Gouache, an expensive opaque watercolor-like paint, has been around for millennia. It dries fast, yields a sublime matte finish, and gains in richness over time. For many artists, it’s the favored medium for work on paper. On February 15, Jeff Bailey Gallery and Andrea Meislin Gallery present a huge group gouache-fest curated by Geoffrey Young. I’m happy to report that, among other friends, work by my grad school painting instructor (and one-time Williamsburg landlord), Kathryn Myers, is included in the show. Veterans Kay Rosen, Thomas Nozkowski, James Siena, Dike Blair, Judith Linhares, Bruce Pearson, Amy Sillman, Fred Tomaselli, Barbara Takenaga, and Steve diBenedetto are joined by mid-career and younger gouache-ophiles.
Here’s a selection of artists and the imagery they paint: Jessica Hess (urban doorways defaced with graffiti), Erik Schoonebeek (architectural fantasies painted on old cloth book covers), Alexander Gorlizki (Indian miniatures), Garth Weiser (bright abstractions with slanting light), Julie Evans (mandalas in hot light), Don Doe (infants suckling louche Madonnas), David Ambrose and Robin Mitchell (dense layerings of matted color), Clint Jukkala (stylized robot katchinas), Scott Brodie (plates of advertising food), and Fred Valentine (kitschy houses with their reflections in water), Lucas Reiner (trees altered by power lines and Los Angeles traffic), Derek Buckner (birds-eye views of the dense, urban life of blocky buildings and looping highway systems, visited by flying saucers), Katia Santibanez (abstractions based on observation of plant forms), Zoe Pettijohn (textural conflations of pattern and figure), Louise Belcourt (sweeping views of the North Atlantic as seen through a coastline of sculptural hedges), Kirsten Deirup (room interiors and detritus filled landscapes), Morgan Bulkeley�(bees hovering over recreations of his now decaying outdoor sculpture).Participating artists: Kay Rosen, Warren Isensee, Thomas Nozkowski, Oona Ratcliffe, Louise Belcourt, Garth Weiser, Jessica Hess, Derek Buckner, Joyce Robins, Philip Knoll, Zohar Lazar, Alexander Gorlizki, Erik Schoonebeek, James Siena, Max Maslansky, Judith Linhares, Don Doe, Gary Petersen, Katia Santibanez, Fred Tomaselli, Cary Smith, Lucas Reiner, Scott Brodie, Sophie de Garam, Beth Shipley, Fred Valentine, Erick Johnson, Larissa Bates, Barbara Takenaga, Ann Wolf, Sutton Hayes, Sue Havens, Steve di Benedetto, Dike Blair, Quentin Curry, Dan Schmidt, Amy Sillman, Chie Fueki, Elena Sisto, Bruce Pearson, Zoe Pettijohn, Kathryn Myers, Jim Gaylord, Julie Gross, Robin Mitchell, Sue Muskat, Kirsten Deirup, Clint Jukkala, Andrew Small, Jason Stewart, Jackie Saccoccio, Morgan Bulkeley, Walton Ford, Heather Brammeier, Linda Stillman, Nichole Van Beek, Cynthia Atwood, David Ambrose, Chuck Webster, Will Yackulic, Ann Thornycroft, Jered Sprecher, Lisa Sanditz, Katherine Bradford, Michelle Segre, Benji Whalen, Deborah Kass, Liam Everett, Sarah Brenneman, Martin McMurray and Julie Evans.”It’s Gouache & Gouache Only,” curated by Geoffrey Young. Jeff Bailey Gallery and Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York, NY. Through March 15.
