Award-winning blogazine, primarily about painting
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Contributed by Frank Webster / The High Arctic has always fascinated me. Since falling in love with Barry Lopez’s classic Arctic Dreams some two decades ago, I have dreamed of visiting the far north. So I was very excited to receive word that I had been accepted for the Arctic Circle expedition. A couple of pandemic postponements later, I finally was able to go on the voyage in June of 2022.
Is summer my favorite season in the city? Emphatically, YES. A few galleries, having staked out space in the mountains or at the beach, are closed for the season. But plenty are open, and some are presenting exuberant group shows that defy the gloomy and anxious national mood. Highlights include “Painting As Is II” at Nathalie Karg, “ASKEW” at DC Moore, “Pattern and Recognition” at Sperone Westwater, “Early Summer” at Theodore, “Catechism” at Bridget Donahue, “Ink” at McKenzie Fine Art, and “Weeds and Spores” at Alexandre. I’m not sure precisely what to expect from “The Tale Their Terror Tells,” which opens at at Lyles & King on July 9, but it features a huge roster of artists and promises to be intriguing. On July 13, stop by the opening of “TANGO” at Jennifer Baahng Gallery at 790 Madison Avenue on the UES. I’ll have a couple paintings in the show. Then, the next day, on July 14, don’t miss the opening for “Psychedelic Landscape” at Eric Firestone. Should be lit.
Contributed by Sharon Butler / It’s the height of summer arts season in the Hudson Valley, and this is our most expansive Gallery Guide yet. On July 22-24, Upstate Art Weekend, featuring more than 100 exhibitions, extended gallery hours, and a slew of special events, adds a thick layer to the month’s already robust art programming. As a bonus, more than 50 artists will open their studios to the public. We are also pleased to see that SEPTEMBER Gallery will be reopening on July 23 at their new space in Kinderhook NY.
Spring had arrived in Chicago, but wouldn’t you know it, just as people were putting away their winter clothes a snowstorm hit. It pushed in hard from the plains, its wind snapping off tree limbs and flattening daffodils. The snow was supposed to go all day, so Bernard reluctantly left his car behind and took the Ashland bus to his gallery on Chicago Avenue where Molly Upton, his most important artist, was to meet him for a walkthrough of her show before the opening at five o’clock.
Contributed by Adam Simon / Lately I find myself wondering what impact the ubiquity of cellphone cameras is having on the practice of fine-art photography. As frustrating as it might be for the serious photographer to see everyone and their cousin constantly taking and posting pictures, one salient effect could be a rising inclination to explore the limits of what defines a photograph. There has been a resurgence of interest in photograms and camera obscura for some time now, and Joy Episalla’s current show of works labelled ‘foldtograms’ on view at Tibor de Nagy are even further removed from the idea of capturing an image.
Contributed by Zach Seeger / Nora Griffin’s ostensibly playful, jangled paintings, on display at Fierman West, reflect not only a galvanizing appreciation of the moment but also a deep understanding of art history and its connection to the contemporary zeitgeist. There is a sheer, crude brilliance about them, and it is inspiring.
Contributed by Sharon Butler / To understand Elisabeth Condon’s paintings, it seems important to know that she grew up in California in a highly decorated house where she spent hours staring at the wild patterns of the fabrics and wallpapers. The experience certainly informs her exuberant paintings, in which pattern, flower, landscape all co-exist, as she says in her artist statement, in living, breathing presence.
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Lauren Luloff’s rigorous new paintings, on view at Fridman Gallery through July 24, have taken a decisive turn away from organic form, floral patterns, and flowing structure towards compulsive geometric pattern.
The principal of our junior high school was a felon. His name was Mr. Phillips. He was a short man – as short as we were – with a large head of thick hair and dark-rimmed glasses. We called him “Froggy” behind his back. The cops arrested him in a motel parking lot holding up a prostitute at gunpoint. The story made the front page of all the local papers. They said the gun wasn’t loaded, but he was. People talked about it for weeks, maybe longer. Everyone was astonished that Mr. Phillips had signed his real name in the motel register. For this they called him an idiot.
Contributed by Saul Ostrow / Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe has subtly set aside received truths about abstract painting, engaging it as a philosophical subject consisting of things which, regardless of differences of form and content, have been assigned the same classification.
Latest post, link in profile / Frank Owen, trailblazing innovator / Contributed by Jason Andrew / I first came to know the work of Frank Owen over two decades ago through the sculptor Joel Perlman. I stepped off the elevator at Perlman’s studio on West Broadway and immediately encountered an Owen painting. It seemed fitting to discover such a physical painter as Owen through a sculptor. Only recently I learned that the title of that painting was Augmented Position, also fitting insofar as Owen has challenged and changed the way one can experience painting. The proof is in his current show “Retrospection,” on view at Nancy Hoffman Gallery. Link in profile.
#frankowen #nancyhoffmangallery #abstractpainting #digitaltools #chelseagalleries #venitiancolor
LABspace has always been a curatorial project, so I thought I’d share some images of work by the talented artists involved. These images are from exhibitions that are currently on view, so go check them out 🚗!
1. Julie Torres @julieatorres
Installation of 12 paintings
The Material, The Thing
Curated by Nicole Hayes @omiroad
The Dorsky Museum @dorskymuseum
New Paltz NY
Through November 6
2. Ellen Letcher @eletcher
Carry a White Flag, 2022
Sculpture by Non-Sculptors
Curated by George Spencer @georgespencerartetc
The Garage at Chatham @garageatchatham
Chatham NY
Through September 10
3. Founder Susan Jennings ran LABspace from 2014-18 before turning it over to Julie Torres and Ellen Letcher. @suznjennings
Twinning, 2022
glass, putty weld, paint markers, string, washers, crystals, chimes
‘Mind Sounds’ solo exhibition
tANJA gRUNERT @tanjagrunertgallery
Hudson NY
Through September 4
@labspace_art is located at 2642 Route 23, in the center of Hillsdale, NY, downstairs from the General Store and the Cook & Larder. 17 miles east of Hudson, 17 miles north of Millerton, 11 miles east of Great Barrington.
I took a trip up to @labspace_art in Hillsdale, NY, yesterday for the opening of “Guided by voices,” and I was surprised by the huge turnout of NYC artists who now call the Hudson Valley (and the Berkshires, New Hampshire, northwest Connecticut, and Vermont) home. It’s as if all the race horses escaped from the paddock. Here are some installation shots of the show, another excellently curated and inventively installed exhibition from Julie Torres and Ellen Letcher. On view through Sept 17. With Yura Adams, Sharon Butler (me), Adrian Meraz, and Lucy Mink. Images are tagged.
Back in the city this fall, look for @yuradams solo @olympiartz on the Lower East Side, and I’ll be having a solo @jenniferbaahnggallery on the Upper East Side (opening Sept 15).
LABspace was founded by @suznjennings and is currently the curatorial project of artists @eletcher and @julieatorres. Located at 2642 Route 23, in the center of Hillsdale, NY, Downstairs from the General Store and the Cook and Larder. 17 miles east of Hudson, 17 miles north of Millerton, 11 miles east of Great Barrington.
#contemporaryart #yuraadams #adrianmeraz #sharonbutler #lucymink #labspace #hudsonvalleyart #painting
Yesterday I took a trip to Jersey City to check out @fshalom64’s idiosyncratic new paintings, which are heading to @hunterdonartmuseum for a solo show in the fall. Thanks for having me Fran. More details to come.
#abstractpainting #franshalom #hunterdonartmuseum #artistsconversation #jerseycityartist @markelfinearts
Latest post, link in profile / Yedidya Hershberg: Toward the Uncanny Valley / Contributed by Margaret McCann / As though having carefully observed the painter paint them, Israeli painter Yedidya Hershberg’s figures appear to now scrutinize the viewer. Link in profile
#margaretmccann #yedidyahershberg #figurativepainting #malegaze #uncannyvalley #ingres #balthus #manet #yeats #sugarliftgallery #painting
