Bret Slater
Lucia Simek reviews an exhibition of work by painter Bret Slater at Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, Texas, on view through June 16, 2012. Simek writes that Slater makes "pungent and rich, monstrously globby little paintings. They rock out from the walls in an array of neons, monochromes and earth tones that respectfully carry the art […]
Judith Murray at Sundaram Tagore
Lawrence Osgood reviews an exhibition of new paintings by Judith Murray at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, on view through June 16, 2012. Osgood writes: "In more recent years, Murray's style developed into often-large paintings of slightly increased palette in which mostly short brushstrokes are seen literally scrambling and chasing each other in lively patterns […]
Painting: Retromodernism?
Sharon Butler questions Barry Schwabsky's coining of the term retromodernism to describe small scale paintings that mix abstraction and representation "in a manner that evokes the spiritual and intellectual strivings of classic modernism," citing examples from the Frieze Art Fair. Butler comments that "postwar-era abstract easel painting has been a touchstone among painters… for several […]
Etel Adnan at dOCUMENTA(13)
Photo blog of paintings by Etel Adnan from a series of 36 untitled canvases (1959-2010) on view at Documenta-Halle, dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel through August 16, 2012. In an essay about Adnan's visual artwork, Simone Fattal has written: "Adnan's paintings play the role the old icons used to play for people who believed. They exude energy and […]
George Bellows: Action Painter
Hilarie M. Sheets reports on the retrospective exhibition of works by of George Bellows at The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., on view through October 8, 2012. Sheets notes that "curator Charles Brock positions Bellows as a more forward-thinking modernist… 'The boxing pictures could be characterized as a type of Action Painting, 40 years before […]
Orozco’s Bleak Vision
Altoon Sultan visits José Clemente Orozco's fresco cycle The Epic of American Civilization at Dartmouth College. Sultan writes: "I first saw [the cycle] about 15 years ago and was taken aback by its aggressive form and structure and its fierce imagery. At the time, the college seemed almost embarrassed by the murals: tables were drawn up close […]
Janice Nowinski: Interview
Neil Plotkin interviews painter Janice Nowinski about her recent work and painting process. Nowinski comments: "what draws me back in [to paintings] is that they don't feel right. I know that Reclining Nude 2012 was very quick, but it happened after a tremendous amount of work on other paintings. There were a couple of paintings […]
Frank Auerbach: Making His Mark
Times of Israel
Heddy Abramowitz reviews the exhibition Frank Auerbach: Portraits on Paper at the Israel Museum, on view through August 25, 2012. Abramowitz writes: “As is typical of his paintings, [Auerbach’s] drawings often show many layers of built-up re-workings until there is a dense mangle of lines, each mark thought through, erased and re-considered until he is […]
Cathy Nan Quinlan & Kurt Hoffman
James Panero blogs about an exhibition of works by Cathy Nan Quinlan and Kurt Hoffman at Valentine Gallery, New York, on view through June 24, 2012. Panero notes: "Ms. Quinlan starts with Giorgio Morandi's iconic etchings and recasts them in oil, painting her own hatch-marks. The work has an intimate, cool feel, with unexpected colors […]
Julie Torres: Bold as Love
Paul Behnke blogs images of the exhibition Julie Torres: Bold As Love at Taller Boricua Gallery, New York, on view through July 14, 2012. Behnke writes: "Julie Torres took over two large rooms with her colorful, complex works on paper. Torres displayed the work in inventive groupings that activated, and interacted with the space, and […]
Constable’s Oil Sketches
Lines and Colors
Charley Parker blogs about the exhibition Constable: Oil Sketches from the Victoria and Albert Museum on view at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, TN from June 23 – September 30, 2012. Parker writes: "Constable in his sketches not only sought the truth of nature, but the fleeting effects of light and […]
Jenny Saville: In Studio
Rachel Cooke visits the studio of painter Jenny Saville whose work is on view at Modern Art Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, from June 23 – September 16, 2012. Cooke writes: "…out of the corner of my eye, I see it. A portrait: a woman, her neck at a difficult angle, her head tipped […]
My Broken Loom
Danila Rumold reviews the recent exhibition My Broken Loom featuring works by Kimberly Trowbridge, Robert Hardgrave, Brian Cypher and Jenny Heishman at Gage Academy Steele Gallery. Rumold writes that "During the artist talk, given on opening night, Trowbridge shared the meaning behind the title of the exhibition explaining how the work included was not predetermined, […]
Regina Bogat: Stars
James Kalm interviews painter Regina Bogat and visits her exhibition Regina Bogat: Stars at Art 101, Brooklyn, NY, on view through July 1, 2012. Kalm notes: "This small selection of recent paintings presents works from Bogat's 'Star' series. Melding an inquiry of the geometry of star images with an unrestrained painterlyness these pictures, upon contemplation, […]
André Masson’s Innovations in Taste
David Carrier reviews the exhibition André Masson: The Mythology of Desire – Masterworks from 1925 to 1945 at Blain/Di Donna, New York, on view through June 15, 2012. Carrier writes that "if some of Masson’s all-over figurative compositions lead towards Abstract Expressionism, his late 1930s works lead in a very different direction. They anticipate the […]
Murillo: Virtuoso Draftsman
Tyler Green interviews art historian Jonathan Brown about his new book Murillo: Virtuoso Draftsman, a catalogue raisonne of Murillo's drawings published by Yale University Press. Brown discusses Murillo's drawing process in detail. He remarks that Murillo is "a very spirited draftsman, perhaps more spirited as a draftsman than he is as a painter." He continues: […]
ALLTOGETHERNOW: Bushwick & Beyond
Katarina Hybenova talks with Julie Torres about the exhibition ALLTOGETHERNOW at the Coin Locker during Bushwick Open Studios. Torres organized the show which brought painters from around the world together for a collaborative exhibition. The exhibition featured work by Brian Cypher, Brian Edmonds, David T. Miller, Ian White Williams, Inga Dalrymple, Julie Alexander, Justine Frischmann, […]
Clinton King: Interview
Painter's Bread
Michael Rutherford interviews artist Clinton King about his work and making a shift from sculpture to painting. In the sculptures, King remarks, "I often worked with a material in a 'natural way' letting the object and material 'just be.' Working in this way I developed sensitivity and a lightness of touch. This later grew into […]
Michael Berryhill’s Impossible Art
Carmen Winant visits the exhibition Michael Berryhill: Incidental Western at Kansas Gallery, New York, on view through June 23, 2012. Winant posts a list of thoughts evoked by the exhibition. She writes: "I believe that this enumerated strategy will better serve objects that, by their very nature, elude clever and perspicuous description." Berryhill's work, she […]
Iain Robertson: Accessing the Abstract
Bill Hare writes about the work of Iain Robertson on the occasion of the exhibition Iain Roberston: Paintings 2007-2012 at 108 Fine Art, Harrogate, UK, through July 7, 2012. Hare notes: "Being an abstract artist is it appropriate to ask, what is the subject content of Robertson's paintings? Despite their non-mimetic appearance they are not […]