Contributed by Sharon Butler / Last week news spread through the New York art community that Thomas Nozkowski had died after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. Nozkowski was known for his colorful abstractions, often made on small canvas boards. His intimate, anti-heroic approach influenced a generation of abstract artists (myself included) and readers will … read more… “Thomas Nozkowski has died”
Our woman in Havana: Exploring what it means to be Cuban / The Havana Biennial, Part 2
Contributed by Katarina Wong / One of the strongest and most ambitious exhibitions in the 13th Havana Biennial is at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), which is on view through September in celebration of the city’s 500th anniversary. The ground floor exhibition “Museos interiores (Interior museums)” features new acquisition from some of Cuba’s … read more… “Our woman in Havana: Exploring what it means to be Cuban / The Havana Biennial, Part 2”
Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide: May 2019
To everyone who has struggled through another academic year, final crits are over, so the time has come to get out and see some shows. We don’t usually put museum exhibitions on our list, but don’t miss the 2019 Whitney Biennial, which opens this week. I went to the press preview, and I have to agree with Andrew Russeth (at ArtNews) who … read more… “Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide: May 2019”
Legacy of the hand: Paolo Arao’s textile paintings
Contributed by Julia Couzens / Paolo Arao’s exuberant textile paintings radiate a bracing freshness, like nautical flags snapping brightly in a cracking breeze. From a distance clear color and crisp geometry flip space backward and forward, causing the eye to toggle in and out of the paintings’ nuanced, irregularly faceted grids. Seen up close, quavering, irregular … read more… “Legacy of the hand: Paolo Arao’s textile paintings”
Our woman in Havana: The Construction of the Possible, Part 1
This is the first of two posts that highlight work from the 2019 Havana Biennial in and around Old Havana area. Look for Part 2 next week. // Contributed by Katarina Wong / After being postponed due to hurricane damage from 2017, the Havana Biennial, organized by the Centro de Arte Contemporanéo Wifredo Lam, launched on … read more… “Our woman in Havana: The Construction of the Possible, Part 1”
Björn Meyer-Ebrecht: Spontaneity rising
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Contemplating Gerrit Rietveld’s furniture, especially the pieces he made from crates, Björn Meyer-Ebrecht realized that utilitarian furniture can be sculpture, and that sculpture in turn can serve as a utilitarian object. He explores this idea in a thoughtful and lively new show at Owen James Gallery in Soho. A series … read more… “Björn Meyer-Ebrecht: Spontaneity rising”
Interview: Victoria Roth at Brennan & Griffin
Contributed by Sangram Mujumdar / A couple weeks ago, on a rainy spring evening, Victoria Roth and I met up in her studio to continue a discussion that we had started nearly a year ago about her paintings. Over the course of our conversation we talked about her new format, pictorial space, dance, the intense physicality … read more… “Interview: Victoria Roth at Brennan & Griffin”
Meet the 2019 Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program recipients
Contributed by Sharon Butler / This year the 17 artists who get free studio space in DUMBO were selected by jurors Ellen Altfest, Phong Bui, Deborah Kass, Philip Pearlstein, and Daniel Turner from (gasp) 1700 applicants. As usual, the residency period will last from September 2019 through August 2020, with an open studios weekend to be scheduled for spring … read more… “Meet the 2019 Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program recipients”
Catalogue Essay: Aubrey Levinthal at Nancy Margolis
Contributed by Samantha Mitchell / In his definition of heterotopia (of which utopia and dystopia are types) Michel Foucault writes about the mirror as an agent of transformative realization of self in place – simultaneously illuminating and falsifying our own image: I see myself where I am not, in an unreal, virtual space that opens up … read more… “Catalogue Essay: Aubrey Levinthal at Nancy Margolis”
Images: Beth Dary’s studio
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Brooklyn artist Beth Dary thinks about the individual bubbles in which we all live. She was settled in a new house in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, and her home, which she had been thinking of turning into a residency program, experienced major flooding and mold damage. She and her family evacuated to New York … read more… “Images: Beth Dary’s studio”