Filed under: Must-Sees | Tags: March, Must-See, NAP, Publisher, Publishers Pick, Steven Zevitas
More than four-dozen New American Paintings’ alumni are on view throughout the country this month. Two artists who were originally featured in MFA Annual issues from the early 2000s, Iona Rozeal Brown and William Cordova, and who have since garnered a great deal of attention, are on view in New York at Salon 94 and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., respectively. Two of our favorite emerging painters, Jered Sprecher and Eddie Martinez, can also be seen in New York this month.
Art fair month usually brings out the best of New York galleries, and this year is no exception. Aside from the show’s mentioned above, be sure to catch William J. O’Brien at Marianne Boesky, William Hawkins at Ricco Maresca, and Al Held at Cheim & Read. Andrew Masullo demonstrates that less is more and tames Mary Boone Gallery’s cavernous 24th Street space with and installation of his intimate, yet potent, explorations of color and form. Down in the Lower East Side, Dave Miko + Tom Thayer have collaborated for a show at Eleven Rivington that blends video and painting. I first saw this body of work at the 2011 NADA Art Fair in Miami, and it left a lasting impression…this show is an absolute must see.
Wayne White. Courtesy of Western Project.
There are some strong exhibitions by mid-career artists happening around the country. In Boston, hometown favorite Gerry Bergstein is on view at Gallery NAGA. Gerry has been a force around Boston since the early 1980s, both as an artist and member of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts’ painting faculty, and his work is deserving of widespread attention. Across the country in Los Angeles, don’t miss a survey of Wayne White’s work from the 2000’s at Western Project. White is an artist, art director, cartoonist and illustrator whose integration of text into found lithographs speaks of the inseparability of language and landscape in contemporary culture.
On a sad note, we wish to pay our respects to Pacific Northwest artist Alden Mason, who passed away in early February at the age of 93, and who was featured in New American Paintings’ first-ever Pacific Coast issue. His long career included a thirty-two year teaching stint at the University of Washington – Chuck Close was among his many students. If you live in the Northwest, be sure to see Alden’s exhibition at Foster/White Gallery, which opens this week and continues through the end of April. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher
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Filed under: Art World, Must-Sees | Tags: Editor, January, Must-See, NAP, Publisher, Publishers Pick, Steven Zevitas
Happy New Year from all of us at New American Paintings.
Out of the more than 400 commercial galleries that we surveyed this month, more than 70% had painting shows on view. Among them are two dozen solo exhibitions by New American Paintings alumni. New Orleans’ native Nicole Charbonnet, who was featured in one of our earliest issues, presents new work at the venerable Arthur Roger Gallery. In San Francisco, Chris Ballantyne is a must see at Hosfelt Gallery, as is Andrew Schoultz at Mark Moore Gallery in Los Angeles. We are particularly excited about Yoshiaki Mochizuki’s debut at Marlborough Chelsea, where he will have his technically complex abstract paintings on view. Yoshiaki will be featured in the soon to be released 2013 Northeast issue of New American Paintings.
As always, New York City has a lot to offer. Emerging artists Keltie Ferris and Jules de Balincourt both have stellar shows that close this week, and mid-career artists such as Francis Alys and Carroll Dunham continue to push their practice forward. A survey of Gary Simmons’ work at Metro Pictures brings together a range of media, and offers a concise look at this mid-career artist’s substantial body of work. This month, New York also has the opportunity to consider the work of Chicago Imagist Roger Brown, whose stature has continued to rise since his death in 1997, in a well curated exhibition at DC Moore. Enjoy the list. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher
Andrew Schoultz. Courtesy of Mark Moore Gallery.
Filed under: Must-Sees | Tags: Must-See, NAP, New American Paintings, Publishers Pick, September, Steven Zevitas
It is September and the art world has come back to life. Commercial galleries around the country are busy putting final touches on soon to open exhibitions. Not surprisingly, many are opening their seasons with shows by significant artists. In New York, Gerhard Richter and James Rosenquist open next week at Marian Goodman and Acquavella Galleries, respectively. In Chicago, original Hairy Who member Gladys Nilsson presents new work at Jean Albano Gallery. All the way across the country in Los Angeles, be sure to catch an exhibition of recent work by Jim Dine at Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art that has already opened.
As I have said before, one of the most exciting parts of my job is watching the careers of New American Paintings’ alumni take off. More than three dozen New American Paintings’ artists are on view in September throughout the country. They range from the well known figurative painter Susanna Coffey to one of the West’s best abstractionists, and best kept secrets, Robert Kelly, whose carefully considered paintings are on view this month at James Kelly Contemporary in Santa Fe. Two past cover artists, Shara Hughes and Devin Troy Strother, are both on view; both have had thriving careers since first appearing in New American Paintings.
Devin Troy Stother | A Black Joseph Beuys in, “Nigga in a gallery with a coyote,” 2012, 14.25 x 17 Inches acrylic, gouache, fabric and paper collage on canvas, Courtesy Richard Heller Gallery
Two of our favorite alumni, Angela Dufresne and Wendy White, both open exhibitions in New York this month. Dufresne’s intense paintings will be the focus of two simultaneous shows at CRG Gallery and Monya Rowe Gallery. White, whose new work will be featured at Leo Koenig Inc., was first featured in NAP at the beginning of her career. Over the past decade, her painting practice has evolved to embrace sculpture, text, and graffiti. She is now widely considered to be one of the preeminent artists of her generation. - Steven Zevitas, Editor/Publisher
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Filed under: Must-Sees | Tags: Editor, Must-See, NAP, Publisher, Publishers Pick, Steven Zevitas
Summer is upon us. As is typical, many galleries around the country are mounting group exhibitions. There are a surprising number of first-rate solo exhibitions on view, many of which stretch into July. I am happy to see more than two-dozen New American Paintings’ alumni in the mix, including Todd Chilton at Feature, Inc. in New York City, who will be the cover artist for Issue #101.
In a coast to coast face off of contemporary masters, be sure not to miss Brice Marden’s elegant show at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York and Wayne Thiebaud’s exhibition at John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. For many, Marden is the greatest living abstractionist and Thiebaud the greatest living painter of objects.
New York is a hotbed of well-conceived group exhibitions. Be sure to check out “Twisted Sister” at Dodge Gallery, which is co-curated by art world veteran, Janet Phelps and Gallery Owner, Kristen Dodge. In this raucous exhibition, Phelps brings together thirty outstanding emerging and mid-career female painters, including three of our favorites: Summer Wheat, Allison Schulnik and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung. Up in Chelsea, don’t miss “the Big Picture” at Sikkema, Jenkins & Co., in which, I am happy to see, long-time University of Iowa professor John Dilg is included. Also in Chelsea, “Everyday Abstract – Abstract Everyday” is yet another solid exhibition that, in one sense, explores the fluidity between painting and other media. Other group shows of note include “Painting in Space” and “Stretching Painting” which are both soon to open at Luhring Augustine and Galerie Lelong, respectively, and “Pothole” at Salon 94 on the Upper East Side.
Enjoy the list, and be sure to let us know whom you think we forgot in the comments section. – Steven Zevitas, Editor/Publisher
John Dilg | Wisconsin, oil on canvas, 11 x 14 inches
Filed under: Art World, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Must-Sees, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Fe | Tags: Exhibitions, February, Must-See, NAP, Paintings, Publishers Pick, Steven Zevitas
One of the best parts of my job is getting to see the careers of artists that we have worked with take off. Artists such as James Siena, Amy Cutler and Matthew Day Jackson were all featured in New American Paintings long before they reached the international spotlight. This month is not only an extraordinary month for the medium of painting at galleries around the country, it is a particularly strong month for New American Paintings’ alumni. No fewer than twenty artists featured in past, or upcoming editions, have their work on view in February. Two of my favorites, Summer Wheat and Benjamin Degen, will be featured in the soon to be released 2012 Northeast Edition (#98).
I want to bring special attention to the work of Sarah McEneaney, who was first featured in the mid-1990s. Based in Philadelphia, Sarah is a profoundly gifted artist, and, in my opinion, simply one of the best painters working today. Her painstakingly crafted egg tempera paintings have always had a startling immediacy. Of the many micro-trends that are noticeable in current painting practice, a certain predilection for “faux-naïve” representation is high among them. Sarah was entrenched in this pictorial language long before it washed over the art world. Unlike many younger artists, her creative direction is not a conceptual gambit; rather, it is born out of an internal necessity. - Steven Zevitas, Editor/Publisher
