Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Growing up in Portland, Oregon, John Callahan, who would become a cartoonist noted for his dark, warped humor, had been a promising art student. But his abandonment by his birth mother and the coldness of his adoptive family haunted him. He started drinking at 13, and by his early twenties, … read more… “Art and Film: John Callahan’s Higher Power”
Fiction: Brooklyn Bento Box [Ara Tucker]
![Fiction: Brooklyn Bento Box [Ara Tucker]](http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Peppers_A-Tucker-1200x900.jpg)
This week Ara Tucker, a graduate of Princeton University’s Art History and Visual Arts program and an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference contributes “Brooklyn Bento Box,” a story about an artist preparing for an upcoming collaborative exhibition with her precocious adopted daughter Vabeh, a “a plucky bi-racial orphan” whose work is already being collected by the parents of her private school pals. As … read more… “Fiction: Brooklyn Bento Box [Ara Tucker]”
The 2018 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships
Contributed by Sharon Butler / This year hardworking panelists Julia Whitney Barnes (Dutchess), Franklin Evans (New York), Elliot Green (Columbia), Sarah McCoubrey (Onondaga), and Mie Yim (Kings) selected the The New York Foundation for the Arts painting fellowship recipients from a staggeringly large pool of 3,071 applicants. Each artist will receive a cash grant of $7,000, and the three finalists — Jordan Casteel, Clayton Schiff, and Don Voisine … read more… “The 2018 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships”
On July 4th: The art of decency
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Leave No Trace, Debra Granik’s first dramatic movie since her Winter’s Bone ushered in Jennifer Lawrence eight years ago, is among the best and most resonant films to appear this year. The movie, beautifully filmed mainly in Oregon, involves a disaffected and widowed Marine veteran aptly named Will, played by a brilliantly constrained Ben … read more… “On July 4th: The art of decency”
Summer studio: Catherine Howe in Clermont, NY
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Recently I was pleased to learn that Winston Wächter Fine Art in Chelsea and Seattle will be representing Catherine Howe, a talented painter I met during Final Crits at the New York Academy of Art in May. At the time, she was in the process of packing up her studio at the … read more… “Summer studio: Catherine Howe in Clermont, NY”
Fiction: The Square Drawing [Laurie Fendrich]
![Fiction: The Square Drawing [Laurie Fendrich]](http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Image.Fendrich3.jpg)
Today marks the beginning of the Two Coats of Paint fiction column, a special summer section featuring short stories about artists, collectors, galleries, and other matters centered in the art world. Laurie Fendrich has contributed the first story, which is about a drawing that goes missing. NOTE: If you would like to submit a short story, please send it to … read more… “Fiction: The Square Drawing [Laurie Fendrich]”
An artist’s story: Patrick Brennan
Contributed by Rob Kaiser-Schatzlein / Earlier this year, painter Patrick Brennan had a show at the artist-run gallery Essex Flowers. The title, “Drifter,” referred to the previous year of his life, when he gave up his studio in Greenpoint to spend time in England, Ohio, and Bahrain. He also made frequent trips to upstate New … read more… “An artist’s story: Patrick Brennan”
Alex Kwartler: Tenuous survivalism
Contributed by Sharon Butler / In “Snowflake,” Alex Kwartler’s recent show at Magenta Plains, small-scale paintings captured the desultory emotional tenor of 2017. Compared with his earlier exhibitions, which featured a lively, large-scale abstractions alongside smaller black pictograph-like images and explored notions about surface and spontaneity, the work on view this year appears slow, dark, … read more… “Alex Kwartler: Tenuous survivalism”
Santa Fe: A visit to the Railyard Arts District
Contributed by Katie Fuller / On a recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was eager to check out the growing art scene in the Railyard Arts District. Being accustomed to New York, where space tends to be tight, I felt the invigorating abundance of venues like Form & Concept, LewAllen Galleries, and SITE Santa Fe, where the … read more… “Santa Fe: A visit to the Railyard Arts District”
Made in LA: The personal is political
Contributed by Mary Addison Hackett / There may be a few artists working today who support the current administration in Washington, but it’s safe to say that most count themselves as members of the Resistance, such as it is. This doesn’t mean that we’re destined to make reflexive, shrill propaganda. For anyone who wants to see … read more… “Made in LA: The personal is political”