dismiss Pre-Raphaelite art as illustrative because they were the first artists to employ the new technology of photography in their art, the use of photography today is a perfectly accepted method of image making and artists no longer hide this fact nor apologize for doing so. The Pre-Raphaelites were simply too popular and widely circulated in their day and critics have always frowned upon the universal acceptance of the PRB art movement questioning, 'how can anything this popular be good art when so many commoners admire it?'... While I've never been the first to champion the PRB, this exhibition demonstrates their brilliance and proves exactly why "now" is the time to re-examine their admirable accomplishments. "
