Tag Archives: art

Art Is God-Light

Posted on May 23, 2020 by JMN

In my language, the one I recall now only by closing my eyes, the word for love is Yeu. And the word for weakness is Yếu.How you say what you mean changes what you say.Some call this prayer. I call … Continue reading →

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Is Art Complex?

Posted on May 22, 2020 by JMN

“Great art is, by definition, complex…” (David Zwirner, “Art Is How We Justify Our Existence,” 5-22-20) Says who?* A thing, by definition, doesn’t define itself; its definition is a human construct — like art itself. Religions are complex. Christianity, for … Continue reading →

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Peace, Love, Productivity

Posted on May 16, 2020 by JMN

Mr. Delsarte moved out West for a time in the 1970s, painting murals in and around Laguna Beach, Calif., living on a commune and settling in Arizona… Long after he went back East, leaving his hippie days behind him, Mr. … Continue reading →

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Detail

Posted on May 13, 2020 by JMN

Hockney has been looking into the mirror since he was a teenager. (Jonathan Jones, “David Hockney: Drawing from Life review — stripping subjects down to their gym socks,” theguardian.com, 2-25-20) [Celia Birtwell] and Hockney have a fond and teasing relationship. … Continue reading →

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Alphabeticalism

Posted on May 5, 2020 by JMN

I once had to choose Arabic or Greek, the sole elective, in a course of study. It made a lot of difference in what I did next. I enthuse time and again over instances of letters lateraled into graven imagery … Continue reading →

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Color in Shadow

Posted on May 3, 2020 by JMN

Jordan Casteel’s paintings come at you. There’s no subordination. They are like a roomful of stories told all at once. One figure hides in his colorful skin; two others iridesce, starkly defined. Sofas riot; a hot mirrored lamp commandeers its … Continue reading →

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A Words’ Worth of Picture

Posted on May 2, 2020 by JMN

I like this illustration to Roger Cohen’s column enough to leave it alone. (Roger Cohen, “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” NYTimes, 5-1-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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Homemade Hope

Posted on April 28, 2020 by JMN

George Condo alludes to the pandemic as a species of “microbiological warfare” created to get someone re-elected. Then he gets down to art: As to what I’m doing as an artist, I’m just exploring the psychological impact of… how fear, … Continue reading →

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Only a Little Too Much

Posted on April 26, 2020 by JMN

Holland Cotter reviewed in February “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945” at the Whitney Museum of American Art through May 17, 2020. Cotter traces a thread of Mexican art history leading from the “big three” — Diego Rivera, … Continue reading →

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Hunker Work

Posted on April 24, 2020 by JMN

I’m at my dining room table sketching now. And they’re raw sketches. Just a Pilot pen on tracing paper. (Frank O. Gehry) I’ve actually been busy doing drawings similar to one from 2018 called “Anxiety Drawing.” They were black, and … Continue reading →

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