Award-winning blogazine, primarily about painting
Monday, December 11, 2023
In addition to the historically lowbrow but intriguing Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit on Labor Day weekend (look for my article about the show in the next issue of The Rail), here are a few exhibitions I’m looking forward to this fall. Thomas Hart Benton “The Artists� Show, Washington Square, […]
I spent a few hours rambling around the Met this week and saw the survey of Raqib Shaw’s opulent jewel-encrusted paintings based on Hans Holbein the Younger’s (ca. 1497-1543) paintings. They reminded me of my daughter’s stained-glass craft kits, but of course those don’t have the oppresive glut of obvious […]
Latest post, link in profile / IDEAS & INFLUENCES A rtist’s Notebook: Elisabeth Condon / Painter Elisabeth Condon divides her time between Manhattan and Florida, where she currently has new work on view in “Tempus Fugit,” a solo show at Emerson Dorsch Gallery. Two Coats of Paint invited Condon to share ten ideas and influences that shape her ebulliently expansive paintings and installations. The artist’s influences are near and far, from her eloborately designed childhood home in California to the Astor Chinese Garden Court at the Metropolitan Museum and the furniture Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata crafted from industrial materials. Kinetic and vigorous layering are crucial to Condon’s process.
@elisabethcondon @emersondorsch #miamiartweek #flowerpaintings
Latest post, link in profile / Text and image: Laurie Fendrich and Peter Plagens / Contributed by Sharon Butler / I had some questions for Laurie Fendrich and Peter Plagens — artists, writers, spouses who have a two-person exhibition of abstract paintings on view at Texas Gallery in Houston through December 16. After they were evicted from their Tribeca loft a couple years ago, they decamped to Litchfield County, where they both have studios in their home — a beautifully converted auto body shop. In her seventies, Fendrich is a Professor Emerita of Fine Arts and Art History at Hofstra University and is represented by Louis Stern Fine Arts in West Hollywood. After writing regularly for The Chronicle of Higher Education for many years, she now writes fiction and contributes art reviews to Two Coats of Paint. Plagens, in his eighties, is the art critic at The Wall Street Journal and is represented by Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York. My interrogation about the evolution of their painting lives over the course of some fifty years started during an early morning text exchange that became so rich and resonant that I asked if Two Coats of Paint could publish an expanded version. Link in profile
Images:
Laurie Fendrich, Lyme and Bath, 2022, acrylic & gouache on clayboard, 20 x 16 inches
Peter Plagens, Untitled (Art History Maybe), 2023, mixed media on paper, 41 x 1/2 x 60 inches
#lauriefendrich #peterplagens @lauriefendrich @fredsnidus @sharon_butler @nancyhoffmangallery @louissternfinearts @texas_gallery
Latest post, link in profile / Louis Fratino’s happy equilibrium / Contributed by Margaret McCann / Louis Fratino’s paintings in “In bed and abroad” at Sikkema Jenkins depict varied social situations, from intimate scenes to foreign climes. Snapshots of memories, many from Italy, read like a travel diary. In Duomo, light seems to dissolve a church façade into a gossamer veil, like Monet’s series of Rouen. Milan’s iconic gothic cathedral is strikingly illuminated, as are most monuments in Italy at night. Silhouetted throngs of young people in front of it have gathered after their evening stroll to aid digestion, take in the sumptuous surroundings, and see what’s happening in the local piazza. This saunter or “passegiata” is also “a walk in the park,” and the painting’s mellifluous drama demonstrates Fratino’s impressive facility, as it captures the Italian relish of visual and other small pleasures, which Americans often mistake for sunny dispositions (see Fellini’s La Dolce Vita). Link in profile
#louisfratino @sikkemajenkins @margaret_mccann_art #figurativepainting #twocoatsofpaint
Image: Louis Fratino, The Beach at Noli, detail, 2023, oil on canvas, 75 1/4 x 105 1/8 inches
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
