Contributed by Rick Briggs / To one growing up Catholic, heaven and hell were in no way, shape, or form mere metaphors for possible destinations in the afterlife. They were very real places to spend all eternity, either heavenly salvation or eternal damnation. Forty years ago, Katherine Bradford proposed an exhibition to Chris Martin and me titled “3 Catholics.” While it never took place, the idea was to gather three lapsed Catholics who shared that particular cultural grounding and also similar painting values, and who were all now earnestly in pursuit of our new religion – Painting. This memory came wafting back to me the morning after viewing “Arms and the Sea,” Bradford’s solo show of remarkable new paintings at Canada.
Tag: Canada
Robert Janitz: Reverie over reality
Contributed by Sharon Butler / �Library of a Dream,� Robert Janitz�s elegantly installed exhibition, on view at Canada through January 21, is a knockout. Janitz spent years in intense meditation communities, making paintings that seemed primarily about the physical experience of making the object, reflecting palpable focus and presence. Now he appears compelled to turn his attention gingerly outward and explore a somewhat more playful approach.
RJ Messineo: Existential magic
Contributed by Rick Briggs / Gold Gold, RJ Messineos second solo exhibition at CANADA, is both a cohesive and a dynamically exciting effort. They make abstract paintings, often irregularly shaped, with plywood panels that are attached to the canvas with strong, rare-earth magnets.
Katherine Bradford: Consoled and consoler
In her show at Canada, Katherine Bradford’s colors and brushwork radiate a sense of unrestrained joy in material, barely contained by the limits of the canvas.
Joan Snyder: Painting from the inside out
Contributed by Jason Andrew / In a 1976 Cincinnati Enquirer review of Joan Snyder�s paintings, the reviewer, Owen Findsen, surmised that she had �picked up a little of this, a little of that � and made it all uglier.� While he found her work offensive, even questioning it�s validity, for […]
NY Times Art in Review: Leon Kossoff and Xylor Jane
“Leon Kossoff: From the Early Years, 1957-1967, “Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY. Through March 28. Roberta Smith reports: This show is an informative treat. The early paintings of the British artist Leon Kossoff are not well known in this country. No American museum even owns one. Of the 10 […]
Matt Connors at Canada
In his first solo show at Canada, Matt Connors presents a predictably sloppy version of modernism. Although I don’t see the “rigor of an Ellsworth Kelly ” that’s mentioned in the press release (are they pulling my leg?), the awkward color, not-quite geometric shapes and flat-footed paint handling have a […]