New City Art
Peter Plagens: Interview
New City Art
Alan Pocaro talks to painter and critic Peter Plagens whose show, The Age of Innocence: Abstract Paintings by Peter Plagens, was recently on view at the Farmer Family Gallery at The Ohio State University at Lima. Pocaro notes that: “If the project of our lives is to integrate the many conflicting aspects of self into a […]
Ralph Coburn’s Random Sequence
New City Art
Stephen F. Eisenman reviews Ralph Coburn’s Random Sequence at the Arts Club of Chicago, on view through April 22, 2017. Eisenman writes: “what is most remarkable is that Coburn’s multi-section paintings incorporate choice: the owner-curator is expected to rearrange the parts as she wishes. The idea, which has its origins in Dada with Jean Arp […]
Martin Johnson Heade @ the Milwaukee Art Museum
New City Art
Chris Miller reviews Nature and Opulence: The Art of Martin Johnson Heade at the Milwaukee Art Museum, on view through February 26, 2017. Miller writes: “Heade joined the mid-century enthusiasm for exploring biological and geological diversity. He traveled to South America to paint landscapes and exotic hummingbirds. His ornithological designs don’t reach the ornate intensity […]
Dan Ramirez @ Zolla/Lieberman
New City Art
Mark Pohlad reviews at Dan Ramirez: Alatheia at Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, on view through February 4, 2017. Pohlad writes: “Ramirez’s art builds on stark contrasts—color against monotone, geometric versus rounded forms, metallic surfaces adjacent to wood—combined in fugal counterpoint. Recalling the paintings of Barnett Newman, one of his inspirations, Ramirez’s elegant forms are decidedly vertical. […]
Norman Lewis: Painting Black and Blue
New City Art
Stephen F. Eisenman reviews Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis at the Chicago Cultural Center, on view through January 8, 2017. Eisenman writes: “[Lewis’] paintings are often blue, and they reference the exhilaration and despair of being black in America. Friend and contemporary of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and the rest, he never attained comparable […]
McArthur Binion @ Kavi Gupta
New City Art
Elizabeth Lalley reviews McArthur Binion: Seasons at Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, on view through November 22, 2016. Lalley writes: “In ‘Seasons,’ Binion’s layered marks form a series of grids. The physicality and repetition of the artist’s cross-hatching process results in pieces that are deceptively uniform from a distance, but upon closer inspection, are filled with […]
Zak Prekop @ Shane Campbell
New City Art
Chris Miller reviews paintings by Zak Prekop at Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, on view through October 22, 2016. Miller writes: “Some works seem to be exploding; others collect the shrapnel that follows. A few feel quiet and mysterious, especially when patterns have been painted, or glued, on the reverse, so images emerge dimly from the back… […]
Dan Ramirez @ the National Museum of Mexican Art
New City Art
Mark Pohlad reviews Contemplations: Dan Ramirez Works from the Permanent Collection at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, on view through October 9, 2016. Pohlad writes: “Ramirez’s works reward careful viewing. Lines gradually attenuate and vanish, the edges of pieces are painted, and shadows are cast by slightly askew interstices. But all this formal […]
John Santoro @ Richard Gray Gallery
New City Art
Chris Miller reviews John Santoro, Slow Painting at Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, on view through September 7, 2016. Miller writes that Santoro’s paintings “reflect cosmic rather than psychological forces, even if they have been scaled down to personal size. Each painting is a tempest in a teapot, with the same swirling intensity often found in […]
Milton Resnick: Allegory & Insignia
New City Art
Alan Pocaro reviews Milton Resnick: Allegory & Insignia at Mana Contemporary Chicago, on view through December 26, 2014. “Despite the best efforts of our materialist society to rid the world of anything that can’t be quantified, measured and easily referenced, the belief that signs, symbols and images possess a special kind of power is still […]