Award-winning blogazine, primarily about painting
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Contributed by Ken Buhler / One afternoon last summer I decided to go to the National Gallery in London. I was in upstate New York, idly turning the pages of a book of Italian paintings, when I came upon Piero Della Francesca�s Baptism. Its geometric perfection and its eloquence struck me […]
Contributed by Carter Ratcliff / Let�s begin with a painting�not sure it�s a work of art�that could have been painted only now, during Trump�s presidency. This is The Republican Club, a group portrait of selected Republican presidents, by Andy Thomas. Hanging now in the White House, it appeared behind Trump during […]
Contributed by Sharon Butler /�Brian Dupont’s�paintings, on view at Adah Rose Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, through December 31, are uniquely transfixing for several reasons. One is their lean, industrial look – they�re oil on metal. Another is the sense, owing to the stenciled letters and numbers present, that they reveal�something […]
Contributed by Sharon Butler / During the 1960s, the world was rocked by massive political upheaval. In May 1968, two weeks of student riots in Paris blasted traditional approaches seemingly across the socio-political board, from government to gender roles to education. Civil rights and anti-war protests roiled the United States. Africa fitfully […]
The latest issue of Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly, called the “Atlas of Eating,” features travel articles related to food, such as “How Food Became Religion in Peru’s Capital City” and “The Humble Beginnings of Goulash.” Editor Jeff Bartholet invited me to contribute something about art and food, so I put together a short history of […]
In 2011, seeing a relationship to the casualist tendency in contemporary art, I posted about Claude Viallat’s work and the inventive art movement known as “Supports/Surfaces” that took hold in the mid-1960s in the south of France. Expanding the notion of painting, Supports/Surfaces artists stressed the experimental use of non-art […]
This essay, which builds upon an essay about contemporary abstract painting that I wrote for The Brooklyn Rail in 2011, was just published in the January/February 2014 issue of Christie’s Magazine. —– Contributed by Sharon Butler / A few years ago, having operated safely within traditional painting strictures for decades, I […]
I recently stumbled upon old work by Claude Viallat, which strikes me as a precursor to the Casualist aesthetic. Born in Nimes, France in 1936, Claude Viallat used to show at Leo Castelli, and had his last NYC solo show at Cheim & Read in 2002. He attended the Ecole […]
Contributed by Sharon Butler / The pioneers of abstraction — the Cubists, the Abstract Expressionists, the Minimalists — emerged from firm and identifiable aesthetic roots and developed their own philosophies. In the competitive maelstrom of 20th century art, those philosophies became dogmas, and the dogmas outright manifestos. In the new […]
Wendy White, “Hip Replacement,” 2009, 91 1/2 x 196 in In the Fall Arts Preview at The L Magazine, Paddy Johnson wonders why Wendy White hasn’t had the breakout success her work deserves. White’s multi-paneled spray paint canvases have been exhibited in so many places that it’s hard to call […]
Latest post, link in profile / David Diao: Impeccable touch / Contributed by Adam Simon / Sometime in the early 1980s, a mural appeared on West Broadway between Spring and Broome streets in New York City, declaring in multi-colored capital letters, “I Am The Best Artist” signed, René. This, and other versions of the mural, were generally considered an embarrassment in the local artist community. I thought the mural, by René Moncada, was an interestingly unsubtle parody of artists’ competition and quest for uniqueness. I thought of this mural while viewing David Diao’s solo exhibition, On Barnett Newman, 1991-2023, on view at Greene Naftali. The exhibition comprises twelve paintings dedicated to the work of another painter, including works that look like an archivist’s inventory. Link in profile
@adsim123 @daviddiao43 @greenenaftali #adamsimon #twocoatsofpaint #daviddiao #greenenaftali @twocoatsofpaint
Details from Brice Marden’s last paintings, on view @gagosian UES. Pencil grid, underpainting, brush hairs, drool, shaky hand. Poignant end to a painting story. #bricemarden #underpaintings #workinprogress
If you’re in DUMBO today to “shop the studios,” swing by and pick up a couple of the new Two Coats of Paint coffee mugs. 15 bucks each. Venmo sharon-butler-15 and reserve for pick up 😀 Thanks for supporting Two Coats of Paint!
@art_dumbo #twocoatsofpaint #20jaystdumbo #shopthestudios
Latest post, link in profile / NYC Selected Gallery Guide: Dec 2023 / Updated with more images!
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@racheluffnergallery @berrycampbell @wahlstedtart @marchforwardmarch @fortnight_ institute
Latest post, link in profile / NYC Selected Gallery Guide: Dec 2023 / Hey galleries and artists! If you have enjoyed being included in our NYC Selected Gallery Guide and find it a helpful way to promote your exhibitions, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Two Coats of Paint. Kick a few bucks into our annual year-end fund drive to support the project in 2024. If you have already contributed, thank you — you’re helping to keep the conversation going. A link to make a contribution is in the profile.
Images are tagged.
@bortolamigallery @michaelwernergallery @davidtotah @tara.downs.gallery @asyageisberggallery @freightandvolumegallery
Latest post, link in profile / Note that the Two Coats of Paint Selected Gallery Guide now includes listings for galleries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Welcome to the Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide! Link in profile
Images are tagged
@kenisebarnesfineart @bernayfineart @goldmontclair @josetteurso @gabebrownstudio @deborah_zlotsky @patricia_satterlee
Latest post, link in profile / What’s up out of town? At Jack Shainman The School in Kinderhook, take some time at the sprawling installation by Meleko Mokgosi, co-director of Graduate Studies in Painting/Printmaking at Yale. Employing a range of media dense with meaningful images and ideas, the show explores the theme of subjugation. Also in Kinderhook, stop by SEPTEMBER for “Of Waves,” a two-person abstraction exhibition featuring London-based Jane Bustin and Hudson Valley-based Anne Lindberg. The two painters investigate the things we can feel but can’t see or touch.
Carrie Haddid has an elegant group landscape show called “Vanishing Point.” Also in a landscape mode but perhaps less somber is Mary Breneman’s bold landscapes at D’Arcy Simpson, which recall Marsden Hartley’s paintings of Maine. On view at Pamela Salisbury are Kozloff’s maps and a group show of work inspired by books as well as Robin Hill’s rustic-industrial sculptures.
At LABspace, Julie and Ellen have put together another fine “Holiday” sampler exhibition featuring hundreds of small works by notable artists from the Hudson Valley, Brooklyn, and beyond. Front Room Gallery and Buster Levi too offer group shows of work that would be perfect for heirloom gift-giving.
In Chatham, at Joyce Goldstein, don’t miss “Horizon Line.” Curated by Susan Jennings and David Humphrey, this will be the last show at the gallery unless someone steps up to take over the lease.
Note that the Guide now includes selected listings for galleries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Welcome to the Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide!
Images are tagged
@jackshainman @septembergallery @carriehaddadgallery @frontroomnyc @busterlevi_gallery @labspace_art @joycegoldsteingallery @darcysimpsonartworks @pamelasalisburyhudson #heyhillsdaleny #hudsonvalleyart #hudsonvalleygallery @rhillstudio #marsdenhartley #landscapepainting @turleygallery @suznjennings @aikenhump @julieatorres @eletcher @yale.mfa.program @janebustin @annelindbergstudio @furnace_artonpaper @kenisebarnesfineart carolcoreyfineart @bernayfineart @deborah_zlotsky @goldmontclair @standardspaceco
Latest post, link in profile / MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Emilio Vedova: Venice’s Abstract Expressionist / Contributed by David Carrier / Emilio Vedova (1919–2006), who lived and worked in Venice, was once aptly dubbed the Jackson Pollock of the barricades. Employing that American painter’s gestural technique, Vedova made political art. “Rivoluzione Vedova” – “Revolution Vedova” – is an appreciative retrospective of his work on the third floor of the spacious M9 Museum of the 20th Century in Mestre, a very short train ride from Venice. It includes five of his small, quasi-figurative paintings from 1945; a number of his larger abstractions from the 1960s; Absurdes Berliner Tagebuch ’64, a series of paintings on wood made in Berlin; photomontages from 1968; tondos from 1985; and an elaborate installation of his heavily pigmented panels. Link in profile
@carrier3909 @emilio_vedova.cg @emiliovedova_art @m9museum #emiliovedoba #davidcarrier
Latest post, link in profile / What’s up in the Hudson Valley? At Jack Shainman The School in Kinderhook, take some time at the sprawling installation by Meleko Mokgosi, co-director of Graduate Studies in Painting/Printmaking at Yale. Employing a range of media dense with meaningful images and ideas, the show explores the theme of subjugation. Also in Kinderhook, stop by SEPTEMBER for “Of Waves,” a two-person abstraction exhibition featuring London-based Jane Bustin and Hudson Valley-based Anne Lindberg. The two painters investigate the things we can feel but can’t see or touch. Carrie Haddid has an elegant group landscape show called “Vanishing Point.” Also in a landscape mode but perhaps less somber is Mary Breneman’s bold landscapes at D’Arcy Simpson, which recall Marsden Hartley’s paintings of Maine. On view at Pamela Salisbury are Kozloff’s maps and a group show of work inspired by books as well as Robin Hill’s rustic-industrial sculptures.
At LABspace, Julie and Ellen have put together another fine “Holiday” sampler exhibition featuring hundreds of small works by notable artists from the Hudson Valley, Brooklyn, and beyond. Front Room Gallery and Buster Levi too offer group shows of work that would be perfect for heirloom gift-giving.
In Chatham, at Joyce Goldstein, don’t miss “Horizon Line.” Curated by Susan Jennings and David Humphrey, this will be the last show at the gallery unless someone steps up to take over the lease.
Take a look at the post as there is more worth checking out. Use the Two Coats of Paint handy interactive map to the Hudson Valley art region to help find all the galleries on the list and others. Link in profile
Image: Headstone Gallery, Greta Johnson
@headstonegalleryny #gretajohnson #hudsonvalleyart #hudsonvalleygallery @jackshainman @septembergallery @carriehaddadgallery @frontroomnyc @busterlevi_gallery @labspace_art @joycegoldsteingallery @darcysimpsonartworks @pamelasalisburyhudson #heyhillsdaleny #hudsonvalleyart #hudsonvalleygallery @rhillstudio #marsdenhartley #landscapepainting @turleygallery @suznjennings @aikenhump
Today is the day! Thanks @labspace_art for all you do 🎁Posted @withregram • @labspace_art HOLIDAY OPENS TODAY 1-5PM! 🎉
2-Day Opening Celebration begins in 30 minutes! 🏃🏻♀️
Saturday November 25 + Sunday November 26th, 1-5pm both days❣️
We have pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from @cookandlarder 🍪 and we can’t wait to celebrate this incredible show with you
HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL 365 ARTISTS FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL WORK ❤️
See you here SOON! 🎊
Inquiries: julielabspace@gmail.com
Exhibition checklist coming soon!
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HOLIDAY
annual exhibition of small, affordable work from 365 artists
2-Day Opening Celebration: Today + Tomorrow, Saturday November 25 + Sunday November 26th, 1-5pm both days🥂
On view Saturdays + Sundays 1-5pm through February 11
@labspace_art
2642 Route 23 Hillsdale NY
17 miles east of Hudson NY
17 miles north of Millerton NY
11 miles west of Great Barrington MA
#labspaceart #holidayatlabspace @heyhillsdaleny #heyhillsdaleny #hillsdale #hillsdaleny #hudsonvalleyart #hudsonvalleygallery #hudsonvalleyny #columbiacountyny #hudsonvalleyartists #pioneervalleyartists #berkshireartists #connecticutartists #massachusettsartists #newyorkartists
Latest post, link in profile / Hannah Antalek’s crystal ball: Magical and disconcerting / Contributed by Heather Drayzen / “Superseed,” Hannah Antalek’s debut NYC solo exhibition at 5-50 gallery in Long Island City, draws on our species’ overall apathy about the environment. A surreal, dream-like sensibility informs a bio-luminescent vision of nature, cumulatively derived from dioramas she constructs from recyclable materials. She pulls us into a magical but also disconcerting world. Link in profile
Image: Hannah Antalek, Perpetual Aurora, 2023, oil on canvas, 32 x 24 inches
@hannah_antalek @heatherdrayzen @550gallery #licgallery @twocoatsofpaint #superseed
Latest post, link in profile / Nancy Davidson’s wandering carnival / Contributed by Fintan Boyle / A sense of serious satire has pervaded Nancy Davidson’s work for years, and it is on prominent display in her show “Braids Eggs and Legs: A Wandering,” installed in two large galleries at Catskill Art Space alongside Matt Nolen’s work. Davidson has long been a fan of morselized language and sundered bodies, which in theory would make her work fertile ground for the psychoanalytically inclined. Yet here she elides the sexual menace and violence that, say, Melanie Klein offers. Instead, she wanders, as her title announces. Link in profile
Image: Nancy Davidson, Eyeenvy, 2017, Catskill Art Space, Photo Credit: Therri Gourjon
@nancydavidsonnyc #fintanboyle @catskillartspace #upstateart #inflatableart #nancydavidson @twocoatsofpaint
OPEN CALL! Apply today for NYC Crit Club`s Plum Lime Residency / Winter 2024 ❄️⏰ / Guest Juror: Paddy Johnson
Founder of VVrkshop
The Plum Lime Residency will grant one artist a free 550 sq. ft. private studio space for 5 weeks (January 15 - February 17, 2024) this winter in Bushwick (Brooklyn)!
Application Period:
November 1 - 26, 2023
Nov. 1 - 13 ($20 application fee)
Nov. 14 - 26 ($25 application fee)
@nyccritclub @plum_lime_artist_residency
@vvrkshop.art @artfcity
#bushwickartist #nycartists #artistsresidency #twocoatssponsor
Image: PLR Studio during Ray Hwang’s residency @rayhwangart
Latest post, link in profile / Interview: Holly Miller’s transatlantic sensibility / Contributed by Leslie Wayne / If you meet Holly Miller on the street, you will encounter a warm, exuberant, emotionally expressive, and funny person who immediately pulls you into her space. You would not expect her art to be highly controlled, minimal, and geometric. Yet she has built her career on paintings that are just that – slightly irregular geometric shapes, flatly painted and intersected by lines sewn with thread. But Miller is now at a crossroads and her work is suddenly exploding outward, making room for new materials, chance encounters, and unpredictable forms. Perhaps, as with many artists, COVID has had something to do with this shift. Life seems a little more precious these days, and taking new aesthetic chances is a small way of asserting courage in the face of the unknown. Link in profile
Image: Holly Miller, Radiant, 2023
@wayneporcaro @hollymiller.art @magazzino #hollymiller @svamfafinearts #parisartists #twocoatsofpaint @twocoatsofpaint #artepovera
Latest post, link in profile / The evolution of Justine Hill / Contributed by Riad Miah / It is a pleasure to watch an artist evolve and see surprising changes, as in the case of Justine Hill with her current exhibition “Omphalos” at Dimin Gallery. Over the course of four solos, elements of her work have remained consistent. These include the cut-out shapes that jostle to fit together, and the color that complements (or contradicts) abutting forms. Hill’s earlier work has been likened to the masterful Elizabeth Murray’s. The comparison was apt enough insofar as she, like Murray, worked on irregularly shaped canvases, but it didn’t seem to go much deeper than that until now. Link in profile
Image: Justine Hill, Bend 2, 2023, acrylic, pastel, oil stick, and paper on canvas, 67 x 69 inches
@riad_miah @jteenhill @dimin.nyc #contemporarypainting #twocoatsofpaint @twocoatsofpaint
