Monet - 1864 As artists, we need to look deep into our souls to see what it is about painting that thrills us. Some of us yearn to create a work that is as finished as our craftsmanship will allow. If we love detail, we may delight in putting in every last leaf. Show More Summary
As the school year draws to a close, it’s time for graduating art students to pack up their studios, take down their thesis shows, and set out on the life of financial uncertainty and critical scrutiny they have pursued so enthusiastically for the past several years. Hopefully they are equipped with as much knowledge, ability, […]
The seventh annual Bushwick Open Studios takes place next weekend, May 31-June 2! Thousands of artists will be participating, and a quick search of the website uncovers more than 365 painting shows. Help support the event by buying a copy of Loren Munk's Bushwick print (pictured above) at Supreme Digital. Show More Summary
Best known for "My Bed," a 1998 installation featuring her personal effects (like stained underwear) which earned her a nomination for the 1999 Turner Prize, Tracey Emin, now 50 and a Professor of Drawing at her alma mater, the Royal Academy in London, is sort of respectable.
Tracey Emin
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How can a figure pretend to be invisible, yet still remain the focus of the painting? David Salle begs the question with his recent exhibition at The Arts Club of Chicago – a stunning collection entitled the Ghost Paintings, which displays a collection of work produced by Salle in the early 1990s. The level of […]
Sam and I sat in a coffee shop a day before he left from his residency at the University of Texas at Dallas residency program, CentralTrak. His residency produced new paintings and drawings for his solo show, Aran, currently on view at Talley Dunn Gallery. Speaking of his early years in LA, Reveles recalls an […]
The crudely amped-up art market built by the likes of Gagosian, Zwirner, and the auction houses has overwhelmed critical dialogue. But are they the only culprits? In "Bill by Bill" a solo exhibition at Charlie James Gallery, WilliamShow More Summary
Plein air painting can get rather exciting if you are being buzzed by an airplane over and over. Peggy Immel, Coni Grant and I went painting along the Rio Grande River while my hubby and Steve Immel were flying around so that Steve could use his photography skills to get some great shots from the plane. Show More Summary
Running into friends at openings isn't that unusual, but every now and then I see Jenny Zoe Casey, the artist who organized and invited me to speak at TedXOrlando a few years ago. She was in town for the day (!) and so I invited her to write a post about her hardcore hit-and-run visit. Show More Summary
Stacey Rozich’s Within Without Me opened May 2 at Roq la Rue Gallery in Seattle. The 22 watercolor and gouache paintings on display cast the artist’s trademark colorful, convivial monsters in a new light—or new darkness, rather. The series is about “the light and the shadows of faith, devotion and the power of lies” and illustrates […]
"Lake Shadows" 9x12 oil/panel - $150 unframed + $12 shipping We've been back on Campobello Island for about a week now, and things are quiet. It's always quiet in May, but I enjoy that because it's my time to clean the dust out of the studio, take stock of my painting supplies, get the gallery set up and even paint a little. Show More Summary
Curious about her odd, uncharacteristic pink painting (image above) on display at Frieze last week, I wrote LA artist Rebecca Morris and asked her about it. Here's what she told me:
"Thanks for asking about that painting! It was nice for me to have it up at the fair. Show More Summary
Mixed a few colors and changed up the background. Working wet on wet, placed the circles and ovals of the fabric pattern, indicating colors. It’s a sketch of a map to the final goal, but it will get me there. Instant effervescence. It made the jump I hoped for, changing from the somber mood of [...]
If I were going to curate a show of painting-objects, without a doubt the exhibition would include a section on rumpled, badly stretched canvas and wrinkles. In the following pieces, all on display at Frieze last week, wrinkled, lumpy...Show More Summary
"Mabel's Gate" 9x12 oil - $300 unframed, contact Michael A view of Mabel Dodge Luhan's historic front gate in Taos, New Mexico May Newsletter from Michael Chesley Johnson May, 2013Campobello Island, NB, Canada We logged another 3600 miles on our cross-country trip from Arizona to Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Show More Summary
Don’t bother asking Mark Gottsegen – founder of AMIEN, author of The Painter’s Handbook, teacher, artist, and all around art materials guru – what’s the best type of paint to use? “I get asked this all the time,” said Gottsegen, who took time out from writing to speak to me last week. “And I say, […]
To know Judy, a wonderful and generous artist and teacher, one has to reconcile her kind spirit with her absolutely gruesome work. Body parts, heads (so many heads!) and objects of destruction are rife throughout her recent solo show at Betty Cunningham Gallery. Glantzman’s raw imagery, what Peter Plagens of the Wall Street Journal called […]
At the shared edge of Hollywood and Los Feliz, across from La Luz de Jesus Gallery / Wacko / Soap Plant, down a block from Cheetah’s gentlemen’s club, and next door to a tattoo place, lies the residence of artists Jay Erker and John Mills. The front room of their place is also Weekend, described […]
Chugging along on QWERTY. Meanwhile, the tweaking continues on QWERTY- I’m planning to alter the background color, so expect that bilious green to be gone shortly.
Since the early days of Color Field painting, working on unprimed canvas or linen has given the impression of a certain unfinished immediacy--more like the page of a sketchbook than a finished painting. At Frieze this weekend, unprimed...Show More Summary