Check out Joanne Mattera’s post on Thomas Nozkowski, Tomma Abts, and Roberto Juarez. She’s chosen to report on these three artists as a group, because “the constancy of elements in their work, as well as the range of expression within their self-imposed parameters, bring greater depth to their painting, and certainly more profound pleasure in our perception of it.” As usual, she has lots of good pictures. Read more.
Also, at Catherine’s Art Tours, Catherine Spaeth has an interesting update on David Diao. “David Diao�s paintings over time have been oddly resonant with their historical moments. Diao began exhibiting paintings in New York in 1967, and ‘Untitled (1969)’ stood out in the exhibit �High Times Hard Times: New York Painting 1967-1975� for its monochromatic scale and subtlety of gesture. A glowing pale pink with a gentle moire effect belied the aggressive and rather silly athletics of repeatedly running from a distance to sweep a dripping sponge of paint over the large horizontal field propped against the wall. This entire exhibit was shot through by multiple and varied desires to take painting to the next level at a time that it was under siege, but it was in Diao�s painting that a certain allegiance to Modernist painting was held, even to the medium-specific aim of revealing the supporting stretchers as a mark of tension in painting�s support. For Artforum in 1969 Emily Wassermann wrote of Diao’s paintings that ‘…these are purely optical surfaces which somehow are not sensed as tactile or palpable.’ Sheer opticality is code for Modernist painting�s achievement, and at this time it was both notable and belated.” Read more.
Steven Alexander visits Anne Seidman’s show in Philadelphia. “Although all the paintings are built out of many layers, ranging from juicy amalgamated color fields to loose geometric spacial divisions, the final stage or end product varies greatly from one piece to the next. We can see, imbedded in each surface, the intuitive organic painting process taking place � each action determining the direction of the next. Also evident is a sort of willful inventiveness, an experimental attitude that compels Seidman to avoid formulaic solutions, so each painting has the freshness of a new breakthrough.” Read more.
At Dangerous Chunky, Carolyn Zick welcomes NYC blogger and painter Joy Garnett to Seattle. “I�ve been a fan of Joy�s Newsgrist for a long time, and have followed her ambitious rise amongst art bloggers. I honestly fear she might not sleep due to her vast output via both studio and on-line. For those of us who some times feel long in the tooth over this internet stuff, all I can say is ‘We�re not worthy.'” Joy Garnett, along with Saul Becker and Michael Schall, are featured in Platform Gallery�s show “Eden�s On Fire!” Read more.
Note: To all you new mothers out there who are dying to spend the day alone in the studio, forget it. As my sister pointed out to me on my first Mother’s Day after giving birth (ouch), it’s emotionally stingy not to spend a few hours with your kids. Read Musa Mayer’s painfully honest book, Night Studio: A Memoir Of Philip Guston, for pointers on how not to be an artist/parent. Guston was her father. FYI, Elizabeth Murray is a better role model for artists who want children. Read why here.
