Chris Miller reviews works by Christian Vincent at Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, on view through December 21, 2014. Miller writes "Vincent’s figuration appears more like casual photography than any classic, naturalistic or expressive genre of painting. The surfaces glow like a movie screen. The pictorial space is dry and flat—sometimes resembling the scenic views found
John Yau reviews Gladys Nilsson at Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, on view through December 6, 2014. Yau writes that the works might drive away "those who want things simply and clearly spelled out for them. They run away from confusion and contradiction because they might not want to acknowledge how much of that is
Ashley Garrett interviews painter Lisa Sanditz about her work. Sanditz comments: "Sometimes I make [the paintings] on location... And then I also sometimes work on the studies when I’m trying to figure out how to resolve something... Obviously memory and imagination are both a part of it –there are no faithful photographic renderings in the
New York Sun Arts
Simon Carr reviews Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery at The Frick Collection, New York, on view through February 15, 2014. Carr writes that the show "is a feast... in this small yet broad selection of jewels from Scotland, the standouts are canvases by Antoine Watteau, John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough and John Singer Sargent... For
James Kalm visits Farrell Brickhouse: Recent Paintings at Life on Mars Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, on view through December 7, 2014. Kalm's video includes fantastic close-ups of Brickhouse's visceral paintings. He films the tour of the exhibition while talking to Brickhouse about his work. Asked what he finds appealing about working in oil, Brickhouse comments: "One
Charles Kessler blogs about Thomas Hart Benton's America Today Mural Rediscovered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on view through April 19, 2015. Kessler writes: "I always had a hard time with Benton. I loved Abstract Expressionism and, as if I couldn't like them both, I considered Benton's work to be hokey and
John Bunker, Anthony Smart, Anne Smart, Robin Greenwood, Sarah Greenwood, Alexandra Harley, Patrick Jones, Sam Cornish, Mark Skilton, Hilde Skilton, and Nick Moore visit the studio of painter Emyr Williams. Alexandra Harley: The "passage of colour isn’t just pure. It may be a pure colour all the way through but the juxtapositions of the other
Richard Benari interviews painter Daniel Levine about his monochrome paintings. Levine comments: "I tend to work in groups, and also different applications. By groups I would mean the same paint - the titanium group by 'x' brand... the titanium group by 'y' brand... the titanium group by 'z' brand. Then there would be the zincs.
Nicola Homer reviews From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, on view through March 8, 2015. Homer writes: "Although Carr was one of the most advanced artists in Canada in 1913, she could not sell a single work. So her paintings languished for more than
John Held, Jr. reviews works by Joan Brown recently on view at Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco. Held writes: "Brown’s is the type of work that goes in and out of style based on the concerns of the era. Acknowledged as a second-generation Bay Area Figurationist, having pushed past abstract expressionism, secures her reputation on
Julian Bell takes an extensive look at the development of Cubism, through the works on view in the exhibition Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (through February 16, 2014). Bell writes of Georges Braque's Trees at L’Estaque (1908), a painting in the first gallery: "In his artistic
Brenda Goodman blogs about embracing artistic influences. Goodman writes: "If you have an affinity with an artist, it’s just that- an affinity. And it’s a good thing if you allow it. Guston had influences too!—DeChirico, R. Crumb, and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat comics. And I’m an artist who has had a lot of influences–from Morandi
Peter Simpson reviews Jack Bush at The National Gallery of Canada, on view through February 22, 2015. Simpson writes that the show is "an expansive demonstration of what painting can be. Dozens of paintings, gleaned from over 50 years of Bush’s career, come together as a journey through the evolution of his style and vision.
Stuart Shils comments on his recent work which includes painted photographs. These works will be on view at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York from November 19 - December 21, 2014. Shils writes that "in the takeaway moments with the camera (as with drawing), there is also the slower turning around to see what
David Rhodes reviews works by Bettina Blohm at Marc Strauss Gallery, New York, on view through December 12, 2014. Rhodes writes: "Great Escape (2014), which... measures 68 x 84 inches, has black curved strokes that change direction from one square to the next appear to possess a restless energy — like a flickering diagram. In
Jennifer Samet interviews painter Rebecca Morris about her work. Asked about abandoning paintings Morris replies: "I try not to. Instead, I will turn a painting around to face the wall and wait on it. I am actually waiting on myself to catch up to the painting. I can erase things, but I need to decide
Samuel Jablon interviews painter Tamara Gonzales on the occasion of her exhibition Winter is Coming at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, on view through December 8, 2014. Asked about how the "forms relate to the patterns" in her work, Gonzales responds: "Partial abstractions? Non perspective art? While I don’t consider myself a formalist in
Janet Goleas reviews Alan Shields: In Motion at The Parrish Art Museum on view through January 19, 2015. Goreas writes: "Shields not only employed means that were traditionally female (sewing, weaving, beading), he pulled the canvas from the wall and then gave it a front, a back and an interior. He turned the structure of
Hearne Pardee writes about a trip with Wayne Thiebaud to see Thiebaud's Water City (1959), a 250 foot long mosaic at the Sacramento Municipal Utilities Headquarters, Sacramento, CA. Pardee notes: "Essentially a gouache sketch translated into the ancient, permanent medium of mosaic, 'Water City' pays tribute to Sacramento’s two rivers. It lends public scale to
Franklin Einspruch reviews Mark Rothko's recently restored Harvard Murals on view at the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, from November 16, 2014 - July 26, 2015. Einspruch writes that the mural comprises "three canvases ... abutted into a triptych over thirty feet wide, and two more large canvases face them. Each of them employs the