Painting With Words

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Although she makes these wonderful, jazzy compositions painting with words, I don't really think it's about the words, per se. You just need to head on over to Constance Harris' Website before forming your opinion about her oeuvre. You'll certainly enjoy her paintings, but it's not until you see her prints, mixed media pieces and sculptures that you begin to kinda-sorta get what's going on. But, like so many artists today, she refuses to provide us with any information . . . .
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Repurposed Frottage

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Scott Covert has taken frottage to a whole new level and a whole new place. You'll find a great story to explain his oeuvre, along with some images Here. You can view his online portfolio and find additional images Here, here and HERE.
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Image is from his Website.
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Abstract Baroque

There's something inviting and familiar about the work of Alisa Margolis. At once abstract and floral, they demand further inspection of their atmospheric playgrounds. She's represented by and this image is from Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf. You'll find two older works (2005) and some informative text at Vilma Gold.
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Eastern Calligraphic Gestures

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There's a long and wonderful history of calligraphy on the other side of the planet and those artists seem to have a knack for updating the content and styles as the decades roll on. This painting, by Pooya Aryanpour that went for $35,000 at auction at Christie's in 2009 is testament to how subtle and pervasive calligraphy and especially calligraphic gesture is in modern works by new generations of eastern artists. Visit his Website to see how his oeuvre has changed and matured over the last nine years.
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Image is from Payvand.
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Calligraphic Landscapes

When you go to Gilman Contemporary to see work by Abby Grosvenor, you'll think you're in the wrong place because the first thing you see are her realistic, albeit blurry landscapes. But really, this is a good place to start, to appreciate her whole oeuvre. Personally, I'm more attracted to the pieces you'll find at Hallway Gallery, where three concise paragraphs explain what and why.
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Image from Hallway Gallery.
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Life Of A Bug

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Remember when you were little and how you could mentally transpose yourself into the games or toys you were playing with ? And remember how you could watch a bug or ant or for that matter any animal, with total empathy ? Sometimes we entertain thoughts of how very similar our lives are to other creatures and this first video does a great job of revisiting those feelings.


The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.
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Drawing Water

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There's a wonderful little story about this graphite on rice paper drawing by Ana Pollak that gives a ton of insight into her personality and oeuvre. You'll find a dozen bright images of her work at Ace Gallery.

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Photo by Peter Morris with article in smh.com.au.

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Pointillist Elements

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It's hard to imagine anyone not appreciating the oeuvre of Alex Katz; it always seems so even-handed. Study this painting and it's surprising how he took so few colors and elements to convince us we're deep in a summer forest. The final, singular daubs of paint really make this believable to the point of sensing the wind and almost hearing sounds. Isn't it magic how this painting, which is actually very restrained, can feel so lavish?

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Image is from his Exhibition at Greenfield Sacks Gallery.

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Originally spotted on Coagula Art Journal.

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Tom Sawyer In The Woods

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I've just had a most pleasurable evening traveling around the globe with an ever widening smile crossing my face while viewing the handiwork of man in so many social forms. Treat yourself to visiting VALGARE.

First off, the colors and patterning in this picture immediately bring to mind Gustav Klimt and then, once you realize the image is for real, you start to wonder why: and how long did it take and that's when I pictured some teen with two buckets of paint which brought to mind Tom Sawyer . . . . .

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Image is from les surfaces flickr page.

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Painting Pixels

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Mention the words Op Art and most people will think back to the 60's or there abouts. But there always seems to be someone who has their hand in this genre, no matter what the year. Look closely at this painting by Tony Bechara from his Random Series and you'll be captivated by the internal movement and depth. I'm imagining how amazing it would be to see this in person. His Website has many more entertaining works and reading the Reviews gives more insight.

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Dots and Pixelation

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I just love it when artists temporarily stray into the area of experimenting with dots in their paintings; each one seems to bring something new to the table. Vivienne Binns currently has a show titled "Recent Paintings and Drawings from The Sixties" (which really makes no sense) at Milani Gallery. This acrylic on canvas seems to be so much more than the sum of it's parts and although it's one of a kind, her oeuvre includes other interesting dot and pixel paintings.

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Balls & Circles

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Leon Polk Smith is about much more than these circular shapes, but he sure does them well. You'll want to read his short Bio at the Parrish Art Museum and there's another concise piece about him at FADA that reiterates and expands things a bit more. Washburn Gallery has 10 images, but you'll want to visit Artnet where you'll get a broader view of his oeuvre by viewing the 27 images there.

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Image from Artnet.

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Words On Paintings

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Writing on/in paintings is nothing new and you'd be surprised at how far back this practice goes. But it's become quite common these days, with many an artist putting words center stage in their work. Julian Schnabel was never shy about writing on his paintings. In fact, he was never too shy about anything. If I remember the story correctly, back in the day he was the darling of the art world and then fell out of favor, but making some critically acclaimed art movies resuscitated his career and now he's getting a second look at the painting he's continued to do all along. To make my point - ArtCritical gives one of his shows a bad review in '03 and then in 2005, does a good review of a different show and rethinks their position. He's most famous for his Plate Paintings, which are actually pretty cool. What prompted this post was seeing his work at Ace Gallery and remembering how some of his work really moves me.

Robilant & Voena have 85 images of his work, from 1995 through 2008, but this really doesn't totally represent him properly, so you'll want to do more researching before finalizing your opinion about this out-sized character and his meandering oeuvre.
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Image is from Galerie Hughie.
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