In the first installment of a blog series, John Yau provides background on painter Forrest Bess. Yau focuses on Bess' background and the formation of the 'visionary' philosophy behind Bess' art. Yau quotes a statement by Bess: "I term myself a visionary artist for lack of a better word. Something seen otherwise than by ordinary
Caleb De Jong reviews the exhibition Guy Goodwin: Recent Works at Brennan & Griffin, New York, on view through April 8, 2012. De Jong writes that "Goodwin's paintings manage to have an old fashioned presence in spite of their seemingly fragile surfaces. 2-2-3-3 INTERIOR, from 2011, for instance, is painted in simple and declarative primary
David Carrier reviews the exhibitions Roma al tempo di Caravaggio 1600-1630 at the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Rome (through March 18, 2012) and Guercino (1591-1666) at Palazzo Barberini, Rome (through April 29, 2012). Carrier argues that Caravaggio is the only artist of his time to remain relevant to contemporary audiences: "Just as Willem de
Andy Parkinson visits the exhibition Mali Morris: Works on Canvas and Paper at Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, on view through June 24, 2012. Parkinson writes: "In Mali Morris' little works on paper, gem-like in their luminosity, colour seems to become independent and brilliantly assertive. The modernist abstract tradition where the words 'big' and 'abstract' belong together
Paul Behnke posts a surprising selection of paintings by Man Ray. The works demonstrates Man Ray's wide range of approaches and and subjects including moody, modernist landscapes that recall Marsden Hartley's early work, abstractions that call to mind Stuart Davis, and surrealist imagery. Behnke also posts several quotes from Man Ray about his work including:
Franklin Einspruch reviews the exhibition Maarten van Heemskerck: Ancient Rome Relived at Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam, on view through June 3, 2012. Einspruch writes that the exhibition focuses on van Heemskerck's "grand tour" of Rome where he "he developed a lifelong fascination with the Colosseum, which in his time had a grove sprouting from its top
Zachary Keeting and Christopher Joy visit the studio of painter Michael Berryhill. Asked about his paintings, in which gestural abstraction and imagery blend together, Berryhill remarks "There's something about the searching for the thing you don't know what it is, the invention part I like, so when I get something in a drawing, I like,
John Seed interviews painter Sangram Majumdar about his work and process as well as Steven Harvey, whose gallery exhibits Majumdar's work. Regarding observation based painting, Majumdar notes: "I have always been an image-based painter, regardless of the source, be it photography, working from life, or pure invention. Often the reason I start with something physical
In an extensive and informative interview, Larry Groff interviews painter Tim Kennedy. In addition to Kennedy's painting practice they discuss studying with Lennart Anderson at Brooklyn College, Hawthorne on Painting, a technical versus a structural approach to perceptual painting, and the hidden history of recent figurative painting. Of his own practice Kennedy notes: "the information
As part of a gallery Stephen Knudsen highlights Corbett vs. Dempsey, a gallery that specializes in Chicago painting. Three Chicago painters are discussed in the post including Art Green, "one of the six renowned Hairy Who artists," Eve Garrison (1903-2003), a WPA artist who "cajoled security guards into letting her into their buildings to get
Spurred by a recent exhibition of works by James Castle at Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, an interesting post considers the true dynamic of influence between the avant-garde and "outsider" artists such as Castle. Although Castle's works look like those "who might have been a follower of Jean Dubuffet and Jean Fautrier... The fact that parts
Jodi Roberts traces New York City's impact on the work of Diego Rivera. Roberts writes: "Fascinated by modern technology, [Rivera] felt an immediate connection to the city, which at the time was in the throes of one of the largest construction booms in U.S. history, known as the skyscraper race." She continues by noting that
Carl Belz curates an online exhibition of recent monochrome paintings by John Zinsser, Daniel Levine, Karen Baumeister, Jeffrey Collins, and Matt McClune. In his introduction Belz writes: "Monochrome spawned no school or movement following its appearance in the early 1960s, but it has nonetheless remained a presence in the art of our time, its directness
Sharon Butler examines the paintings and painting strategies on view at the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Butler writes that "the 2012 Biennial has adopted a modest DIY aesthetic that you might see at an artist-run gallery in, say, Bushwick. Overall, I liked the human scale of the objects, the emphasis on the handmade (as opposed to
Mario Naves reviews the exhibition Rembrandt and Degas: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on view through May 20, 2012. Naves writes "As a study in contrasts, the Met exhibition has its uses. Degas' exercises in self-portraiture are heady and pitiless, their rigor is risky, pointed and
Studio Critical
Valerie Brennan interviews painter Louisa Waber about her work and studio practice. Waber remarks: "Whether the painting is finished or not is sometimes unclear – other times it shouts 'done.' Frequently I go back into a painting after a pause of weeks or months, often seeing possibilities I hadn't before. I can't repeat a painting.
Tyler Green writes about the impending move of Henri Matisse's site-specific painting The Dance to their new building in Philadelphia. Green cites several sources in depth including Teriade, Dorothy Dudley, and Jack Flam to provide an account of Matisse's thoughts on The Dance and his considerations of how it would be viewed at the original
Video walk through of the exhibition Jonathan Lasker: Early Works at Cheim & Read, New York, on view through March 24, 2012. The gallery notes that "the show groups together twenty seminal paintings, dating from 1977–1985, which attest to the origins of Lasker's methodology, and ideas about abstraction, figuration and language. His consistent, critical questioning
Robert Boyd visits the exhibition Kyle Young: Push Play at Art Palace, Houston, Texas, on view through April 7, 2012. Boyd writes "Whatever else he is doing, Kyle Young is in a dialogue with early minimal painters. This dialogue is not oedipal. There is no obvious anxiety of influence... the fathers in [the works] Fathers
Paul Behnke photo blogs images from the exhibition Max Gimblett: The Holy Grail at Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, on view through April 7, 2012. The exhibition includes Gimblett's sumi ink drawings which inform his large-scale gestural abstractions. The gallery describes Gimblett's paintings as "glossy, calligraphic abstractions in high-keyed hues, many of which feature large