Painting and Politics

Larry Groff at Prince Street Gallery

In Larry Groff’s recent paintings, visions of contemporary reality give way to surprising optimism.

Abstraction with a Political Conscience
Hyperallergic

Gwenaël Kerlidou examines the career of Olivier Mosset. Kerlidou concudes: “The critique of the art system has often been done from a neo-conceptual standpoint, but rarely from a painting standpoint, since painting has been the standard scapegoat of the conceptual critique. In both cases, however, the objects produced can never be seen simply literally: no […]

Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire
Studio International

Emily Spicer reviews Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire at the National Gallery, London, on view through October 7, 2018. Spicer writes that the show centers around Cole’s “The Course of Empire series, which charts the rise and fall of civilisation over five canvases – a cautionary tale of the dangers of imperial greed and corruption. These […]

Patrick Jones: No Pasaran
AbCrit

Len Green reviews Patrick Jones: No Pasaran recently on view at the PS45 Gallery, Exeter, March 10 – April 9, 2017. Green begins: “The exhibition “No Pasaran” represents a life-long artistic journey by Patrick Jones, a journey which illustrates how he and his work have been affected by artistic influences from America and Europe. The […]

Alice Neel: Still Neglected
Arteidolia

Randee Silv explores the influence of Alice Neel’s politics on her work on the occasion of the exhibition Alice Neel, Uptown, curated by Hilton Als, at David Zwirner Gallery, New York, on view through April 22, 2017. Silv begins: “I immediately found myself in a crossfire of conversations. Ricocheting. Intimate. Political. Some might’ve known each […]

Death, Destruction and Deity: Painting Guernica
The Art Newspaper

Gijs van Hensbergen considers a panoply of sources and influences on Picasso’s Guernica (1937) on the occasion of the exhibition Pity and Terror: Picasso’s Path to Guernica at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, on view through September 4, 2017. Hensbergen writes: “Picasso’s magpie instinct and voracious visual memory is legendary but there is […]

Julie Mehretu: Can Social Abstraction Succeed?
Art F City

Paddy Johnson reviews Julie Mehretu: Hoodnyx, Voodoo and Stelae at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, on view through October 29, 2016. Johnson writes: “Without the titles, there’s no way to identify the grim events that inspire [Mehretu’s] work. The paintings add little to a path of abstract artist well trodden by now. With them, the mass […]