Abstract artist Arturo Herrara discusses work and process in this great video posted over on Art:21

Arturo Herrera / Come / 2008 / Collage, mixed media, graphite on paper / Triptych, each part 79.72 x 57.09 inches (202.5 x 145 cm) / sikkemajenkinsco.com

http://sikkemajenkinsco.com

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On a bitterly cold Thurday night, I scampered into Betty Cunningham and saw Clytie Alexander’s punched aluminum Diaphans. The pieces seemed to have a quiet serenity to them and remained aloof to the all the hubbub and commotion of the opening. I’d like to go back and watch them for a while with the changing light of day that filters in through the roof of the gallery.

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Yuko Ueda / Memento / 36 x 44 inches / mixed media on canvas / 2008 / yuukoueda.com

What I focus on is expressive colors and harmony of materials. I use plenty of water with acrylic paint, making many thin paint layers to achieve depth of color and luminousity. Inspiration always comes from nature, life and the human spirit. With acrylic paint, I often use pastel, sand, metals, fabrics, paper and pencil. I try to reach a beauty of natural harmony by combining these materials with various colors. {Read More…}

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I know Kentaro from the Art Students League, definitely check out his upcoming exhibit at Local Project in Long Island City opening on Dec. 6th.

Kentaro Fujioka / Untitled / Kentaro Fujioka / Acrylic, paper and burlap on canvas / 56 by 50 inches / 2007  / kentarofujioka.com

In this series Colors in Destruction, I’m most interested in the tension between ‘Destruction’ and ‘Construction.’ Everything is impermanent. There is the effort I make in constructing something; there is also beauty in destroying it.

Beauty appears where there is a lot of energy, no matter whether it is from something negative or positive. I have discarded the idea that destruction is negative. In fact, the act of destruction is the main method of my working on this series. Destruction simply cuts through dimensions and time. It reveals the relationship between colors which have been applied in different times and contexts. It does destroy the relationship in the present composition, but it discovers other possibilities of existence.

In the process of my work, the act of ‘Destruction’ entails the act of ‘Construction’. I start my painting with stretching raw canvas on the stretcher, then I stain the canvas and prime it. After the base structure is made, I repeat the process of layering on the surface with paint, strips of wood, paper and fabric. The choice of the color and the order is carefully made, not so much by planning, but rather by intuitive selection after a long observation on the recorded images of the previous state. The stronger the wood or paper or fabric is applied on the canvas, the higher the tension between layers becomes, it makes the effect of the torn surface more interesting. After days or sometimes weeks of layering, I intuitively stop layering. (the number of layers depends on the process of each painting, usually 20 to 30.) Then I start tearing off. This is also an intuitive process. Some part of the layers is left, while most is removed. This act of tearing off is an essential part in the process. It reveals the layers underneath, exposing colors which have been applied previously in another composition. It makes the process far more complicated so the result would never be anything I expect. Occasionally I find that I have to get rid of the canvas entirely by completely destroying it. {Read More…}

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Sharon Booma / Hindsight / 2007 / Mixed Media / 48 X 48 X 3 inches / Gallery Camino Real

Sharon Booma is an independent artist who works with several different media to create rich abstract compositions on paper and board. Her painting involves overlapping fields of lush color and dramatic surface texture, pencil incising and collage elements of mixed media add visual interest to the work.

Artist Statement

These paintings bring my impulses, intuition and deep emotional feelings to a more conscious level. Throughout there is a constant theme– an attempt to control and balance chaotic forces in our lives. With the rhythm of color and texture and repetition of forms, I seek to turn each piece into a visual symphony.

Sharon Booma, 2007

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Elise Ferguson / You Me / 2008 / pigmented plaster, aluminum, silver leaf / 18 x 24 inches / envoy gallery

Arnold Kemp / Climate / 2008 / watercolor, acrylic paint, flashe, mixed media on linen / 14 x 18 inches / envoy gallery

Aude du Pasquier Grall / Le Cycle Masculin N°7 / 2005-2008 / video installation; ed. 5 / envoy gallery

I happened upon this show in the Lower East Side a few weeks back, shortly after it opened. Small textured paintings in the front room sparkled and glittered. I slipped behind the curtain into a video exhibit projected on two walls. I’m usually not a big fan of video exhibitions, usually because it’s impossible to watch because people are afraid to walk fully into the room, clogging up the entrance, and I usually walk in at some point in the loop with no idea where it is coming from where it is going and for how long. I loose patience quickly. Anyway, this was fun because it wasn’t crowded, I could sit on the floor, and besides, the artist was there sitting in a chair, with her elbows on her knees, filming us watching the video, setting up this weird pomo redundancy observer/observed dynamic. I only wish I had done my little doggy yelp!

Envoy Gallery, 131 Chrystie St., through 7 June 2008

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