Filed under: NAP News, Noteworthy | Tags: Daniel Lefcourt, David Korty, Hugh Scott-Douglas, Joshua Abelow, Julia Rommel, Keltie Ferris, Liam Everett, Lucien Smith, Nikolas Gambaroff, Noam Rappaport, Paul Cowan, Publisher, Publisher Picks, Scott Olson, Steven Zevitas, Yoshiaki Mochizuki
There is always a lot happening in the super charged art world of the 21st-Century, and I am constantly amazed by the number of new artists who seem to emerge each year. Some would say that the cart is driving the horse – that the machine that is the contemporary art world demands new artists at an ever-increasing, and unhealthy rate. I understand where the cynical view comes from, but I choose to be a bit more sanguine about the situation. After all, more artists than ever now have a chance to support themselves through their creative efforts, and that is certainly not a bad thing.
While the idea of historically identifiable “–isms” has largely been jettisoned as a quaint 20th- Century notion, there are certainly notable areas of artistic practice that seem to, for whatever reason at certain moments, gain traction with large numbers of artists. For the past several years, non-objective painting has been one such area.
Keltie Ferris. Courtesy of Mitchell-Innes & Nash.
As of late, emerging artists from throughout the world have been busy tearing painting down, and building it back up again; questioning exactly what a painting is; and coming up with ever more inventive and unique processes for making paintings. Many artists have taken a “provisional” stance, while others are producing highly finished work that so blurs the line between two and three-dimensional practice that categories of media such as painting and sculpture become all but useless. (The latter tendency is being explored in a soon-to-open exhibition at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA.)
My list of painters to watch in 2013 intentionally reflects this current moment in painting. As such, it could fairly be asked whether some of the artists on the list are even painters per se. Without a doubt, all of them take cues from the history of painting and, whether or not paint is actually used in the execution of their work, produce objects that force the viewer to address issues central to painting.
Steven Zevitas
Editor and Publisher
New American Paintings
13 to Watch in 2013:
Joshua Abelow
Paul Cowan
Liam Everett
Keltie Ferris
Nikolas Gambaroff
David Korty
Daniel Lefcourt
Yoshiaki Mochizuki
Scott Olson
Noam Rappaport
Julia Rommel
Hugh Scott Douglas
Lucien Smith
Filed under: DC, Features, Q&A | Tags: Britton Toliver, Bronx River Arts Center, Cordy Ryman, Culture Hall, David Reed, Furthermore, Gary Petersen, Halsey Hathaway, HKJB, Inna Babaeva, Ivin Ballen, Jered Sprecher, Jose Ruiz, Joshua Abelow, Keltie Ferris, Kris Chatterson, Matthew Smith, Milton Resnick, Pamela Jorden, Progress Report, Stacy Fischer, Stacy Fisher, The Working Title, Tompkins Projects, Vince Contarino
Give it time and the Internet will mobilize for change in just about any arena. So it’s not surprising that artist-run exhibition spaces — always bastions of change — are increasingly striving for a stronger online presence, sometimes even eschewing fixed brick-and-mortar locales all together. And it’s not just exhibition spaces. Artist-run curatorial projects like HKJB, Culture hall, and Progress Report exist mainly on the web, producing information that’s decentralized and disseminated horizontally, peer-to-peer. All of which is relatively new.
One of these projects, Progress Report, is designed as an online curatorial resource centered on visual content and studio visits. Co-founded by Brooklyn-based painters Kris Chatterson and Vince Contarino, their project is particularly keen on abstraction and focuses on the creative process from the perspective of working artists. This is noteworthy not only because Chatterson and Contarino are a couple of accomplished abstract painters in their own right, but also because they prove to have an expansive grasp for what their contemporaries are up to. -
More about Progress Report and our conversation after the jump. -Matthew Smith, D.C. Contributor
Installation view of The Working Title, a group show on abstraction curated by Progress Report and exhibited at the Bronx River Arts Center, March 25 through April 29, 2011.
Filed under: Art World, New York | Tags: Amy Feldman, Cordy Ryman, Jered Sprecher, Joe Bradley, Keltie Ferris, Lauren Luloff, Martin Bromirski, Patricia Treib, Patrick Brennan, Raphael Rubinstein, Sharon L. Butler, The Brooklyn Rail, Two Coats of Paint
Rebecca Morris, Untitled (#06-10), 2010 | Oil on canvas, 59 × 59 inches.
The pioneers of abstraction—the Cubists, the Abstract Expressionists, the Minimalists—emerged from firm and identifiable aesthetic roots and developed their own philosophies. In the competitive maelstrom of 20th century art, those philosophies became dogmas, and the dogmas outright manifestos. In the new century, many abstract painters are saying goodbye to all that didactic thinking and exuding a kind of calculated tentativeness. Raphael Rubinstein, in a 2009 Art in America essay and for a 2011 painting exhibition he curated in London, dubbed this new type of abstraction “provisional painting.” Similarly, artist and critic Stephen Maine homed in on the “incipient image” in a March 2011 show he curated at Lesley Heller. And the Brooklyn curatorial team Progress Report (aka Kris Chatterson and Vince Contarino) styled its survey of contemporary abstraction at the Bronx River Art Center The Working Title. All three labels suggest the centrality of the open proposition in contemporary abstraction.
—Sharon L. Butler (via Two Coats of Paint, The Brooklyn Rail)
Filed under: Art World, New York | Tags: Art21, Kalup Linzy, Keltie Ferris, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lucas Blalock, Mariah Robertson, Martha Colburn, Mika Tajima, New York Close Up, Rashid Johnson, Shana Moulton, Tommy Hartung, video
Next week, our friends at Art21 will premiere an exciting new Web series on art and life in New York City: ‘New York Close Up.’ Focusing on the “next wave” of young, important contemporary artists in New York, and featuring some of the City’s hottest and most talented emerging artists, the new documentary film series will peer into studio practices, parties, performances, exhibitions, social scenes, residencies, and even the artists’ homes.
Art21 has already won Peabody awards for their previous film work focusing on contemporary artists, including their famous documentary series ‘Art in the Twenty-First Century‘ and the film ‘William Kentridge: Anything is Possible,’ and their new series is well poised to snatch a few more trophies. What makes the new Web series different prior film projects is an unmistakable focus on the flurry of opportunities and experiences granted to artists in the early stages of their career, and a marked attention to the emerging cultural environs of New York City.
Premiering next week on June 13 with episodes on Kalup Linzy and Shana Moulton, ‘New York Close Up’ will also focus on eight other featured artists, including: Lucas Blalock, Martha Colburn, Keltie Ferris, LaToya Ruby Frazier,Tommy Hartung, Rashid Johnson, Kalup Linzy, Shana Moulton, Mariah Robertson, and Mika Tajima.
