Contributed by Sharon Butler / On Saturday, April 23, and Sunday, April 24, from 12–6pm, DUMBO artists and arts organizations will open their studios to the public for the first time since 2019, after which DUMBO Open Studios went online due to Covid. The art community here (Two Coats HQ is in the neighborhood) is distinct from others in New York because several prestigious residency programs call DUMBO home. In addition, subsidized rents (Two Coats is a grateful beneficiary of the Two Trees Cultural Space Subsidy Program) make the neighborhood affordable for a diverse cohort of talented artists, both emerging and mid-career. Regardless of the artists’ stature or status, most studios will be open.
Author: Editor
Claire Seidl: Unbounded in time
Contributed by Tom McGlynn / Claire Seidl’s contemplative works are closely aligned with the Abstract Expressionist/Existentialist ideal whereby the painter must be eminently present in order to access and transmit the sincerity of experience. Her paintings are not history bound, however, but rooted in the perennial quest for a very personal gesture unbounded.
From Artist to Wartime Courier: Delivering Medicines to Ukraine’s Frontline
Contributed by Julia Kunin / On March 19, I had the opportunity to interview the Ukrainian artist Violetta Oliinyk. She has been working with her partner, artist Taras Polataiko, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, sending medical supplies and protective gear to the civilian soldiers of Kyiv.
Interview with Taras Polataiko, an artist who returned to Ukraine, part 2
Contributed by Julia Kunin / Like most Americans, I have been distressed by the news coming out of Ukraine. I spoke with Ukrainian Canadian artist Taras Polataiko over a week ago, and as the war escalated, I wanted to check back and see how things were going. Taras and his girlfriend Violetta Oliinyk have gone to Ukraine to take care of family, raise funds for, and organize the delivery of medicine and protective gear to Kyiv’s citizen soldiers. I learned that Violetta�s father and two brothers are now fighting, too. This interview took place on March 14, which was the nineteenth day of the war. If you would like to make a donation to their effort, please message Taras on Facebook.
The protean paintings of Zachary Keeting
Contributed by Jason Andrew / Whatever strategies an artist employs to express their art intellectual, psychological, or mythological it must be first and foremost visually striking. In his first solo exhibition in New York, painter Zachary Keeting clears a high bar with a stunning set of ten paintings, on view at Underdonk through March 27.
Howard Smith: One brushstroke at a time
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Howard Smith�s understated paintings, on view at Jane Lombard Gallery, are created through a meticulous process of accumulation. Call the technique abstract pointillism. The surfaces are covered with small dots, dashes and brushstrokes, building loosely woven fields of color that sometimes form recognizable geometric shapes. The pieces in this show vary in size from one-inch to eight-feet wide, but the size of the marks remains the same. In most, the color at first glance appears monochromatic, but subtle variations within unified fields create illusions of light and shallow space. In his most recent paintings, the smallest flecks of color are innovatively contrasted with larger dots of different colors. Smith has spent years working in this way. It must be intensely hermetic and time-consuming, but it seems to have been rewarding.
David Diao: Deconstructing Modernism
Contributed by Sharon Butler / What conceptual painter hasn�t looked at an Ikea how-to diagram and at least fleetingly thought it would make a fine subject for a painting? David Diao has gone farther, deconstructing a Gerrit Rietveld chair and using the shapes and colors as the subjects for a new series of paintings, on view at Postmasters through March 12.
Erin O�Brien and Keiko Narahashi: The energy in the room
Contributed by Holly Coulis / This interview took place on February 13, 2022, on the occasion of the two-person show, “Erin O�Brien and Keiko Narahashi,” at 106 Green, in New York City.
Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide: January 2022
Contributed by Sharon Butler / If January feels dreary, cheer up. Take a look at this long, interesting list of exhibtions that are opening in NYC.
Douglas Degges: The aesthetic curiosities of childhood
Contributed by Cody Tumblin / I sat down with Douglas Degges to talk about “Remembering Accardo Tackle,” his recent solo show at St. Ambrose University�s Morrissey Gallery in Iowa. Curated by Christopher Reno, the exhibition consisted of 40 untitled works on paper, made from 2015 to 2021.