Contributed by Sharon Butler / British painter Rachel Howard is in town this month, presenting “L’appel du vide,” her first New York solo show, at Blain|Southern. Howard is known for a visceral, intuitive approach to abstraction that embraces painting, sculpture, and work on paper. Last week, after she’d finished installing the show, she and her old friend (and Brooklyn gallerist) Stephanie … read more… “Rachel Howard: A fascination with madness”
Tag: Sharon Butler
Benjamin Pritchard and Natasha Wright: Dark, murky, and subterranean
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Recently, Natasha Wright and Benjamin Pritchard had concurrent solo exhibitions at the John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY. Both painters are drawn to a raw style of power painting that conjures Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in the pre-drip years, when they were thinking about Jungian analysis, the Collective Unconscious, and the spiritual … read more… “Benjamin Pritchard and Natasha Wright: Dark, murky, and subterranean”
Artist’s statement: Tamalin Baumgarten
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Tamalin Baumgarten’s haunting paintings are inspired by the landscape, history, and people of Cuttyhunk, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. As a child, Baumgarten spent summers there with her family, and for the past few years she has been running the Cuttyhunk Island Artists’ Residency out of the family home. “For me, Cuttyhunk is a setting where … read more… “Artist’s statement: Tamalin Baumgarten”
Roadtrip: The Clark, MASS MoCA, Bascom Lodge in Western Massachusetts
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Several weeks ago I returned to Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts, where I was an artist-in-residence at Bascom Lodge, the inn at the top of the mountain, in summer 2014. Peter Dudek, a NYC-based sculptor who teaches at Hunter and SVA, has been running the inn for the … read more… “Roadtrip: The Clark, MASS MoCA, Bascom Lodge in Western Massachusetts”
Interview: Rhia Hurt’s language of transparencies
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Rhia Hurt grew up in Northern California where she studied art and education, earning two Masters degrees–an MA in teaching from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute. After teaching public school for many years, she moved to New York, where, in 2012, she and a … read more… “Interview: Rhia Hurt’s language of transparencies”
Centenary: Mira Schendel
On the occasion of the centenary of Swiss-Brazilian artist Mira Schendel’s birth (she was born on June 7, 1919), Henry Alsopp, the director of Hauser & Wirth London, visited her daughter Ada and grandson Max. Over the course of two days, they discussed Schendel’s courage during World War II, the challenges she faced during a difficult childhood, and the travails … read more… “Centenary: Mira Schendel”
Art and Books: Joanne Mattera remembers
Contributed by Sharon Butler / How artists apprehend the world is framed largely by their early experiences. Yet, unless artists achieve blue-chip success, we rarely get a firm handle on what those experiences might have been. That’s why Joanne Mattera’s memoir Vita makes compelling reading. Artists like Mattera don’t measure their success by rising auction … read more… “Art and Books: Joanne Mattera remembers”
Roadtrip: Marie Harnett and Kristian Evju at the Albers Foundation
Contributed by Sharon Butler and Stephanie Theodore / This spring, we visited Marie Harnett, a London artist who was in residence at the Josef + Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany, Connecticut, and her visiting guest, Kristian Evju. During a two-month residency, Marie worked steadily on a series of highly detailed graphite drawings based on altered images from films. Unlike other programs, the Albers … read more… “Roadtrip: Marie Harnett and Kristian Evju at the Albers Foundation”
Peter Krashes: Summer in the city
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Spending summer in the city means that each weekend, in neighborhoods far and near, street traffic is rerouted to make way for lively festivals featuring food, music, facepainting, games, dancing, and more. Peter Krashes, a political organizer in Prospect Heights, makes paintings based on snapshots he takes during these neighborhood festivals. The gouache-on-paper … read more… “Peter Krashes: Summer in the city”
Thomas Nozkowski has died
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”