A vivid biomorphic style and uniquely tragic personal history define Arshile Gorky as a major figure in twentieth-century modernism. While often classified as late Surrealism or as a precursor of Abstract Expressionism, his emotionally charged abstract style holds a distinct place among the explorations of the avant-garde.
Born in Armenia, Gorky emigrated to the United […]

Amy Sillman Contemporary Salon, clip 3

Yes, I read the Wall Street Journal sometimes. Anyway, Eric Gibson has an interesting piece about art writing that is worth the read. Here are a couple brief excerpts…
(Note: I haven’t been to the Whitney Biennial yet. Not because I dislike the Biennial, but mostly because I am lazy and it’s so hard to […]

Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes has just finished his week long review/discussion of the Amy Sillman show currently at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. We can’t
get enough…
Amy Sillman layers paint over layers of paint the way Richard Diebenkorn did. Sometimes she loads up her brush like Park, Bischoff or other Bay Area School […]

Bridget Riley

Katy Moran / Pecking Order / 2008 / Acrylic on canvas / 18 x 15 inches (46 x 38 cm) / © Katy Moran. All rights reserved. Courtesy of the artist and Andrea Rosen Gallery
Today I got over to Andrea Rosen Gallery to see the abstract paintings of UK artist Katy Moran. An artist of […]

Thomas Nozkowski / Untitled (8-100) / 2008 / oil on linen on panel / 22 28 inches / © Thomas Nozkowski. Courtesy of the Artist and Pace Wildenstein Gallery
If you haven’t figured out yet, I am qute enthusiastic about the Thomas Nozkowski show at Pace. I’ve been twice so far and will probably have […]

Norihiko Saito: A Hill in His Heart / 2007 / 70 x 165 inches / mineral pigments on screen panels / © Norihiko Saito. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of the artist and Dillon Gallery

I was able to run down at lunch today to the Dillon Gallery to catch the Ma: New Traditions in Nihonga exhibition […]

Thomas Nozkowski On a Hike

This is another good one. A painter’s perspective…a painter looking at the world…
Abstract painter Thomas Nozkowski on a hiking trip talking about painting, nature, and finding inspiration for his work in the random juxtapositions of things on the ground…

Thomas Nozkowski - video

I’ve been twice now to see the Thomas Nozkowski show currently up at Pace Wildenstein Gallery. It is a great show and I’ll talk about why I think he is a painter worth studying in depth in the next couple of days when I have a moment to collect my thoughts. In […]

Frank Stella’s “Red River Valley,” one of the works he created in 1958 before embarking on his Black Paintings.
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Frank Stella / Morro Castle / 1958 / Kunstmuseum Basel
Yesterday I got an email from Brian in North Carolina in which he mentioned the Frank Stella 1958, the touring survey of […]

Stan Brakhage - Water for Maya

From Wikipedia:
Stan Brakhage (January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American non-narrative filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the most important experimental filmmakers of the 20th century. He worked with various kinds of celluloid: 16mm, 8mm, 35mm, and IMAX, and was a practitioner of what he […]

John DiPaolo / Silhouette Inca #5 / Oil and Enamel on Canvas / 63 x 70 in. / 2008 / © John DiPaolo. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy the artist and Dolby Chadwick Gallery
“It’s not about picture making,” he [DiPaolo] explained, “you can do that better with a camera. Painting is about soul and that’s what […]

Thomas Nozkowski / Untitled (8-104) / 2008 / oil on linen on panel / 22 x 28 in. (55.9 cm x 71.1 cm) / © Thomas Nozkowski. All rights reserved. Courtesy the artist and Pace Wildenstein.
Over thirty years ago, Thomas Nozkowski made a commitment to specific decisions regarding the scale and material of his work. […]

Jem Southam / Vaucottes / February 2006 / 46.5 x 55.25 inches / edition of 6 / chromogenic dye coupler print / © Jem Southam. Courtesy of the artist and Robert Mann Gallery
I almost have to stop using my preamble “I’m not usually a fan of photography, but…” A great example of abstract photography. For […]