Link to Post:
http://www.paintinginla.com/2013/02/panel-and-paradox-at-torrance-art-museum.html
A report on a panel discussion about contemporary painting at the exhibition Paradox Maintenance Technicians at the Torrance Art Museum, California, on view through March 9, 2013. The exhibition surveys contemporary painting in Los Angeles and beyond featuring the work of 26 painters.
"Despite some disagreement about whether painting was dead as a medium (or whether that was even a relevant question anymore) all the panelists did seem to agree that a resurgence of painting was taking place today in Los Angeles and elsewhere... 'I think the reason why painting still makes this resurgence time and time again is because it really confirms our humanity in a unique way that no other material can,' said [Caitlin] Moore... 'In the end, we crave something that really has a human touch or a human element to it...I think that's a reason why Los Angeles specifically is moving the way that it is, simply because there are so many avenues and mediums that are diluting that experience. It seems natural to migrate back towards painting...in a society that is so technologically saturated.' "
Link to Post:
http://newamericanpaintings.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/unsolved-collections-the-paintings-of-sarah-awads-transference-and-speculation/
Erin Langner reviews the exhibition Sarah Awad: Transference and Speculation at James Harris Gallery, Seattle, on view through November 30, 2012.
Langner writes: "The curious objects within many of the paintings generate an instant magnetism through their familiarity; yet, a persistent darkness underlies each scene, most prominently in the works that contain humans. Sunday Afternoon’s impenetrable lawn of green constructs an atmosphere of void and melancholia to surround its unexplainable nude that gazes at its own shadow. The Visit at first looks like a delicate portrait, until the details of its bizarre composition are fully comprehended... Across all of these works, action happens, but the narrative Awad abstracts is only a tease; there is no explanation to be found."
