Award-winning blogazine, primarily about painting
Monday, August 8, 2022
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.
Contributed by Jacob Patrick Brooks / In “Plus,”Geoffrey Chadsey’s inventively grotesque show of drawings at Jack Shainman Gallery, the men are endlessly customizable, like sets of Mr. Potato Heads, but with dad bods instead of plastic blobs.
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / In his beguiling new show of abstract paintings, drawings, and collages at Frosch & Co., Robert Yoder elegantly demonstrates a truth of late modern art: that an object found and isolated, or visual representation shorn of context, is no more derivative or inferior than a given moment in time is subordinate to one that preceded or followed it. What makes it original is the artist’s unique choices in presenting it to the world – and, by implication, the singular experiences and insights that informed them.
The explosion of impressive exhibitions in the Hudson Valley region continues. New galleries include Analog Diary in Beacon, a joint project between several NYC galleries, and Turley Gallery, which opened in Hudson.
![@miandn put some older work in conversation and the show looks great. Before I looked at the dates, I thought the artists were turning in a more minimal direction. #informalgettogether
ARLENE SHECHET
Tell All, 2021
Glazed ceramic and painted steel
62 1/2 by 21 by 16 inches
KELTIE FERRIS
HER*CU*LES, 2016
Oil and acrylic on canvas
110 by 80 inches
JESSICA STOCKHOLDER
Lack [JS 173], 1992
Westphalian basket, linen yarn, acrylic paint, metal cable and tree section with bark on edges
72 by 66 by 64 inches
JOANNE GREENBAUM
Fountain Sculpture, 2003
Oil on canvas
119 1/2 by 99 1/2 inches](https://twocoatsofpaint.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
@miandn put some older work in conversation and the show looks great. Before I looked at the dates, I thought the artists were turning in a more minimal direction. #informalgettogether
ARLENE SHECHET
Tell All, 2021
Glazed ceramic and painted steel
62 1/2 by 21 by 16 inches
KELTIE FERRIS
HER*CU*LES, 2016
Oil and acrylic on canvas
110 by 80 inches
JESSICA STOCKHOLDER
Lack [JS 173], 1992
Westphalian basket, linen yarn, acrylic paint, metal cable and tree section with bark on edges
72 by 66 by 64 inches
JOANNE GREENBAUM
Fountain Sculpture, 2003
Oil on canvas
119 1/2 by 99 1/2 inches
Latest post, link in profile / Hudson Valley Selected Gallery Guide: August, 2022 / Contributed by @sharon_butler / In August the party continues beyond Upstate Art Weekend with a slew of interesting shows throughout the Hudson Valley region. On August 13th, I’ll be up in Hillsdale, NY (located east of Hudson, north of Millerton, west of Great Barrington), for the opening of “Guided by voices,” a group show at LABspace that includes work by me, Yura Adams, Lucy Mink, and Adrian Meraz. Please save the date to stop by from 1-5 and say hello! Link to “latest posts” in profile for the complete listings.
Image: tANJA gRUNERT: Susan Jennings, Blue Dot Jangle Dance, 2022, acrylic, found object, tape, glue, wire, and various bells, 18 x 18 inches
#hudsonvalleyart #galleryguide
Get over to @archiespress on E. 10th St to see “Brutes” @giovannigfnyc kinetic new edition of letterpress prints. Brawling, fighting, drunken, brutalizing. Six prints, each in an edition of 50. Even the show announcement is beautifully printed.
#letterpress #printmaking #archiespress #giovannigarciafenech #eastvillage #brutes
Latest post, link in profile / NYC Selected Gallery Guide: August, 2022 / contributed by @sharon_butler / August is the laziest month in New York. Everyone takes a breath, some leave town, and others gear up for their September shows. That said, there is still plenty to see, usually in air-conditioned comfort. And, because gallerists are understandably loath to open new shows at the end of August, many existing ones get extended beyond announced closing dates. On Friday, “Sunset” opens at @underdonk in Bushwick. A big group show focused on endings seems like the perfect way to kick off the end of summer. “Jung Lovers,” another expansive Brooklyn group show, is still on view at @soloway348 in Williamsburg. On the Lower East Side, see “Crucible” at @spencerbrownstonegallery through August 30. @dueyart curated “Offsight” at @james_fuentes_llc, and I hope it’s extended past its announced August 12 closing date. In Chelsea, “Why I Make Art by Brian Alfred” at @miles.mcenery.gallery includes work by my old colleague Carl Ostendarp and other favorites. “Informal Get Together,” at @miandn, brings together painting and sculpture by @keltieferris, @joannegreenbaumart @arleneshechet and @jessicastockholder. For a taste of Baltimore, check out “Charm City” at @asyageisberggallery, where @casecarolyn has curated a show of material-driven abstract work by artists with a connection to the city. On the Upper East Side, “Tango,” a beautifully curated and installed exhibition featuring unusual art pairings is on view at @jenniferbaahnggallery through August 17 and Hannah Black and Sophie Friedman-Pappas open at @meredithrosengallery on August 10. Link to full listing in profile.
#nycartgallery #painting #nycgalleryguide #chelseagalleries #brooklyngalleries #lesgalleries #uesgalleries #tribecagalleries
Latest post, link in profile / A conversation with Jamie Allen / Contributed by Mary Shah / Jamie Allen and I initially met as colleagues at Alexandre Gallery last fall, and we quickly became fans of each other’s paintings. We sat down recently to discuss her residency at New York Studio School (NYSS) DUMBO Studio that began in August 2021 and is culminating this month with a solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper at the residency program’s gallery. Link in profile.
#abstractpainting #jamieallen #maryshah #nyss #artindumbo #artistsresidency
