One of the great things about being in Boston’s South End is that we have tons of great art all around us. You may think that we have enough art to look at, given the competitions we manage, but it’s always nice to see original works right in front of our eyes, rather than in digital and printed reproductions. Especially when the local installation belongs to one of New American Paintings past featured artists. I was passing by Samson Projects today (thanks to a lazy lunch during our 70 degree weather), just three doors down from the Open Studios Press, and had an urge to document the Steve Locke show, You Don’t Deserve me, and share it with our readers. So I grabbed my camera, and here’s what I got. You may recall Steve from a conversation we did on the blog a while back. He was also featured in New American Paintings, Issue #86. Needless to say, we are all fans here of Steve and his work. Drew Katz, Associate Publisher
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Filed under: Art Market, Art World, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Must-Sees, New Jersey, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Philly, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle | Tags: December, Must-SEe
In the 300+ gallery exhibitions that we previewed for this post, we discovered a number of New American Paintings’ alumni on view in December. Jim Lutes continues to produce a substantial body of work and, once again, demonstrates why he is one of Chicago’s leading painters. And check out Dolphin Gallery’s group exhibition “Push” which features several NAP artists, including a favorite of ours, Michael Krueger. Other shows that stand out: Fernando Mastrangelo at Charest-Weinberg, Byron Kim and James Cohan Gallery, and Cordy Ryman and Eli Ridgway. Enjoy the list! Please check them out and let us know what you think in the comments section after the jump!
Cordy Ryman | Shadow Boxed, acrylic, enamel and graphite on wood, 38 x 33.5 x 3.5 inches
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Filed under: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Must-Sees, New York, Philadelphia, Philly, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle | Tags: Editor's Pick, Must-SEe, New American Paintings, November
We reviewed upcoming November exhibitions at close to 300 commercial galleries from throughout the United States to compile this list. Once again, it is another extraordinarily strong month for the medium of painting. Highlights include the feverishly painted work of Alison Schulnik at Zieher Smith, Nathan Hylden’s complex meditations on the studio at Richard Telles, and Llyn Foulkes idiosyncratic landscapes at Andrea Rosen. - Must-See November painting shows after the jump!
Allison Schulnik | Yogurt Eater, 2011, oil on linen, 84 x 68 inches
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Filed under: Alabama, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Must-Sees, New York, Philly, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle | Tags: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, DC, Houston, Los Angeles, Must-SEe, NAP, New American Paintings, New York, Northeast, Pacific Coast, painting, San Francisco, Seattle
The art world comes alive again in September, as galleries reopen and collectors return from far flung locations. We reviewed upcoming September exhibitions at more than 400 galleries around the country, and there will be a lot of painting on view.
As is typical, many galleries are bringing out the big guns for the new season – from Agnes Martin at The Pace Gallery in New York to a well structured survey of Bay Area figurative painter, Nathan Oliveira, at John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Among the shows opening by emerging artists, it is hard to ignore the trend towards abstract painting that has swept over the art world.
Kimberly Brooks | Punk History, oil on linen, 40 x 36 inches. Courtesy of Taylor De Cordoba, Los Angeles.
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Filed under: Art World, Boston, Competitions | Tags: competitions, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Dina Deitsch, Evan J. Garza, NEXT, Northeast
It’s time to begin preparations for one of our most anticipated issues of the year, the Northeast Competition! (The deadline to apply is August 31, and the competition is open to artists in CT, DE, ME, MA, NJ, NH, NY, PA, RI, and VT. Apply online!)
For nearly two decades, the Northeast book has featured artists of exceptional promise who have gone on to incredible international success, and NAP alums from the region include such celebrated contemporary artists as Matthew Day Jackson, William Cordova, Eddie Martinez, and countless others.
We are beyond thrilled to feature the perspective of talented curator (and friend) Dina Deitsch, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art for the deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum, Lincoln, MA. Dina’s years of experience working with emerging artists for the museum’s deCordova Biennial and her intensive work with multiple media, make her an incredible candidate for jurying the Northeast Competition.
I chatted with the Cambridge-based curator this week to talk up the competition and her experience with emerging work. She also shares with us her thoughts on recent developments in contemporary painting, which you don’t want to miss. Our conversation is below! More after the jump! —Evan J. Garza, Editor-at-Large
EJG: As the curator for a sculpture park and museum, how do you address painting in the museum’s program?
DD: Easily and often! While deCordova is a sculpture park, and a fantastic one at that, we also have a good 5000 sq ft of gallery space that we program with not only sculpture but general contemporary art. One branch of our mission is to collect and promote artists from the New England region, which we do through single-artist PLATFORM projects and our sprawling Biennial program. In that particular program, variety is the name of the game and there’s always room for painting! I also organize group thematic shows that often do and can include or even center on painting, such as the forthcoming show I’m curating with you, Paint Thing (working title), which looks at painting as a spatial art, and where and how it meets sculpture.
Filed under: Art World, Boston, Q&A | Tags: DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Justin Richel
Justin Richel of Rangeley, Maine recently participated in the group show Wall Works at DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. In Richel’s mural, appropriately located in the museum’s cafe, cartoon-like desserts fly through the air in the midst of furniture and household appliances. I had a chance to ask the artist about the biggest misconception about his work (that it’s all light-hearted and whimsical) and whether he has a sweet tooth (he doesn’t). —Kate Singleton, NAP contributor
Filed under: Art World, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Must-Sees, New York, Philly, San Francisco, Santa Fe | Tags: Amy Casey, Andy Cross, Charles Ritchie, Chris Johanson, Cordy Ryman, Erik Parker, Jaqueline Cedar, Jered Sprecher, Kiel Johnson, Laurel Sparks, Leidy Churchman, Lesley Vance, Matt Connors, Must-Sees, Njideka Akunyili, Siobahn Liddell, Travis Collinson
Chris Johanson, Hey There, That’s You, 2011 | Acrylic and latex and mirror on wood, 45 1/2 x 54 inches. Courtesy Altman Siegel, San Francisco.
It’s time to break out the sunscreen and the summer group shows (and there’s no shortage of each). Our editorial staff have put together our Summer Must-See list for July and August, our guide to more than 50 of the best contemporary painting exhibitions in the country, including dozens of notable and not-to-be-missed shows by masters like De Kooning and serious emerging talent like Matt Connors, Lesley Vance, Leidy Churchman, Chris Johanson, and more. Also included are our picks for summer shows by artists previously featured in New American Paintings.
From L.A. to Chicago, Houston to New York and back, our guide includes exhibitions in every corner of the country. Images and listings after the jump!
Filed under: Art World, Boston | Tags: Boston, samsøn, Todd Pavlisko, Andy Warhol, Richard Pryor
Installation view, Todd Pavlisko: All of Nothing, Samsøn, Boston
Todd Pavlisko gets by with a little help from his friends. We swung by Samsøn while the New York-based artist and his crew were installing (and creating) the work that makes up his first solo show in Boston, All of Nothing, including a 10-foot tall portrait of Richard Pryor made up entirely of carefully placed, differently colored plastic retail price tag fasteners. Scattered among the paintings and drawings in the show are a few sculptural installations, including a colorful nest of tall, melted bongs (excuse me, water pipes) and two works made from workout benches originally belonging to Andy Warhol.
We caught a few shots of Todd & company while they were attaching thousands of individual price tag fasteners, one by one, with price tag guns (effectively giving Pryor an especially textural afro). More pipes, and pics, after the jump!
Filed under: Art World, Boston | Tags: Boston, Daniela Rivera, Evan J. Garza, Foster Prize, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, LaMontagne Gallery
Installation view, Daniela Rivera: Growth, LaMontagne Gallery, Boston
Tucked away in a remote, industrial corner of Southie, a stone’s throw from the Boston harbor, is South Boston’s LaMontagne Gallery and, housed within it, is Growth, Daniela Rivera‘s newest installation. Included as a finalist in the 2010 James and Audrey Foster Prize show at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston last year, and featured recently as a Noteworthy artist in edition #92 of New American Paintings, Rivera’s work for LaMontagne is not only a response to Richard Long’s 1967 work A Line Made by Walking, but also a “recognition of the presence of incompletion” in her own work.
Rivera’s work often changes the setting within which it is installed, pouring off the wall and onto the floor where viewers must walk around it, and this installation is no different. The installation of her painted panels at LaMontagne, which effectively turn the simple South Boston space into a site-specific landscape, is only half of the work. The presence, and participation, of viewers is inherent to the work itself, with people literally filling in the gaps on the floor by walking through the installation. A Line Made by Walking is, after all, based in the performative action of walking, and Growth cleverly recreates — in a very different context — the original actions that informed Long’s work to begin with.
More than just a thoughtful, coy attempt at audience participation and conceptual approach, Growth occupies a necessary place in the current moment in contemporary painting, where artists continue to walk the line between painting and sculptural and installation forms, and when the traditional spatial and material limitations set forth by the medium are abandoned in favor of better, and stronger, real estate. More pics after the jump!
—Editor-at-Large, Evan J. Garza
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Filed under: Art World, Boston, Q&A | Tags: A.D. Jacobson, Carroll & Sons, El Paso, Juarez, Mexico, MFA Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Raul Gonzalez, Texas
Raul Gonzalez, Alarums!!, 2010 | Ink and acrylic, 41.75 x 41.75 inches. Courtesy the artist and Carroll & Sons Gallery, Boston.
Somerville, Massachusetts-based artist Raul Gonzalez has just installed And Their Families, part of the 2011 Community Arts Initiative at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is a 2009 Artadia award winner, has recently had solo exhibitions at the New England Gallery for Latin American Art (NEGLAA) and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston, and is a founding member of The Miracle Five artist collective. Gonzalez is currently preparing for exhibitions at the Boston Center for the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute.
I spoke with Gonzalez on a rainy day in the South End about living in Boston, family, fatherhood, comics, and the violent situation in the border town of Juarez, near the artist’s native home of El Paso, Texas. Our conversation, and images of Raul’s work, after the jump. —A.D. Jacobson, Boston contributor
