Barnet Rubenstein
Larry Groff blogs images and an essay by Richard Dean on the late painter Barnet Rubenstein (1923-2002). Dean, a former student of Rubenstein, remembers that "Barney became a model for what a real artist should be. Real artists should work hard, should be open to ideas and experience, should ask questions and look for answers. […]
Colour and Substance
Sam Rose reviews the recent exhibition Colour and Substance at Poussin Gallery, London featuring paintings by John McLean and William Perehudoff paired with sculptures by Tim Scott and Willard Boepple. Rose writes that "there is a feeling of assured calm to these works that belies their bright colours and apparently experimental nature."
Florine Stettheimer: Crystal Flowers
A fascinating multi-media presentation of the poetry of painter Florine Stettheimer, introduced by Nick Mauss, with readings by Karl Holmqvist, Dignity Sister, and Dan Fox.
Ingres in Detail
Charley Parker blogs some detailed images of drawings by Ingres. Parker notes that Ingres' "portrait drawings have that amazing character of faces rendered with such skill that they have a palpable personality, but lead your eye into economically rendered bodies and hands that are clearly lines on paper. Ingres at the Morgan is on view […]
Peter Shear: Interview
Studio Critical
Valerie Brennan interviews painter Peter Shear about his work and process. Shear remarks that “Sometimes images are allowed to evolve organically but more often I’ll paint everything out that isn’t working. The discarded image is still there; the memory is still there influencing the painting but it informs indirectly… It’s become increasingly important to leave […]
Ellen Lanyon & Philip Pearlstein: Objects / Objectivity
Diane Thodos reviews the recent exhibition Ellen Lanyon & Philip Pearlstein: Objects/Objectivity at Valerie Carberry Gallery, Chicago. Thodos writes that "While Lanyon has always expressed an overt emotional attachment to the items that populate her fantasy-based imagery, Pearlstein renders his antiques and toys with a harsh objectivity that can sometimes exuding unsettling feelings lurking behind […]
Joan Mitchell: Fierce Lyricism
Altoon Sultan blogs about the exhibition Joan Mitchell: The Last Paintings at Cheim & Read, on view though January 24, 2011. Sultan writes that Mitchell's "marks – vigorously moving, paint dripping, thickly layered in places, open to the white of canvas in others – show the natural world in a splendor of color but with […]
Karl Benjamin: Interview
Karl Benjamin and the Evolution of Abstraction, 1950-1980 is on view at Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, on view through December 24, 2011. (See David Pagel's L.A. Times review here). In this 2008 interview with painter Julie Karabenick, Benjamin reflected on his long career noting that "My development is not characterized by one thing […]
Deborah Zlotsky: Interview
[VIDEO] Zachary Keeting, Christopher Joy, and Deborah Zlotsky discuss Zlotsky's recent exhibition Adjacent Possibilities at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts.
The Greatness of Matta
Donald Kuspit reviews the exhibition Matta: A Centennial Celebration on view at Pace Gallery through January 28, 2012. Kuspit writes: "Matta's last cosmic paintings are less emotional than they seem — that an emotional reading of them sells their intellectuality short. They are not about the 'mindless' feelings of a surreally deranged and delirious self, […]
Andrew Masullo at Zevitas
Greg Cookland blogs about the exhibition Andrew Masullo: Recent Paintings on view at Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston through December 3, 2011. Cookland notes that "Usually this sort of hard-edged abstraction is painted smooth and flat, but Masullo… brushes on the oil paint at a fluid, opaque consistency, something like house paint, with it building up […]
Elizabeth Gilfilen: Pugilist painter
Sharon Butler blogs about the work of painter Elizabeth Gilfilen. Butler notes that for Gilfilen "painting is a collision, an aggressive search in which the object and maker are intimately, irrovocably entwined." Elizabeth Gilfilen: Two Moons is on view at Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ through December 17, 2011.
Bruegel’s Islands of Consciousness
Rebecca Harp
Inspired by a visit to the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, Rebecca Harp muses on the paintings of Bruegel. Harp writes: ” I am not sure if there is anything quite like coming across a Bruegel painting when visiting a museum, being both very poignant and invigorating for the eye and mind at the same time. […]
On John Twachtman’s Springtime
Painter Emil Robinson muses on John Twachtman's painting Springtime in the Cincinnati Museum of Art. Robinson writes: "Paint is clearly paint in this work, but is also so clearly a wet humming spring morning. Strange that these are dependent on one another. The effect is so convincing as to seem inevitable, as if oil paint […]
Integrity and Finesse: Pat Passlof (1928-2011)
David Cohen provides a moving tribute to painter Pat Passlof who passed away on November 13, 2011 at the age of 83. An exhibition of her recent work will be on view at Elizabeth Harris Gallery from November 19 – December 23, 2011. Cohen writes: "The world has lost a very remarkable painter in Pat […]
Karel Appel: In Studio
Painter Brian Edmonds blogs a vintage video of CoBrA painter Karel Appel working in his studio. Edmonds writes: "I enjoyed watching Karel attack the canvas with such verve."
Lester Johnson’s Last Paintings
John Yau reviews the exhibition Lester Johnson: Last Paintings at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York, on view through November 20, 2011. Yau writes that "More than fifty years after his work first gained attention, [Johnson's] monochrome silhouettes remain strong and fresh, as well as anticipate the work of Joyce Pensato and others. But […]
Sterling Shaw’s Body Consciousness
Matthew Farina interviews Philadelphia-based painter Sterling Shaw about his work. Shaw notes: "Images can relay a complexity that words can't. We see before we speak and we read body language before we read text. It makes sense to me that an image can simply communicate something that can't be articulated easily. I was raised religious, […]
Bianca Beck: Making Space For Innocence
David Cohen reviews the exhibition Bianca Beck: Body at Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, on view through December 23, 2011. Cohen writes: "There is something deliciously grubby about the paintings and sculptures of Bianca Beck. She favors distressed, punctured, encrusted surfaces, an earthy, at times visceral palette and painterly gestures that border on violence. Lacerations, […]