Linear Evocations

.

.

"What's it Supposed to be?" - is the question we dread hearing about abstract works of art, especially our own. It used to really bother me to hear that refrain until I stopped to consider the legitimacy of the question. Every art work has to stand on it's own and we should have the courage to say weather we like it or not, but it does help to know if an abstract painting is in fact representing something; or be informed about the work in some way.

.

Once you're familiar with Janis Goodman's work, it all becomes pretty obvious; her titles pretty much answer your questions right up front, anyway. Visit her Website to see more, colorful images. There are images of her show at Reyes+Davis and the Press Release pretty much answers your questions. For more insight into her oeuvre here's another Review and you'll find it fascinating to see These 7 works from an Exhibit in 2003.

.

Lines, Dots and Beyond

.

Katsumi Hayakawa has quite a fascinating oeuvre. At first glance this painting looks quite singular and unique: but wait, doesn't the line work coupled with the primary colors actually bring to mind Mondrian ? And so it goes with many of his recent paintings. When you visit his Website and view the newer works, Ross Bleckner, Andrew Schoultz and Julie Mehretu are some of the names that will come to mind. I'm not implying anything and am not at all put off by this. Follow his career - 2 pieces at George Billis from 1998, 3 works from 2003 and 2004 at McClain Gallery and then the older works on his Website - and you'll see that this is all a natural progression of his oeuvre.

But it just blows my mind that a talented artist like this who's represented by several galleries can't say one blessed word about his work. We're left completely in the dark. Just amazing.

.

.

Loopy, Knotted Gestures

.

Jill Moser has a way with lines; and that can be taken as a pun. You'll see what I mean when you visit her Website. Be sure to poke around every nook and cranny, because although everything seems obvious, you can get sidetracked. It's interesting to see how her older forms morphed into these newer gestures.

.

She's represented by Lennon Weinberg where you'll find installation shots and critical reviews that shed light on her oeuvre. There's another good read at VisualSeen.

.

Impasto People As Pointillism

.

Upon seeing a few works by Juan Genoves for the first time, I was convinced that these were aerial photographs of people in some unusual places or that the plazas they were in were painted for special effects. After further investigation, it seemed that in some of his work he must be using little army figures and then photoshopping or digitally manipulating them in some manner; the perspectives and dimensions of the 'people" were just too real to be anything else. It wasn't until I watched this Video of him painting in his studio that the light came on. Seeing that these were in fact acrylic paintings really got me excited and my appreciation grew even more when I visited his Website. His site presents his work by decades and you'll be amazed at the turns his oeuvre has taken. But that still did not prepare me for the shock that you too will enjoy when you watch the following video and get to see some closeups of the "people". It's just unbelievable.

.

.

.
The image is from m.publico.es and the video is from his Website.
.
Originally spotted this artist on Avery McCarthy's Blog.

.

Writing A Picture

.

It's always a challenge to address a blank canvas or paper and Richard Rossetto uses automatic writing, continuous line drawing or just plain old writing words to create his images. Some of his works are actually letters to friends. This particular piece, about setting someone free, is from his Website where you'll find many more fascinating examples of his work.

.

Atmospheric Drawings

.

If your like me, when you see some of Ike Bushman's paintings you give a little sneer and think - "so what". Stay one or two seconds longer, and you're "in"; totally sucked into this place he's created. Some of his paintings are so atmospheric that you really start to wonder where you are; where is this place ? One critic at Fine Art World News described him as ". . . a cross between Antoni Tapies and Cy Twombly with the gestural scribbles in grey tones, white and black contrasts . . ." Either way, it's amazing what he creates with some lines and blushes.

.

Visit his Portfolio at Culture Hall.

.

Image from Culture Hall.

.

Music For The Soul

.

.
Mentioning the word Ukulele tends to induce images of campy spoofs. You'll have a complete change of mind while watching this video of Jake Shimabukuro so lovingly and adeptly playing his version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

Watching this virtuoso performing alone on a rocky outcrop in Central Park made me cry: what beauty, what sincerity!
It demonstrated once again, that any instrument or medium can be transformed by masterful handling.
.
Spotted on SuperTouchArt.
.

Playful Gestures In Painting

.

.

Happy and playful are some of the words that come to mind when encountering the paintings of Andre Hemer. The Easter-egg-colors and whimsical compositions belie the serious calculations behind the confident brush strokes. And to top it all off, notice how he takes the background color and uses it again on top of the other colors to readjust the image and produce a very unusual positive/negative effect.

.

This image is from Antoinette/Godkin Gallery.

.

Visit his Website to be further delighted and view some pics of one of his studios Here.

.

Spirals & Circles

.

There's no doubting the visual allure of Linda Francis' work, but you need to do a little reading to really appreciate what's going on here.

The top image is one of two that you'll find at ArtCritical along with their critique of her show and you'll find an informative interview at Visual Discrepancies. Unbelievably she doesn't seem to have a website and Image Searches only give you a smattering to choose from. A Post at Minus Space shows more examples of her B&W work including closeups.

.
Bottom image is from Whiteboxny.

.

.

Paintings of Dots and Blobs

.
.

.
Helmut Dorner goes to extremes with his love of paint. On the one hand he presents us with these servings of paint on Plexiglas; so bright and light, like appetizers. And then, sure enough, he serves up a heavy meal with other smaller paintings that can only be described as impasto on steroids(not shown). The image to your left shows you how wonderfully and simply he presents his work. There's not much to distract us from appreciating the paint and the pattern.

.
The top image is from Galerie Grasslin where you'll want to peruse all 51 examples of his oeuvre.
.
James Kelly Contemporary has a dozen examples of his heavier works.
.
His Show at Iris Kadel and press release give more insight into his thinking
.
Bottom image is from Trendbeheer.
.

Lovely Brush Strokes

.

Lee Ufan's work is an acquired taste. He's intriguing and little by little you find yourself drawn to his oeuvre. There's something mesmerizing and haunting about this particular piece - paint and brush strokes for their own sake - but very well done.

He currently has a show at Blum & Poe Gallery.

Looking through 4 or 5 pages of Google Images will give you a fuller picture of his work.

The image is from Fre llgen's Web Album where you'll find many more interesting images by many other artists.

.