[VIDEO] James Kalm video blog of Chris Martin: Painting Big at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., on view through October 23, 2011. Kalm notes that Martin is "one of the artists that… refocused a lot of attention on painting, abstract painting, eccentric painting..."
Deborah Barlow blogs about the "effort filled effortlessness of Matisse." She adds her thoughts to Sebastian Smee's recent profile of Matisse's Petit Interieur a la table de Marbre Ronde at the Worcester Art Museum. Barlow writes that Matisse's painting "confronts the mystery that is at the core of [his] oeuvre. His signatory effortlessness was anything
Caleb De Jong remembers conceptual painter Roman Opalka. "Ostensibly a project with roots in the European avant-garde, Minimalism and Conceptualism, Opalka's paintings question our personal relationship with the universe. Counting to infinity is a meaningless proposal given the reality of our personal finitude... Opalka foregrounds our temporal existing limitations by paintings that are never ending
Daniel Larkin reviews the recent exhibition Grey Matter at The Painting Center. He writes: "... gray can achieve visual and optical effects that other colors cannot. Gray makes the colors near it explode. The strongest abstract works in the show made this popping effect the crux of their composition."
Chris Ashley writes about the work of Ken Weathersby on the occasion of the exhibition Time is the Diamond at Some Walls, Oakland, CA. Ashley writes that " ...painters like Ken Weathersby have shown that painting appears to continue living a healthy life long after its reported demise. Paintings do things and are about things
Altoon Sultan looks at abstraction in the decorative arts at the Shelburne Museum. "There is a rich history of pattern in textile work; with quilting there are two strong recent abstract traditions: the simple drama of colored shapes in Amish quilts, and the remarkable inventiveness and modernity of the quilts of Gee's Bend."
Interview with Chicago-based painter Magalie Guérin about her work and process. She notes: "A lot of time is spent sitting and looking at the shapes and surfaces on the canvas. I usually build them with gesso and have to sand down multiple coats, which is time consuming. There's a lot of removal in my process."
Paul Behnke photo blogs (mostly) painting exhibitions currently on view in Chelsea including: Kim Dorland: For Lori at Mike Weiss Gallery (through August 27), Summer Show Private Events at Blank Space (through September 2), Ghost in the Machine, curated by Stephen Westfall at Lennon, Weinberg, Inc. (through August 19), and Christopher Wilmarth at Betty Cuningham
Sarah Kirk Hanley looks at painter Cy Twombly's activity as a printmaker. Hanley's post includes links to most of Twombly's major suites of prints. She writes: "Though printmaking has been an important means of expression for many artists of his generation, it was a brief endeavor for Twombly... That said, he worked in nearly all
Larry Groff interviews painter Dan O'Connor about his work. O'Connor notes: "I think I am initially always drawn to strong abstract work when visiting shows or museums. As a painter, abstraction becomes pure pleasure. It is like looking at the world with all the superfluity stripped away and all that's left is the moving construction
Valerie Brennan interviews Brooklyn-based painter Amy Feldman. Feldman discusses her work and process stating "I always make drawings before I do paintings to get some idea about how I want to execute the paintings. Generally, the paintings stray far from my thumbnail sketches, but it's really about the attitude of the drawings that I am
David Foster reviews the exhibition Twombly and Poussin: Arcadian Painters on view at the Dulwich Picture Gallery through September 25, 2011. In his detailed review Foster writes that although "The show is not without its faults ... there are some unlikely and provocative juxtapositions that, on reflection, are remarkably effective. The pairing of Poussin's preparatory
Debu Barve profiles Indian abstract painter V.S. Gaitonde (1924-2001). Gaitonde, Barve writes, "insisted on not being categorized as an 'abstract' painter, but a 'non-objective' one instead... Abstract painting in India was dominated by gestural figurative abstraction, and the common practice of ornamenting the ideas with ethnic references and cultural motifs. In such times, Gaitonde's richly
Tyler Green blogs about a new installation of Augustus Vincent Tack's abstract paintings commissioned by collector Duncan Phillips on display at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. through December 31, 2011. Green writes that "It could be argued that Tack’s abstractions also seem to anticipate Clyfford Still... they show a reluctant modernist pushing himself away
John F. Moore interviews painter Paul Corio about color and abstract painting. Corio notes: "Color is really sort of bashful. If you use really active figures, particularly if you use faces, or anything recognizable, the color wants to jump into the back seat. Red would much rather be the property of a fire engine or
Rebecca Harp blogs about the work of painter Andrew Wyeth. She writes "When I look at Andrew Wyeth's paintings, the last thing that comes to mind is painstaking, empty illustration. There is a love driving his work, both found and lost. I always feel privileged to look at his paintings, swept away by the chance
William Poundstone blogs about Goya's miniature paintings on ivory, two of which are now on view at the Getty Museum. Poundstone notes that "To create these pictures, Goya coated a small slip of ivory with lamp black and dropped water on it. This produced random splotches not unlike those prized by Japan’s contemporary Rimpa school.
Nicholas Zeman documents painter Clyfford Still's extraordinary success at protecting his vision and work in the face of art world presurres. Zeman notes that "Still wasn't a manipulator; he was always forthcoming and direct. He was, however, able to see opportunities, and he did know how to make people feel privileged just to see his
Rachel Wetzler interviews artists Munro Galloway and Dushko Petrovich about their recent exhibition You Must Change Your Life at artist-run Soloway Gallery in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The two artists discuss their work in relation to text and literature as well as the challenges and freedoms of curating, publishing (Petrovich is co-founder and editor of Paper
Terry Teachout investigates why and how an important artist like John Marin has 'vanished' from the critical conversation. Marin's work is currently the subject of two museum exhibitions. Teachout notes that each "make[s] a powerful case for taking a second look at Mr. Marin... now necessary, since [he] has in recent years fallen into something