In the NY Times Ken Johnson reviews Gregory Amenoff’s show at Alexandre. “In most of Mr. Amenoff�s easel-scale pictures, a large, mysterious form � botanical, geological or geometric � looms close against a distant vista. Color and contrasts of light and dark are pumped up to melodramatic effect. It�s as though you were seeing through the eyes of someone having a transcendental revelation. In ‘Fingal�s Cave,’ with sea and sky in the faraway background, a cavernous opening in a rocky outcropping is filled by a blinding burst of yellow light. Mr. Amenoff lays on color in generous, brushy strokes, grounding cosmic ecstasy in viscous paint.
“These pictorial devices may be effective � even, at best, thrilling � but Mr. Amenoff repeats them too predictably, which is why the show is stolen by his smallest works. Made with a loose, prehensile touch on a 10-inch-square panel, each in a series of nine features one or more flowers surrounded by smeary, summery colors. The incandescent white blossom in ‘Summer Flower #6’ is like an epiphany out of William Blake. Other works drift toward the pleasurescapes of Monet and Matisse. In these radiant little pictures Mr. Amenoff seems to be discovering untried registers of form and feeling.” Read more.
“Gregory Amenoff: Paintings,” Alexandre Gallery, New York, NY. Through Nov. 15.
