“The grid declares the space of art to be once autonomous and autotelic.”[1]– Rosalind Krauss Part of the job of an artist is to pay attention to both contemporary artists and know the history from which they have developed. This was the case of when I first became familiar with the work of Trudy Benson.…
I met Emilie Stark-Menneg two years ago via instagram. We connected because of mutual friends and a shared appreciate of painting, color and making absurd images. Following several exchanges online we arranged a meeting to do a studio visit. Emilie and her Mom, Maggie – an artist as well – showed up to do a…
What if the seeds of Surrealism took root in nature? The answer seems to lie in the paintings and drawings of artist Alexander Ross. Ross keeps a studio in the home he shares with the artist and occasional collaborator, Susan Jennings, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The house has a bit of an air of a…
“Symmetry invokes spirituality.” Warren Isensee in a conversation with the author, September 2018 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14 (KJV) —- When considering the work of abstract artist Warren Isensee, one’s first inclination is to study the formal…
Being an artist affords opportunities for social engagement that can be utilized, rejected, or exploited in the worst case. Timo Fahler (b. Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an artist who believes that artists are cultural reporters, in that there is a certain level of responsibility inherent in the practice of art making to identify and transmit meaning…
Michael Mahalchick is a man of mystery, an icon of the downtown milieu who has one foot in art, one foot in performance and a third foot in dance. He is represented by Canada on the Lower East Side, and has had a solo museum exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art in…
Anti chromophobia and pure decadence: The paintings of Eric Hibit. In David Batchelor’s book, chromophobia – he writes about the fear of color in western philosophy and art criticism. Bright colors, he asserts have been viewed as primitive and not civilized – even wild and dangerous. Color he writes, also speaks of the cosmetic, the…
For many years, Ellen Altfest has held a position in my mind as a hero – or more accurately, an anti-hero – of painting. The power in her work comes from its ability to grab attention without using any of the attention-grabbing tricks: they are modestly sized, contain no hot colors, and the subject matter…
When you meet Joshua Bienko – it does not take more than a few seconds to realize he is ready. Josh is ready to talk, ready to listen and ready to show you what he has. Bienko, an Associate Professor of Art at UT Knoxville and Founder and Director of C for Courtside is all…
At best, when I’m drawing clouds, I feel like I’m moving air vapor around, not just moving my pencil. – Barry Nemett on his work “View from Montecastello” I first met Barry when we both taught together several years ago. We had many conversations over the course of the semester and have since gotten to…