Head in the Clouds
Slate Arts
Slate’s Christopher Benfey considers Constable’s cloud paintings and the artist’s possible motivations for painting them. Benfey writes: “They seem, in fact, to register quite distinct aesthetic programs, as though what Constable is classifying isn’t clouds at all, but rather whole schools of painting, along with their dominant moods. The best analogy may be Chopin’s Etudes, […]
Gastone Novelli
Raphael Rubinstein writes about lesser known painter Gaston Novelli. "Novelli emerged from the same 1950s Roman art scene that nurtured Twombly and Rauschenberg. Far less gestural than Twombly’s writerly practice, and closer in spirit and form to experimental poetry and Paul Klee, Novelli’s alphabetic paintings are more likely to evoke maps than graffiti-covered walls." Rubinstein […]
Lois Dodd with John Yau
John Yau interviews painter Lois Dodd. Dodd speaks about starting the artist run Tanager Gallery, her choice to be an observational painter at the height of Abstract Expressionism and her "minimal" approach. Yau and Dodd also discuss in dept Dodd's subject matter, process, and influences, which include Mondrian and Frederick Church.
Peter Plagens & Joan Bankemper
James Kalm visits Peter Plagens' exhibition I Don't Give a Damn/Every Moment Counts and Joan Bankemper's show of painterly ceramic sculptures at Nancy Hoffman Gallery through February 19, 2011. In addition to a video tour of the shows with accompanying commentary Kalm also speaks with both Plagens and Bankemper about their work.
Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time
Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time, is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from February 6 – July 4, 2011. Judith Dobrzynski reports on her preview of the show: "the site-specific work, Chromointerférence… [where] visitors will walk into a large white room in which 'two planes of color continually undulate in […]
Alan Uglow (1941 – 2011)
Abstract painter Alan Uglow died January 20 of lung cancer. He was 69. Uglow's quiet, instense paintings were inspired by the world around him. His "Standard" paintings were influenced by the space of soccer stadiums but also by the elegance he saw in the "beautiful game." Refusing to submit completely to "process" Uglow's minimal paintings […]
Interview with Israel Hershberg
Larry Groff interviews painter Israel Hershberg. The interview detailing Hershberg's history and experience as a painter is richly illustrated with a number of his still life and landscape paintings. Theis fascinating, extensive interview, transcribed from Skype, touches on a variety of issues. Some excerpts: Hershberg: "It all boiled down to exploration and pictorial curiosity for […]
In the Tonalist Mood
Maureen Mullarkey reviews In the Tonalist Mood: Paintings from the 1860s to the Present. The exhibition presents works by classic tonalist painters such as Kenyon Cox, Arthur Wesley Dow and John La Farge, as well as a host of rarely seen painters. Mullarkey writes: "You cannot leave this exhibition without wanting to see more… It is […]
Paint As You Like And Die Happy
Mario Naves considers the opposing attitudes (toward painting) of well-known author Henry Miller, whose paintings are the subject of the book Paint As You Like And Die Happy, and Peter Plagens, whose current show is titled I Don’t Give A Damn/Every Moment Counts at Nancy Hoffman Gallery.
Charles Garabedian Retrospective
Christopher Knight reviews Charles Garabedian: A Retrospective at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on view through April 17, 2011. The exhibition features Garbedian's "Prehistoric Figures" paintings which have not been exhibited since 1984. Knight writes: "[Garbedian's] works draw on myriad precedents. Some are artistic — Matisse's brash color, Fra Angelico's Renaissance modesty, Picasso's stylized […]
Martin Barré at Andrew Kreps
Beautiful installation photos of Martin Barré at Andrew Kreps. The exhibition runs through February 12, 2011.
AARP Painter Supreme
It is interesting to consider Hans Hofmann's career trajectory today, a time when many art careers are made while artists are in their twenties and thirties. Carl Belz ponders Hofmann's influence and unusual late-in-life prodigiousness. Unlike the other Abstract Expressionist painters who were younger, Belz writes, "Hofmann was comfortable with the meaning of his enterprise; […]
Painters’ Table Most Popular Posts: January
Snowbound January days, it seems, were good for painting, reading, and blogging at least if the painting blogosphere is an indicator. Painters’ Table continues to feature posts from artist bloggers alongside more mainstream arts media to create a unique mix of painting coverage from across the web. Thanks to all who continue to submit blogs. […]
Captured Through Accumulation
Jennifer Riley reviews Anthony Fisher: Portraits at Galerie Mourlot (closed December 9, 2010). Riley writes: "Fisher’s paintings are meta-portraits inspired initially by a white plaster copy of a pivotal polychrome bust made in the fifteenth century by Donatello, from which he worked for nearly a year…" Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the […]
Beyond the Irascibles
Painter Hedda Sterne is the subject of an interesting new book: The Last Irascible by Sarah Boxer. Deborah Barlow reflects on passages from the book that touch on Sterne's inclusion in the famous "Irascibles" photo of Abstract Expressionist artists and effect being in the photo had on her career.
The Washington Color School
Great installation photos of the exhibition Washington Color and Light on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art through March 6, 2011. New American Paintings blog writes: "Often characterized by their use of oversized canvases and hard-edged swaths of solid, bold colors, Washington Color School artists sought to distance themselves from the emotional baggage of […]
Debt
An exhibition entitled Debt, presents the work of Andy Moon Wilson and Simon Gouverneur (1934-1990), two artists whose work is influenced by Pre-Colombian art. Moon in turn has acknowledged a "debt" to Gouverneur. Although the exhbition's title refers to the power of influence, the work highlights how much individual experience filters similar interests into unique […]
Blinky & Imi: Friends & Influence
Catherine Wagley relects on friendship and recounts the story of two friends whose work influenced one another: Blinky Palermo and Imi Knoebel. The two artists explored the United States together on a road trip where they "stopped at Rothko’s Chapel, saw De Maria’s Las Vegas piece, and returned home inspired." Palermo's work is currently the […]
PAPER 2011
Artist Steven Alexander provides a look at PAPER 2011 on view through February 13, 2011 at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery in Brooklyn. Consisting entirely of mall works on paper, the show, Alexander writes, "offers one rich and intimate experience after another."
Hassel Smith: Persistent Challenges
John Seed looks at the interesting life and work of under-known artist Hassel Smith. Smith worked in several majors styles of painting both abstract and figurative throughout a tumultuous career. Hassel Smith: Upending Orthodoxy is on view at Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara through April 3, 2011.