Filed under: Must-Sees | Tags: Must-See, NAP, Publisher Picks, Steven Zevitas
April is another strong month for painting around the US, and the recent trend of solid shows by mid-career artists continues. Be sure to catch veteran painter McArthur Binnion’s first solo at Kavi Gupta in Chicago. Across town at Zolla/Lieberman, another Chicago-based artist, Phyllis Bramson, presents a new group of her hallucinatory works. In Los Angeles, emerging artist Rashid Johnson has organized a finely tuned exhibition of works by legendary Washington School painter, Sam Gilliam. Two artists who are firmly on my “completely under-recognized” list, New Orleans’ native, Jim Richard, and long-time University of Iowa Professor, John Dilg, can be seen at Inman Gallery in Houston and Regina Rex in Queens, NY, respectively.
The number of painting shows at New York galleries this month is even more overwhelming than usual. Mckee Gallery is presenting a centennial exhibition to honor Philip Guston – his influence on a younger generation of artists cannot be overstated. Wayne Gonzales looks good at Paula Cooper Gallery, as does B. Wurtz at Metro Pictures. If emerging artists are your thing, you have a lot of looking to do this month. Among the dozens of shows on view in New York that are focused on younger artists, be sure to see Cordy Ryman at Dodge Gallery, Scott Lyall at Miguel Abreu Gallery, Zach Harris and Zach Feuer, and one of my personal favorites, Scott Olson at Wallspace. Enjoy the list. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher
Phyllis Bramson. Courtesy of Zolla/Lieberman Gallery.
Filed under: Art World, Must-Sees | Tags: Must-See, NAP, painting, Publisher Picks, Steven Zevitas
It is, once again, a very strong month for New American Paintings’ alumni with close to thirty solo exhibitions on view around the country. Some of these artists are now well established, such as Amy Cutler, others are early in their careers, such as Ellen Lesperance, who is currently exhibiting her intricate works on paper and objects at Ambach & Rice in Los Angeles.
I have written a lot about the dominance of abstraction over the past few years. This month, first-rate representational painting, and in particular figurative painting, can been seen throughout the country. What is most interesting to me is that a growing number of emerging artists seem to be unabashedly embracing aspects of art history that pre-date the 20th-Century.
In New York, be sure to catch Vera Iliatova’s soon-to-open show at Monya Rowe Gallery and Benjamin Senior’s stunning exhibition at James Fuentes (reference points for Senior include Pierro dell Francesca and Poussin). Both artists are well versed with art history, and both have serious technical chops. In Chicago, Ann Toebbe opens a show at EBERSMOORE next week in which the figure adds a new level of complexity to her already charged interiors. In Los Angeles, be sure to catch the soon-to-close exhibition by NAP alum Travis Collinson at Maloney Fine Art, and Henry Taylor, who will open later this month at Blum & Poe.
For those interested in non-objective work, there is plenty on view. Aaron Bobrow will open at Andrea Rosen Gallery this month. Also, in Chelsea, the rarely seen work of Italian painter Giorgio Griffa offers a clinic in how less can be more at Casey Kaplan. One of the curators of the 2014 Whitney Biennial, artist Michelle Grabner, has new work at Shane Campbell Gallery in Chicago. In San Francisco, Noam Rappaport, whose investigations into the line between painting and sculpture have been much talked about, opens at Ratio 3. Enjoy the list. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher
Travis Collinson. Courtesy of Maloney Fine Art.
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
