Mark Bradford’s “Q1,” 2020, mixed media on canvas — one of three new works made via the accretion and subsequent abrasion of layers of paint, paper and other media. He worked quickly, and without assistants. Credit… Mark Bradford and Hauser & Wirth; Erik Carter for The New York Times.
The locale in which these paintings hang reminds me of the shed I inhabit on a smaller scale.
The old grain tower retains “a wood, steel and rubber contraption ascending through a chute in the ceiling” with a sign reading: “NOTICE. ONLY MALE PILLSBURY EMPLOYEES MAY USE THIS MANLIFT.” It was so no one could see up female workers’ skirts.
Mark Bradford’s “Q2,” 2020, shown inside a grain tower at Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles. The abstract paintings hanging on the scarred walls have the artist’s melting grids that evoke the city’s erratic street plan. Credit… Erik Carter for The New York Times.
These paintings measure “only” 6 by 8 feet, smaller than usual for Mr. Bradford. For me, the uncanny resemblance to heightened aerial photographs is an attraction; that, and the critic’s mention of melting grids that evoke a city’s “sporadically erratic” street plan. It invites a contrast with plans that are methodically erratic.
Art works in the grain tower: Mr. Bradford sometimes works on the paintings side by side so his lines travel from one canvas to the next. Credit… Mark Bradford and Hauser & Wirth; Erik Carter for The New York Times.
(Jonathan Griffin, “Mark Bradford Reveals New Paintings Quarantined in a Grain Tower,” NYTimes, 9-8-20)
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
EthicalDative 
‘Manlift’!
The locale in which these paintings hang reminds me of the shed I inhabit on a smaller scale.
The old grain tower retains “a wood, steel and rubber contraption ascending through a chute in the ceiling” with a sign reading: “NOTICE. ONLY MALE PILLSBURY EMPLOYEES MAY USE THIS MANLIFT.” It was so no one could see up female workers’ skirts.
These paintings measure “only” 6 by 8 feet, smaller than usual for Mr. Bradford. For me, the uncanny resemblance to heightened aerial photographs is an attraction; that, and the critic’s mention of melting grids that evoke a city’s “sporadically erratic” street plan. It invites a contrast with plans that are methodically erratic.
(Jonathan Griffin, “Mark Bradford Reveals New Paintings Quarantined in a Grain Tower,” NYTimes, 9-8-20)
(c) 2020 JMN
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About JMN
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.