Friday, January 31, 2014

Mike Ryder

Mike Ryder  Fela   2010  acrylic, vinyl on canvas   21.65" x 21.65"  
www.mikeryder.co.uk

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Michael Berryhill


             Michael Berryhill  Schmevelations  2012  oil on linen  58" x 50" 
              www.kansasgallery.com

             The allusions to figuration and narrative along with acidic color combinations
             make Berryhill's painting intriguing and somewhat disconcerting at the same
             time.
        

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Meghan Brady






































       Meghan Brady  Nest of Fifteen   2008     oil on canvas     20" x 18"
       www.meghanbrady.com

Monday, January 27, 2014

Interesting Juxtaposition

Karl Benjamin  # 11  1975  oil on canvas  28" x 28"  
www.louissternfinearts.com


Alex Couwenberg  Niagra  2010  acrylic on canvas  72" x 66"  
www.brunodavidgallery.com


Patrick Wilson  Grill Master  2013  acrylic on canvas  41" x 37"  
www.amy-nyc.com

Couwenberg and Wilson were MFA graduates from Claremont College in Pomona, Ca. Karl Benjamin was teaching there for years and had influence over them and a lot more painters that have gone through the program there. I can usually spot painting grads from Claremont, they have a strong sense of structure and modulated color to their essentially modernist  abstract work.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Rick Briggs

Rick Briggs  (these are also) Bricks   2010   alkyd and spray paint on canvas   36" x42"  
www.rick-briggs.com

Wallace Whitney


                  Wallace Whitney  Apparatus  2013  oil on canvas  78" x 63"
                  www.hortongallery.com

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Ryan McLaughlin


Ryan McLaughlin  Treif Collage  2012  oil on linen on board  12.625" x 15.875"

www.sikkemajenkinsco.com 

McLaughlin has a little of what Michael Hurson had in his work from the past, a retro 60's commercial art style mixed with a contemporary take on image making. His latest work seems to be borrowing from abstraction as well. Like Hurson, I enjoy his loose brush work and confident use of low key color.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Michael Hurson

 Michael Hurson  1941-2007   Study for Portrait of Robert Moskowitz  1976  pastel and colored pencil on paper   26.5" x 18.8"  

www.artnet.com

Hurson was an early art hero to me in the 70's. Saw his work in Chicago for the first time and was taken by his simple yet evocative cartoon style. New Image painting was just coming into the mainstream and he seemed to exemplify the best of it.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Erkki Toukolehto

         
              Erkki Toukoloehto   Untitled (Dogma)   graphite on paper   11 1/2" x 8 1/4"
              www.cargocollective.com
              Sometimes I just like straight forward drawing. Nothing spectacular, not
              overly refined, no color just a simple elegance depicted with simple tools.
              Toukoloehto's drawings do that for me.
              

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Kim Piotrowski


                 Kim Piotrowski  Lazy Good   2013   ink, flashe, enamel on panel   12" x 9"  
                  www.kimpiotrowski.com

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Erik Neff

     
                               Erik Neff     Splay     2009      oil on wood      7.5" x 8"
                               www.erikneffpainting.com

Friday, January 17, 2014

Damien Flood


               Damien Flood   Interior Sun  2013  oil on reversed black canvas  60" x 49.2"
               www.greenonredgallery.com

Flood is having an exhibition of new paintings at Green on Red Gallery in Ireland. This is the same gallery that handles Paul Doran an artist that I posted a few months back. There seems to be a conversation regarding this theme of figuration and abstraction happening in quite a few circles now.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

David Butler


David Butler 1898-1997   Monkey On A Flag Pole With A Man    painted and cut tin  
10 1/2" x 32"

www.gilleysgallery.com

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

William Blake


William Blake 1757-1827  Epitome of James Hervey's "Medidtions among the Tombs"  1820
ink, water color, gold paint on paper  17" x 11 1/2"

"A man not forestalled by predecessors, nor contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors"  William Rossetti-- 19th century scholar

The above is a wonderful description of Blake and a sentiment that contemporary artists should be mindful of as well. Blake was a visionary image maker and a progressive thinker well ahead of his time. His small scale works have a monumentality that I have always admired.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Purvis Young


Purvis Young  Untitled (Sailing Ship) c.1980's  house paint on wood  20 1/2 " x  17 1/2"
collection of  Meg Lankford
www.foundationstart.org

Saturday, January 11, 2014

James Ensor

James Ensor 1860-1949  Demons Teasing Me  1895  hand colored etching 4.37" x 5.98"
www.artic.edu

When I was a grad student at SAIC in the mid 70's one of my favorite places to go was the Print and Drawing Room at the Art Institute. Sam Carini (1917-2002) would bring out any print or drawing that you would ask for. One of my favorites was this Ensor. I was and am in love with his line and compositions to say nothing of his subject matter. More than the prints and drawings, I miss Sam for his generosity and knowledge.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Maria Serebriakova

             Maria Serebriakova   Untitled  2010   acrylic on canvas   25 1/2" x 23 5/8"
            www.reginagallery.com

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Max Schulze


Max Schulze  Untitled  2007  oil, pencil, spray paint on canvas  19 1/2" x 15 3/4" 
www.max-schulze.de

Monday, January 6, 2014

Interesting Juxtaposition

Leon Golub  Two Heads ll  1989   acrylic on linen
  68.5" x 94"
www.barbaragross.de


Julian Schnabel   Formal Painting With and His Dog  1974  oil on canvas   96" x 72"
www.julianschnabel.com

I have always felt that there was a connection with Schnabel and Golub. Perhaps it is just their approach to image making and paint application. However, there is a poetic element to their aesthetic that feels like a thread shared. Both were and are dynamic individuals. I still love the overt political and social verve of Golub and am astounded by the audacity of Schnabel.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

William T. Wiley

William T. Wiley  Color Barrier 2006 acrylic, charcoal, graphite on canvas  60 1/4" x 85 1/2"

www.ochigallery.com

Wiley was and still is one of the most influential artists in the Bay Area arts scene. He taught at U.C. Davis for years and his specter can be felt in the work of Bruce Nauman and many others that studied there. A consummate draftsman and conjurer of mystical humor, his unique style was mimicked by numerous followers including myself. His humor always had a  serious undertone to it, reflecting his take on a society that was conflicted by many issues.  Bay Area Funk would be a minor footnote without his, Robert Arneson and Roy DeForest's contributions. He was given a large retrospective at the Smithsonian's National Gallery a few years back. Sorry I missed it.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Shila Khatami


Shila Khatami   Couche-Tard ll  2013  78 3/4" x 60"  acrylic, lacquer and vinyl on linen

www.mariettaclages.de

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Jared Sprecher


                    Jared Sprecher   Reason and Romance  2012  oil on linen  68" x 52"
                    www.baileygallery.com