James Hyde, LOUNGE, 1998, acrylic on cement and glue on Styrofoam, 30 x 24 x 17 inches, courtesy of the artist.
Contributed by Sharon Butler / For artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Claude Viallat, Elizabeth Murray, Blinky Palermo, Rochelle Feinstein, and Michael Venezia, painting has arguably been about the object more than about the image, and in the past decade or so, a slew of artists working with found materials, furniture, lumber, and more have adopted a painting-as-object, amalgamated approach to art making. This year, museum curators have begun to take notice.
At the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, curators Dina Deitsch and Evan Garza have organized “PAINT THINGS: beyond the stretcher,” an exuberant exhibition that focuses on work merging painting, sculptural form, video, performance, and installation strategies. The curators selected artists who are exploring materiality, context and space–physical, social, political, or emotional. I wish Clement Greenberg, the art critic who championed color and flatness in the 1940s, could see the show. I wonder why painters were so intrigued with Greenberg’s notion of medium specificity back in the day?
Looking at the work in this show, though, a better title might be “Things with Paint.” Do these artists identify as painters or do they just happen to use paint in these particular pieces? Does it matter?
Installation view, left to right: James Hyde, LOUNGE, 1998; Sarah Braman, 8pm, 2011, In the Woods, 2012, and Time Machine (I lost my mind), 2012; Alex Da Corte, Blood Brothers, 2012; and Sean Kennedy, untitled, 2012 (ceiling).
Franklin Evans, paintthinks, 2013, acrylic on canvas, digital prints, laminations, photographic sculpture, painted tape, wall painting, sound piece, Courtesy the artist and Federico Luger, Milan.
Analia Saban, The Painting Ball (48 Abstract, 42 Landscapes, 23 Still Lives, 11 Portraits, 2 Religious, 1 Nude), 2005, oil, acrylic, watercolor on canvas, 26 x 26 x 26 inches, Image courtesy of Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Photo: Joshua White.
Jessica Stockholder, [JS 492], 2009, glass table top, plastic shower curtain, cloth curtain, yellow coveralls, rubber boot, fluorescent orange plastic, green plastic tray, green VHS cassette cases, plastic and real wood, fake fur, hardware, glass topped table, lamp, vase, carpet, plastic parts, copper foil, oil and acrylic paint, cloth tape, green extension cord, power board, brass tacks, courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY; Analia Saban, The Painting Ball (48 Abstract, 42 Landscapes, 23 Still Lives, 11 Portraits, 2 Religious, 1 Nude), 2005, oil, acrylic, watercolor on canvas, 26 x 26 x 26 inches, courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, NY; and Mika Tajima, Furniture Art (San Diego); Furniture Art (St. Moritz); Furniture Art (Rotterdam); Furniture Art (Calgary); Furniture Art (Manila); Furniture Art (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), 2011, spray enamel and Plexiglas, 24 x 18 x 1 inches (each), courtesy of the artist.
Claire Ashley, DOUBLE DISCO, 2012, rehearsal still, Defibrillator Performance Space Chicago, IL, two performers, spray paint on PVC coated canvas tarpaulin, blower fans, and backpacks, courtesy of the artist.
Jessica Stockholder, Kissing the Wall #5 with Yellow, 1990, metal strapping, spools of thread and wool, plastic cord, cloth, wood chair, oil and latex and acrylic paint, fluorescent light, paper, glue, 30 x 36 x 54 inches, courtesy of The Carol and Arthur Goldberg Collection.
Sarah Cain, killing me softly, 2013, installation view, mixed media, dimensions variable, Courtesy of the artist and Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, CA, Galerie LeLong, New York, NY, and Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA. Also in view: Sarah Braman, 8pm, 2011, camper chunk, steel, Plexiglas, and paint, 41 � x 52 x 48 inches, collection of Mr. James Keith Brown & Mr. Eric Diefenbach; and Jessica Stockholder, [JS 462], 2008, framed oil painting from TJ Maxx, green plastic, brown plastic, bamboo bead mat, yarn, cloth, copper, plastic bits, thread, lexel caulk, oil and acrylic paint, hardware, 29 x 27 x 8 inches, courtesy of Anne & Joel Ehrenkranz.
Cheryl Donegan, Kiss My Royal Irish Ass (K.M.R.I.A.), 1992, video, 5:50 minutes (color, sound), Courtesy of the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix; and K.M.R.I.A. Seat, 1992, plastic and metal, 31 x 17 x 14 inches, courtesy of the artist.
Katie Bell, Blind Impact, 2013, acrylic, vinyl, wood, laminant, foam, window blinds, plaster, drywall, 8 x 16 feet (approximate), Courtesy of the artist.
“PAINT THINGS: beyond the stretcher,” curated by Dina Deitsch and Evan Garza. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA. Through April 21, 2013. A catalogue with essays by both curators is now available.\
About the author:Sharon Butler is a painter and the publisher of Two Coats of Paint.
Photos by Clements Photography & Design, Boston, unless otherwise specified. Courtesy of the deCordova.
The work by Franklin Evans offers interesting possibilities. He seems to explore them primarily in terms of planes and space. The color is high, but it seems more to establish spatial and planar relationships than about color itself. At least, this is what I get from the photo. The gallery could do a little better and remove their lighting. It doesn't need to be in the way.
Even though making art is often an experience that happens in the solitude of one's studio, it rarely occurs in a vacuum. Artists rely on each other for support, reinforcement, inspiration, and challenge, forming communities to avoid feeling like fish out of water in this world. Tim Gowan was one of those artists who cherished […]
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@_lisa_tan knows how to fill a space. The waiting room entrances with framed prints of Klee, Matisse, etc, the room framing, the large letters, a video viewing room with chairs for an audience @acceleratorsu in Stockholm.
Two Coats of Paint is celebrating National Daughter’s Day by honoring Lena, who some of you may recall was the mastermind behind our Social Media Services Project a few years ago. She has since opened her own business @honeyhomeofbeauty in #OldMysticCT. Love you @lena.alohalani ❤️🏆❤️ Daughter, visionary, and muse.
Latest post, link in profile / Elisa D’Arrigo: Between the beautiful and the grotesque / Contributed by Kay Whitney / There is a fundamental paradox at work in Elisa D’Arrigo’s ceramic objects – while they are unmistakably beautiful, they break every standard for what is considered “beautiful.” They are small, shambolic, eccentric objects lacking symmetry; they are not overtly colorful and don’t attempt to please. They are humble, not loudly announcing nor applauding their own appearance; understated and private, the viewer must come to them. Rather than exhibiting the mechanical surfaces of a wheel-thrown or machine-made object, her forms bear the imprint of her hands and in that way reveal the processes of their making. If there is any other artist with whom her work could be compared only George Ohr, the “mad potter of Biloxi,” comes to mind. His small “puzzle mugs” demonstrate the same sensibility — simultaneously humorous and serious, their extraordinary eccentric surfaces and coloration are reminiscent of D’Arrigo’s, exposing a shared aesthetic. Link in profile
“Something darkly set itself at our senses’ five thresholds without stepping over them,” a cinematic two-person show @bonnierskonsthall with Tulsa Lovell and Sara-Vide Ericson, is a haunting mediation on the past, the future, and the inexorable force of nature. In terms of craft and content, unlike anything I’ve seen in NYC. Or is it? Images are tagged.
Snapshot: Overlooking the Central Baltic Sea from @fotografiska.stockholm. We saw the @shirin__neshat and @therealpeterlindbergh shows — strange combo, but both moving in their own way. The place is dark and loud — more like a nightclub than a gallery. The bar on the top floor is beautiful.
Latest post, link in profile / Inside: Arthouse art house / Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / The set-up of Vasilis Katsoupis’ slickly but somewhat facilely resonant feature debut Inside is deceptively simple. A high-end art thief is helicoptered onto the roof of a luxury Manhattan high-rise and, with the aid of a techie accomplice, hacks into the security system of an absurdly opulent penthouse, owned by a high-end art collector who is evidently away for a season or two. The thief is targeting several of Egon Schiele’s signature vampy drawings and a singularly valuable self-portrait. Link in profile
Swedish-born and UK-based, artist, activist, writer and eco-feminist Monica Sjöö (31 December 1938 - 8 August 2005) fought for freedom from oppression, but especially for women’s rights. “THE GREAT COSMIC MOTHER” @modernamuseet is her first retrospective. Swipe for the image that was considered blasphemous and obscene in the 1970s.
Rejecting abstract art as a Western male privilege, she asked: “How does one communicate women’s strength, struggle, rising up from oppression, blood, childbirth, sexuality – in stripes and triangles?”
So much energy in this exhibit, glad to have this way to get some sense of it.
The work by Franklin Evans offers interesting possibilities. He seems to explore them primarily in terms of planes and space. The color is high, but it seems more to establish spatial and planar relationships than about color itself. At least, this is what I get from the photo. The gallery could do a little better and remove their lighting. It doesn't need to be in the way.