Nicholas Sistler: Incognito
Chris Miller reviews the exhibition Nicholas Sistler: Incognito at Printworks Gallery, Chicago, on view through October 12, 2013. Miller writes: "Even in the world of miniature paintings, the work of Nicholas Sistler is rather small. Every piece in his current exhibition measures four inches on a side. There’s no way his paintings are going to […]
Tatiana Berg: Standup Painting
Kyle Chayka interviews painter Tatiana Berg on the occasion of her exhibition Bill Murray at Hansel and Gretel Picture Garden, New York, on view through November 2, 2013. Chayka writes that Berg "is becoming known as a leading pioneer of a new wave of painting that blends figuration and abstraction, taking as much from Tumblr […]
Painting & Reality: Art as Analogy
James Hassall considers the contemporary relevance and potential of abstract painting. Hassall asks: "rather than establishing that painting is dead, the true outcome of postmodernism should be that everything is alive. If medium doesn’t matter, if fetishising painting is passé, then it just allows us to focus on the ‘proposal’ that each work makes as […]
Face to Face: Flanders & Florence
John Seed reviews Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting at The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, on view through January 13, 2014. Seed writes: "Upon approaching, [Memling's] 'Christ Blessing,' I was struck by its immense emotional subtlety. The face of Christ has a naturalistic softness that transmits a sense of knowing sadness: It […]
Courbet: Mapping Realism
Franklin Einspruch reviews the exhibition Courbet: Mapping Realism at the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, on view through December 8, 2013. The show includes not only works by Courbet, but paintings by Belgian (Louis Dubois) and American artists (Elizabeth Boott Duveneck, Martin Johnson Heade, Winslow Homer, William Morris Hunt, Eastman Johnson, and John La […]
Joshua Smith on Josh Smith
Joshua Smith reflects on the recent paintings of Josh Smith on view in two concurrent exhibitions at Luhring Augustine's Chelsea and Bushwick locations. Smith writes "my hunch is that [Smith's] making his monochromes—and picking those colors, working with such ostensible swiftness, producing at such a remarkable quantity—because to him filling up a given space to […]
Frank Auerbach: Interview
Hannah Rothschild visits the studio of painter Frank Auerbach on the occasion of the upcoming exhibition Raw Truth Auerbach − Rembrandt at Ordovas Gallery, London, on view from October 4 – December 1, 2013. Asked about when a picture is finished Auerbach responds: "I want everything in the painting to work, that is, every force, every […]
Against Nature: Hard Edge Abstraction
Brendan S. Carroll reviews the exhibition Against Nature: Hard Edge Abstraction at Graham Gallery, New York, on view through October 12, 2013. The aim of Against Nature," Carroll writes, "is to pair historical works of geometric abstraction alongside new works by recent upstarts…The artwork, according to the exhibition statement, 'embraces a formulaic approach to painting […]
Casualism at Dodge Gallery
Jonathan Stevenson highlights two shows featuring "casualist" painting at DODGE Gallery, New York: Corresponding Selves: Jane Fox Hipple (through October 27) and A Pinch of Saffron, Dash of Vermouth, curated by Ted Gahl, featuring work by Jonathan Allmaier, Ned Colclough, Robert Davis, Joanne Greenbaum, Angel Otero, Meghan Petras, Josh Smith, and Johannes VanDerBeek (through October […]
Kazimir Malevich: Becoming Revolutionary
Boris Groys considers the revolutionary role of Russian avant-garde art, in particular the paintings of Kazimir Malevich. Groys writes that "one does not find in the art of the pre-revolutionary Russian avant-garde, including the art of Malevich, the characteristics that we tend to look for when speaking about critical, politically engaged art that is able […]
Mission School @ San Francisco Art Institute
Renny Pritikin reviews the exhibition Energy That is All Around, curated by Natasha Boas and Nicole Crescenzi, on view through December 14, 2013. The show features works by Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Alicia McCarthy, Barry McGee, and Ruby Neri. Pritikin writes that this group of artists all "lived in the Mission District of San Francisco […]
Ron Gorchov: Watercolors
Eliot Markell blogs about an exhibition of watercolors by Ron Gorchov at Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, on view through October 13, 2013. Markell writes that "a Gorchov trademark that does seem to have remained virtually unchanged are the familiar vertical slashes. This move animated what might otherwise result in a clunky looking attempt at […]
Painting in Chelsea: September
Elisabeth Condon posts a photo blog of several current painting shows in Chelsea, including: Charlene Von Heyl at Petzel (through October 5), Jonas Wood at Anton Kern (through October 19), Paul Feeley: 1957–1962 at Garth Greenan (through October 12), Alan Shields at Paula Cooper (through October 5), Tatiana Berg at Hansel & Gretel Picture Garden […]
Robert Ryman @ Pace
S. Patkin reviews the exhibition Robert Ryman: Recent Paintings at Pace Gallery, New York, on view through October 26, 2013. Patkin writes: "The No Title Required series is one of Ryman’s largest multi panel works, continuing his investigations into the relationship between non-identical panels, and presenting a further investigation into the relationship between panels. Subtly […]
Allison Miller @ Susan Inglett Gallery
John Yau reviews an exhibition of new work by Allison Miller at Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, on view through October 19, 2013. Yau writes that Miller "seems intent on interrogating the languages that make up painting, on exploring what makes a shape look like a thing, and when it is simply understood as layer […]
Pattern Recognition @ MoCADA
Elspeth Walker reviews the exhibition Pattern Recognition at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn, curated by Dexter Wimberly, on view through October 6, 2013. Walker writes that the show "is concerned not merely with aesthetics but with using abstract art as a kind of cultural tool. Pattern Recognition, in its concentrated […]
Joyce Pensato: I Killed Kenny
Megan Abrahams reviews the exhibition Joyce Pensato: I Killed Kenny on view at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, on view through September 28, 2013. Abrahams notes the impact of "both the scale and the immense physicality of her dynamic paintings — particularly the ones she rendered on the vast walls of the Santa Monica […]
Katherine Bradford: Small Ships
William Eckhardt Kohler reviews the exhibition Katherine Bradford: Small Ships at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York, on view through October 13, 2013. Kohler writes: "Bradford's willingness to move freely between painting genres and schools leads to a sense that she is essentially being profoundly herself and that she has forged these parts into her […]
Balthus: Cats and Girls
James Kalm films a video walkthrough of the exhibition Balthus: Cats and Girls – Paintings and Provocations at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on view through January 12, 2014. Kalm notes that: "Representing a confluence of restrained classic figuration and Surrealistic erotic narrative, Balthus looms as a painterly enigma over the second half […]
Ed Moses: Yesterday’s Tomorrow
David M. Roth reviews the exhibition Ed Moses: Yesterday's Tomorrow at Brian Gross Gallery, San Francisco, on view through October 26, 2013. Roth writes: "This show of ten mostly large-scale works finds Moses in top form, reinvigorating past motifs with fresh methods. The latest is a craquelure achieved by mixing acrylic paint with some unnamed […]