Kaitlin Pomerantz: Still Life & Memory
Manya Scheps reviews imaginary gardens, real toads, an exhibition imaginary gardens, real toads, paintings by Kaitlin Pomerantz at the Brodsky Gallery at Kelly Writer's House, Philadelphia, on view through October 26, 2012. Scheps writes: "Though the show… has classical and traditional roots, it also rebuffs formality, opening up figuration to abstraction. The paintings of empty frames […]
Between Abstraction & Realism
Ann Knickerbocker writes about painting that borrows from the traditions of observation and abstraction. She looks at the work of two painters, Keith Wilson, whose work is on view at Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin (through October 25) and Donald Teskey whose exhibition Nature Reserve was recently on view at Town Hall Gallery, Macroom, Co., Cork. Knickerbocker […]
Joan Miró’s Techniques of Freedom
Maureen Doallas posts a video detailing painter Joan Miró's career in relation to world events including the Spanish Civil War, the rise of Fascism, and World War II. The film also documents the radical technical freedoms Miró developed in his work to combat the lack of freedom in everyday life. The film includes fascinating footage […]
Edvard Munch: Spiritualism & the X-ray
An essay by Sue Prideaux on the influence of photography and x-rays on the paintings of Edvard Munch. Prideaux writes that Munch "is best known for his pictures of moody lovers and tortured souls. However, these were not merely a product of his feverish imagination. His paintings, prints and ghostly photographs reflected a contemporary fascination […]
Richard Diebenkorn: A Door Opened
Ashley West writes about Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park paintings after a recent visit to the exhibition Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series at the Cororan Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. through September 23, 2012. West recalls his first exposure to Diebenkorn's paintings at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1991: "A door was opened and it dawned […]
Tom Burckhardt: In Studio
Christopher Joy and Zachary Keeting visit the studio of Tom Burckhardt who discusses his work and questions of authenticity and doubt in painting. Burckhardt elaborates on ideas he shared with John Yau in a recent interview: "I do like the idea, like I said, of embedding this doubt. I also think that in a way […]
Matthew Miller: Destabilizing Realism
Daniel Larkin reviews the exhibition Matthew Miller: Fools Are Those Who Lose Their Mirrors on view at Pocket Utopia and C.G. Boerner Gallery, New York, on view through October 14, 2012. Larkin writes: "Most of the critiques of Miller’s work find fault in the destabilizing fissures in his work, like uneven shoulders, differing levels of […]
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
Laura Leffler reviews the exhibition Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: All Manner of Needs at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, on view through October 13, 2012. Leffler writes: "Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints portraits. More than that, she explores the history of portrait painting. There exists in her works a link between the sitters, poses, even the costumes and colors […]
Carpaccio: Multitude and Complexity
In a two part essay, Bernhard Gaul considers texts on Carpaccio (by Michel Serres and Andrey Tarkovsky) in relation to viewing Carpaccio's paintings. Gaul writes: "Carpaccio doesn’t appear to be that high up on the hit list of currently popular painters. Even in Venice, the painter’s home town, his work appears to be marketed as […]
Kris Scheifele: Fade
DeShawn Dumas reviews the exhibition Kris Scheifele: Fade at Janet Kurnatowski, Brooklyn, New York, on view through October 7, 2012. Dumas writes that "these new works extend an intimate, methodological and obsessive relationship with acrylic,finding their locus in the materiality and literalness of paint. Reveling in the alchemy of her process, Scheifele intersperses layer upon […]
Fred Gutzeit at Sideshow
Martin Bromirski visits the exhibition Fred Gutzeit: SigNature at Sideshow Gallery, on view through October 7, 2012. In a recent two part (1 & 2) interview at On-Verge, Gutzeit remarks: "My current paintings amount to plays with space and light. I want to create pressures and contractions… I feel like it’s important to have these […]
Guercino’s Mars with Cupid
Jonathan Kamholtz spends time with Guercino's painting Mars With Cupid at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Kamholtz observes in the painting "the era’s fundamental interest in the nature of imaginary space. Drawing aside a curtain to reveal a battlefield reminds us of the ways that the painting is taking place both indoors and outdoors. But, even […]
Claudia Chaseling: In Studio
Christopher Joy and Zachary Keeting visit the studio of Claudia Chaseling whose work was recently on view in the exhibition Claudia Chaseling: Infiltration at SLAG Contemporary, Brooklyn. Reviewing that exhibition at Artcritical, Christina Kee wrote that there is "a tradition of 'painting away from the canvas,' from the playful off-frame whimsies of the baroque and mannerist artists […]
George Hofmann at Show Room
Martin Bromirski photoblogs the opening reception for an exhibition of paintings by George Hofmann at Show Room, New York, on view through October 7, 2012. Of Hofmann's new work Paul Corio recently wrote: "The removal of the paint is perhaps more important than the application in this group. The barely-there smears of high-key colors give […]
Painting in Chelsea
Piri Halasz reviews several new shows in Chelsea including The Lure of Paris at Loretta Howard Gallery (thorugh November 3), Jackson Pollock and Tony Smith at Matthew Marks Gallery (through October 27), and Carolanna Parlato at Elizabeth Harris Gallery (through October 6). In the Lure of Paris Halasz finds Jules Olitski and Ed Clark to […]
Jackson Pollock: Sculptures
Robin Cembalest writes about Jackson Pollock's little-known sculptures from 1956, on view in the exhibition Jackson Pollock & Tony Smith: Sculpture at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, through October 27, 2012. Cembalest writes that "the lowly status of Pollock’s object-making has its roots in the artist’s own day, when painting was considered the pinnacle of […]
Paul Behnke: A Theatre of Colour
An essay by John Yau on the paintings of Paul Behnke, written for the exhibition Paul Behnke: Like Giants, on view at The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia through September 30, 2012. Yau writes: "Without any hint of irony, Behnke embraces the legacy of improvisation central to a number of the Abstract Expressionists. In his high-key, color-saturated […]
Ted Gahl: Interview
Valerie Brennan interviews painter Ted Gahl about his work and studio practice. Gahl comments: "I do a lot of drawings on napkins at bars and restaurants, and I keep all of them. My larger works are usually derived from these small drawings, and the paintings are kind of a record of the images and ideas. […]
Christian Maychack’s Playful Take
Patrick Neal reviews the exhibition Christian Maychack: FLATS at Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, on view through October 6, 2012. Neal writes: "Maychack, who could be labeled a sculptor, has largely created flat wall works, with the exception of a few freestanding sculptures in the center of the gallery. And, much as color field painting […]
Riffing on Vuillard
On the occasion of the exhibition Édouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890–1940 (at the Jewish Museum through September 23, 2012), Norman L. Kleeblatt writes about Vuillard's substantial influence on contemporary painting. Kleeblatt notes: "As a source for modern and contemporary artists, Vuillard has hardly seemed a match for Cézanne, Picasso, and Duchamp. But […]