In his current show at Metro Pictures, Robert Longo is focused on the shifts of perception that an image can at once evoke and extend in relation to its environment. The centerpiece of the show is a five-panel 25-foot drawing “Untitled (Cathedral of Light),” an image of glaring sunlight flooding […]
Recent Posts
Donald Kuspit’s four kinds of realism
Donald Kuspit, considering Steven Assael’s paintings at Forum Gallery, writes about realism at artnet: “It seems to me that there are at least four kinds of realism (no less): (1) na�ve or observational realism, which assumes that the world is what it appears to be, that is, that reality is […]
If the artist makes a copy of his or her own work, can it be called a fake?
In Time, Martha Ann Overtland reports that Vietnam’s practice of reproducing noteworthy works was originally carried out to rescue the country’s artistic heritage during wartime. The staff, and sometimes the artists themselves, made copies of important artworks in case the museums were bombed. The reproductions stayed in Hanoi while the […]
Turner Prize shortlist: All trans-media artmakers, no video
The four trans-media artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2009 are Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright. “Critics of the Turner prize are used to harrumphing crossly about the absence of painting or drawing from the award’s shortlist, and condemning a perceived preponderance of […]
Marcia Hafif: Still finding possiblities within a severely restricted practice
Edith Newhall reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer that after decades of painting monochromaticly, Marcia Hafif, now in her seventies, has added a second color. “The artist was a highly respected monochromatic painter of several decades’ standing, and her single-color abstract paintings – made with pigments she ground herself – were […]
Art21 awarded 2009 NEA grants
Art21 was awarded $100,000 to support development of educational activities and online resources for Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century, the public television series about contemporary visual art that presents intimate profiles of America’s artists and the contexts in which they work. They also received a $120,000 grant to support […]
NY Times Art in Review: Mickalene Thomas, Allan D’Arcangelo, Sarah Crowner
“Mickalene Thomas: She�s Come Undone!” Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY. Through May2. Roberta Smith: Yet there is a fast-food obviousness to these paintings. Their potpourri of contemporary precedents is too easily parsed: Kathe Burkhardt�s raw images of Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Colescott�s racial indiscretions and the decorative (often beaded) overkill of […]
Kasarian Dane ‘s expanding color
Over at Visual Discrepancies, Brent Hallard talks with lifelong ice hockey fan and St. Lawrence University art professor Kasarian Dane about the painting process. Dane’s paintings are on view at Pharmaka through tomorrow in “TRANSformal,” a group show featuring nine artists in a dialogue about abstract painting. Here’s an excerpt […]
Peter Saul: “Monument to garish, adolescent overkill”
In the NY Observer, Mario Naves reports that Peter Saul’s paintings at David Nolan aren’t as funny or caustic as they should be. “Bernie Madoff and his testicles make a fleeting appearance in Peter Saul�s exhibition of paintings and works-on-paper at David Nolan Gallery, and New Yorkers are poorer for […]
Ross Bleckner recruiting artists to fight child enslavement and trafficking
On Tuesday Simone Monasebian, the New York chief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, announced that Ross Bleckner will be the next goodwill ambassador for United Nations� agencies. Randy Kennedy reported in the NY Times yesterday that earlier this year Bleckner, who has long been involved in […]
