Link to Post:
http://youtu.be/xjO1Nv8EETc
James Kalm video blogs a visit to the recent exhibition Ben La Rocco: Fugue State at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn.
Kalm writes that "La Rocco directs his painterly investigation into a realm of physics and astronomy as graphic representations. Transcribing concepts like the relationship between the scale of humanity and planetary bodies like the sun, these paintings evoke a poetic interpretation of mans relation to the cosmos. Working on a horizontal format of wooden planks, many of these pieces read like a symbolic diagram of human versus astronomical perceptions spread on a horizontal plane." La Rocco also discussed the exhibition in a recent interview with Thomas Micchelli.
Submitted by Brett Baker on April 25, 2013
Carrie Moyer, Herr Doktor, 2012, acrylic, glitter on canvas, 60 x 72 inches (courtesy of the artist)
Carrie Moyer: Pirate Jenny is on view at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY from January 26 - May 19, 2013.
The following video, produced by the Tang Museum, shows painter Carrie Moyer at work in the studio. She describes her process, which begins with small black and white collages, and discusses her influences - including Miro's The Farm (1921–1922) and paintings by Christian Schad and Alexej von Jawlensky. She also talks about how she arrived at her current body of work:
Link to Post:
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/conversations/2013-04-25/becoming-adults-the-paintings-of-elena-sisto/
Julian Kreimer interviews painter Elena Sisto on the occasion of the exhibtion Between Silver Light and Orange Shadow: Paintings by Elena Sisto at Lori Bookstein Fine Art, New York, on view through May 25, 2013.
Asked about the "line between abstraction and figuration," Sisto comments: "To say a painting is abstract doesn't necessarily mean it has no figures in it; it means that it's constructed abstractly. We're living in a moment when we see so many images all the time. People are looking at them iconographically. There's a lot more to a painting than just how the iconography reads. That's why it's very important to me if someone goes up close to my painting. When you look at one of my paintings, I want you to look at it and say, "Oh, I know what that is." And as soon as you start looking at it, the abstraction carries your eye off in an unexpected way."
Link to Post:
http://ffffffwalls.com/2013/04/trudy-benson-navy-yard/
Jonathan Chapline and Lorraine Nam visit Trudy Benson's studio on the occasion of her solo exhibition Paint at Horton Gallery, New York, on view from April 25 - June 2 , 2013.
Benson discusses her process: "For the most part for these paintings, I feel like they are a collage of different painting moves and I approach it the same way you would if you’re making a Photoshop file... In the beginning of the painting, it happens really fast and I can do the first four to five moves pretty fast within one to two days and even up to the first oil move. Then after the first oil paint move, I can only think one step ahead. Even if I try, I sometimes forget what I’m planning on doing and I might change my mind too. Sometimes I work on a few different ideas. There’s a lot of painting that happens outside of the studio at this point. In the work in my last show, I was using a different medium, so things would happen a lot faster. Now everything is drying slow but I actually like that I can be more selective about what moves I make and I actually enjoy taking more time in between steps."
Link to Post:
http://burnaway.org/2013/04/an-ideal-rhythm-studio-visit-with-andy-cherewick/
Rusty Wallace interviews painter Andy Cherewick.
Cherewick discusses his work and the daily practice of painting. He remarks: "The reality is you have to get accustomed to the fear of going into the unknown. You go into the unknown on purpose. If you’re sincere about wanting to do something vital and meaningful, you have to take that step. Fear is always going to be there... When you get to a place where you’re presenting your work and you’re looking at the work individually, are these guys doing something together? Are there little things going on inside them? What’s their relationship? Do they have enough to survive on their own when they get split up, sent to different places? Can each one transmit the story of whatever it is you’re telling in some way, shape, or form? Are you making sure each one of your works is doing that? For me, that’s the hardest thing to see and control and understand. And that is what is happening to your work versus what is happening in the world with your work."
Link to Post:
http://www.gorkysgranddaughter.com/2013/04/nichole-van-beek-march-2013.html
Zachary Keeting and Christopher Joy visit the studio of painter Nichole Van Beek.
Van Beek discusses her recent paintings which derive their visual power from the juxtaposition of opposites. Graphic and painterly marks, pattern and hard-edge shapes, dim and saturated color coalesce in each work to achieve unexpected unities.
Van Beek comments that "a lot of the work is that balance between... 'it happened' and then also having this planned structure. And it comes into play in a lot of different ways. So, being controlled and also being free and having those two things come together..."
Link to Post:
http://paintingperceptions.com/contemporary-realism/pursuing-humanity-an-interview-with-simon-dinnerstein
Elana Hagler interviews painter Simon Dinnerstein about his work. Dinnerstein's painting The Fulbright Triptych is on display in the lobby of the German Consulate, 871 United Nations Plaza, New York through April 1, 2014.
Dinnerstein comments: "I am very interested in this humanity, a living humanity that I described before. When I choose to find art that depicts the full measure of a human being, I find myself turning to the world of film. Here, also, the concern isn’t over riding, but nevertheless it is there. For instance, the recent Michael Hanneke film Amour is clearly an example of a really deep work of art about the human spirit. So, I would like to hold out the possibility that there are instances where paint (and also charcoal, carbon, etc.) will somehow reach past the medium and reveal spirit."
Link to Post:
http://www.thoughtsthatcureradically.com/2013/04/matthew-neil-gehring-interview_20.html
Caleb De Jong interviews painter Matthew Neil Gehring about his work on the occasion of the exhibition Matthew Neil Gehring: Brilliant Corners, on view at the Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX, through April 30, 2013.
Gehring comments: "I think that there is a great freedom within a focused practice and the parameters of my natural tendencies, tendencies that have been with me since my earliest work... In many ways, I began as a student with a primary interest in formal work, and I have loved reductive abstract painting and sculpture for as long as I can remember. The new paintings here in Beaumont are formal and they are focused in an extended investigation of a small number of variables and relationships. I am interested in making relatively small moves, where in the past I felt compelled to make significant shifts, large conceptual declarations, from piece to piece."
Link to Post:
http://hyperallergic.com/69134/standing-on-the-edge-of-space-painting-as-noun-and-verb/
Thomas Micchelli interviews painter Jennifer Riley on the occasion of the exhibition Jennifer Riley: Memory from Sight at Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, on view through April 27, 2013.
Riley comments: "I think... that wanting to depict/relate images of hard facts needs to be balanced by an awareness of what lies beyond the boundaries. I literally said to myself that ‘painting’ is also verb — it is an action — as well as a noun. I’d been too long in the noun; it felt natural to shift from ‘sign’ to ‘record.’ From something that indicates sets of information, so to speak, to showing tangible evidence of experiences. No doubt that nature has influenced my recent work. I find my self staring with my mouth wide open at birds, at the edge of the forest — I sometimes feel guilty for looking — like I should get back to work — but looking is working for a painter."
Link to Post:
http://www.paintersbread.com/2013/04/johnny-cash-buttered-toast-interview.html
Michael Rutherford interviews painter Robert Janitz about his work.
Rutherford's introduction begins: "Paint on canvas and their combined affect on a viewer are what painting is all about. I can’t help but admire an artist who uses those materials in a bold matter-of-fact way, and the paintings of Robert Janitz are exactly what I mean. There’s no wondering about how they were made and there’s no ooing & aahing over them to be done. They’re tough and visceral, with paint that’s honestly, truthfully applied—just workmanlike, and a resulting grace that transcends the means of its application. While some painters have gone off the picture plane in order to push forward (a move which I also admire), Janitz has stuck with the stretched canvas, and I’m thankful he did. He’s a well-informed painter, digging deep into art history and pulling in references from far enough back that the resulting work is spiced and nuanced as if it were from some old lost recipe newly found."
