From 2005 through 2008, painter Cathy Nan Quinlan directed the ‘temporary Museum out of her Williamsburg loft. Her mission in starting the project was to exhibit and discuss�contemporary painting in all its various forms, no matter how unfashionable. Quinlan still believes� that a painting, by�virtue of its compact, intense stillness, is the perfect object for both�contemplation and conversation, and this week, she is introducing a new online project called “My Collection.”
Over the years, Quinlan has assembled a fantastic collection of small paintings, mostly acquired as gifts or through trading with friends. In “My Collection,” she writes her reflections about each piece. “As I see it, the paintings I own are not individual works; they are a�part of each artist�s whole body of work. So of all of that�as well as�every association I have with each piece�is what I am referring to in�writing about ‘my’ collection.” Living with a painting, she suggests in her introduction, is very different from seeing it on a gallery wall. Check out Quinlan’s project here.
Here are links to the�gems in Quinlan’s collection:� Anonymous, Michelle Araujo, Sharon Butler, Dawn Clements, Nancy Flanagan, Judy Glantzman, Kurt Hoffman, Brian Jermusyk, Robert Kingston, Loren Munk, Brent Ridge, Martina Siebert, Adam Simon, Bruce Stiglich, A.T. Toran, and Larry Webb.
I am beginning to build my own collection of traded works, thanks to a growing network of artists on Facebook. In addition to that, I have always worked both large and small- and small works do make it possible for people of limited- or 99%-ish- budgets to start building collections.