Tag Archives: painting

‘Hinge’ Figures in Art

Posted on November 21, 2020 by JMN

Mari Carmen Ramírez, curator of Latin American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has focused on collecting its less traveled avenues. “We have bet on artists who were not that well known in the U.S. or who had … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘Explicit and Mysterious’

Posted on November 12, 2020 by JMN

I’m a child of ranchers. Because of how misshapen and reactionary mythic cowboy culture is in America, I’m a fool for painting that introduces what Roberta Smith terms the “subversive theme of the gay black cowboy.” And as usual, Ms. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Michelangelo Pistoletto

Posted on October 29, 2020 by JMN

This article introduces me to Arte Povera (poor or plain art), a movement whose heyday ended in the 70s, known for it use of humble materials such as rags and newspaper. A major exponent, Michelangelo Pistoletto, has said, “Art is … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Uninvited Guests’

Posted on October 23, 2020 by JMN

Carlos G. Navarro, curator of “Uninvited Guests,” the Prado’s first post-lockdown exhibition, says it’s “partly an act of self-criticism” for the museum’s complicity in neglect of 19th-century female artists. Of 130 works displayed, 60 are by women. One wonders why … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Slackoff from Windbaggage

Posted on October 17, 2020 by JMN

Art Spiegelman’s comment below, encountered on the fly as if on zoom wings, has helped me realize that this latest painting is just wrong: grotesque in subject, torpid in execution, and the end of a line. Fury and disgust can … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Blurred Stupid Dulled’

Posted on October 13, 2020 by JMN

Hilma af Klint inspires a certain perfervid evangelism which is diluted in this article by careless editing. The article cites a beautiful film by Halina Dyrschka about the visionary artist’s astonishing work. The beguiled film maker contracted [sic] MoMA to … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amy Sillman: The ‘Facticity’ of Paint

Posted on October 10, 2020 by JMN

… [Amy Sillman] has helped lead the charge over the last decade for a reinvigorated mode of abstraction, alongside colleagues like Laura Owens, Julie Mehretu, Joanne Greenbaum or Jacqueline Humphries. These painters, mostly women, have reclaimed the potency of active … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shoes, Cans, Clocks, Bricks… and Hoods

Posted on October 5, 2020 by JMN

This article describes Philip Guston (1913-1980) as an “artist’s artist” whose “deceptively simple subjects and emphatic brush strokes” influenced many painters of our era. … Part of the reason he is embraced by artists in the current moment is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Joy Sails

Posted on October 1, 2020 by JMN

Painting is a way of providing a balm, to artist and viewer alike, in a calamitous era. “We live in almost Old Testament times, with plagues and insane kings,” says [André] Gregory. “It’s crucial that we look at those things … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Hopper Reveal

Posted on September 30, 2020 by JMN

It’s interesting to see instances of a teenage Edward Hopper’s copying of other artists, the more so as it touches on the reputation he cultivated “as an artist whose innate genius allowed him to emerge on the scene without a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment