Contributed by Sharon Butler / In “Dream Paintings,” Ken Weathersby’s solo show at Minus Space, the surfaces of his tidy geometric abstractions feature carefully crafted, oddly shaped holes. Handwritten passages of text have been inserted into the voids, as if the painting were an oversized frame for, and possibly the protector of, the tiny messages. … read more… “Nihilism and the unconscious: Ken Weathersby at Minus Space”
Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide: January 2021
Hello 2021! Thanks, again, readers, for your generous contributions to the Two Coats of Paint 2020 fundraising campaign. An invitation: Among the exhibitions opening this month, my show of paintings at Theodore:Art (56 Bogart Street in Bushwick) called “Morning in America” opens on Friday, January 15. I’ll be there from 12-6 pm, so please stop … read more… “Two Coats Selected Gallery Guide: January 2021”
Salman Toor: There’s a boy I know
By Laurie Fendrich / Critics have been lavish in their praise of the Brown, queer-themed figurative paintings by the Pakistani-born Brooklyn artist Salman Toor, currently on view in the Whitney Museum’s first-floor lobby gallery (free of charge to the public). And rightly so. Toor’s pictures touch the heart, and his audacious drawing and sensitive paint … read more… “Salman Toor: There’s a boy I know”
Art and Film: A subdued Top Ten in 2020
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / By the most salient political parameters – governance, public health, the rule of law – 2020 was one of the worst years in living memory. Hobbled by Covid-19, art overall seemed commensurately downbeat, but also pensively defiant. In cinema, if a dominant theme emerged, it may have been the karmic … read more… “Art and Film: A subdued Top Ten in 2020”
The inner self: Clayton Schiff’s quirky canvases
Contributed by Paul Laster / Creating playful paintings with psychological twists, Clayton Schiff makes his 56 Henry exhibition debut with the solo show Small World, featuring five medium-scale canvases (all from 2019 and 2020) that depict cartoon-like characters in poetic realms. A 2009 RISD BFA grad, Schiff has been gaining momentum and well-deserved attention in … read more… “The inner self: Clayton Schiff’s quirky canvases”
2020’s grim atmosphere of loss: Shari Urquhart and others
Lamentable deaths occur every year, but in 2020 Covid-19 has made for an especially grim atmosphere of loss. In the art world, painter Jackie Saccoccio and art historian Barbara Rose are the most recent to be mourned across social media and in thoughtful obituaries in the New York Times. Artnet has compiled a list of … read more… “2020’s grim atmosphere of loss: Shari Urquhart and others”
Art and Film: Men of wealth and taste
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Charles Willeford – Guthrie-esque hobo, World War II hero, pulp-fiction genius – was one of the best crime writers of his generation, influential yet under-appreciated. Among his many books, Cockfighter became a cult-classic film starring Warren Oates, Miami Blues a quirky eighties jaunt with Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and … read more… “Art and Film: Men of wealth and taste”
Catherine Haggarty’s call to memory
Contributed by Zach Seeger / Catherine Haggarty belongs to a group of New York painters who blossomed between financial crisis of 2008 and the election of Donald Trump in 2016, bracketed by Zombie Formalism and the current wave of figuration. Artists of her vintage tend to be inspired by the likes of Peter Acheson, Katherine … read more… “Catherine Haggarty’s call to memory”
Primordial ooze and concrete assertions: A conversation between Michael Berryhill, Daniel Dove, and Sangram Majumdar
Daniel Dove and Michael Berryhill have been friends forever it seems, or at least since their time as students at UT Austin. In 2009, Michael and I met when we were residents at the Sharpe Walentas Foundation Residency in Dumbo, and I met Daniel when he came for a visit with Michael. Since then, we’ve … read more… “Primordial ooze and concrete assertions: A conversation between Michael Berryhill, Daniel Dove, and Sangram Majumdar”
Ray Carofano: Faces of Pedro
Contributed by Peter Plagens / San Pedro is a tough town. Actually it’s technically part of Los Angeles; L.A. saw to that by making the north-and-south Harbor Freeway and a swath to either side of it, part of the city, so it could run what has become the largest container port in the country. And … read more… “Ray Carofano: Faces of Pedro”