Narrative — Page 2

Jennifer Samet interviews painter Tal R whose exhibition Tal R: Keyhole is on view at Cheim & Read through February 11, 2017. Tal R remarks: "Bonnard and Matisse are much more dangerous to get close to than some Surrealist painter from Helsinki in the 1940s. Think about the artists your mother would like (and who

Barry Schwabsky reviews Kerry James Marshall: Mastry at the Met Breuer, New York, on view through January 29, 2017. Schwabsky observes: "Marshall is something we haven’t seen for a while, at least in a very convincing way: He is what Baudelaire called for 171 years ago, a painter of the heroism of modern life—and the

Olivia Laing previews the exhibition David Hockney which will be on view at Tate Britain from February 9 - May 29, 2017. Laing writes: "As a spectacular new retrospective at Tate Britain makes clear ... twists and turns in thematic preoccupations and new techniques [explored by Hockney throughout his career] do not represent a lack

Steven Alexander blogs about TAL R: Keyhole at Cheim and Read, New York, on view through February 11, 2017. Alexander writes: "The paintings are made with raw pigment and rabbit skin glue on rough linen, which creates a unique scumbled surface and sensual vibrant color. These are breathtakingly beautiful pieces that operate as brilliant metaphors

Dennis Kardon and Alexi Worth discuss their paintings on the occasion of the recent exhibition Dennis Kardon & Alexi Worth: Within Reach at Myers School of Art, the University of Akron. Exhibition curator Matthew Kolodziej noted that Kardon and Worth "share a mutual engagement with how narrative, material, and perception intersect. Within these visual narratives,

Franklin Einspruch reviews Cagnacci’s “Repentant Magdalene”: An Italian Baroque Masterpiece from the Norton Simon Museum at the Frick Collection, New York, on view through January 22, 2017. Einspruch observes: "Parts of this scene are exquisite... Parts of this scene are not exquisite... Nevertheless, the whole of the thing is a marvel. Light catches on an

Jennifer Samet interviews painter Alex Katz. Katz remarks: "So many things can be great subject matter. I could be looking at Nefertiti, and that could be something I see today. But it also could be movies and billboards and TV. I think everything in our culture is potential subject matter. You go into these areas

John Goodrich reviews a recent exhibition of paintings by Kyle Staver at Kent Fine Art, New York. Goodrich writes: "Kyle Staver is a colorist, and one of the best around – which is only to say that in her paintings she makes every color count. In art school, they drill into students the three properties

John Yau reviews Merlin James: Paintings For Persons at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., on view through November 12, 2016. Yau writes that James "gets at all sorts of feelings without ever locking them into a narrative. He doesn’t tell us how to read his paintings. He gives us that responsibility and, in that regard, he

Christian Viveros-Fauné reviews Kerry James Marshall: Mastry at the Met Breuer, New York, on view through January 29, 2017. Viveros-Fauné writes: "Self-portraiture, religious painting, history painting, landscapes, nudes, fêtes champêtres, abstraction and other tropes have all been mobilized by [Kerry James Marshall] to achieve his lofty artistic goal of painterly self-representation. But rather than aspire

Gwendolyn Zabicki interviews Kyle Staver whose paintings are on view at Kent Fine Art, New York, on view through October 22, 2016. Staver comments: "I think there is a huge need to communicate, to tell stories. It is primal. I’m not saying that installation pieces aren’t communicating, but there is such a long history of

John Yau reviews paintings by Kyle Staver at Kent Fine Art, New York, on view through October 22, 2016. Yau concludes: "By introducing a touch of comedy, Staver opens up well-known myths and stories, making them more human than lofty. Wit, tenderness and empathy inform her views of the tragic, suggesting that we are not

John Yau reviews Endymion: Recent Paintings by Clintel Steed at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York, on view through October 9, 2016. Yau writes: "Steed strokes the paste-like paint onto the surface, creating an uneven tactile skin that is pebbled and brushy. This tactility is at odds with our digital world – its endless

Hilary Harkness interviews painter Marc Trujillo. Trujillo comments: "Acting is the thing, we’re painters and are supposed to think with brushes in hand, right? This is one of the things that plein-air painting is great for, the clock is ticking, the light is changing, you are mortal and need to act. The deadliest trap is

Maria Calandra visits the studio of painter Ginny Casey. Casey's show Play Things will be on view at Half Gallery, New York, from September 7 - October 7, 2016. Calandra writes: "Casey models her soft forms, often large enough to take over the entire canvas, by teetering between colors so close in value they are

Michael Lieberman reviews Sarah McEneaney: When You Wish at Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, on view through October 8, 2016. Lieberman writes that McEneaney's work presents "an extremely appealing and artistically unique glimpse into a consciousness of the moment that potentially could be shared by any seeing person in his or her own particular time and place."

Jonathan Chapline and Lorraine Nam interview painter Jason Mones. Mones comments: "For many reasons, the male point of view is a wellspring of creativity for me. There’s a mythology wrapped up within a gaze that is forever fascinating. I began making these portraits because I wanted the audience to come face to face with the

Jonathan Chapline and Lorraine Nam visit the studio of painter Shara Hughes. Hughes comments: "The imagery is all based on what is happening in my life, but I never know where it’s going to go when I start. I start very abstractly with some kind of wash background and begin to pull out shapes formally.

Michael Rutherford interviews painter Leslie Bell about his work and process. Bell remarks: "The history of painterly expression goes back to the caves but skips generations along the way. The pendulum swings…loose; tight; loose; tight. What excites me most is a dynamic combination of description and expression. I remember as a little kid marveling at

“Gabriel Laderman on Art,” represents the best of what blogging can be – personal, thoughtful reflections and opinions based in real experience.