Chelo Amezcua

Chelo Amezcua  Del Rio's Filligree Sun Flower  1968  graphite, ink on mat board  28" x 22"
cavinmorris.com

Rudy Cremonini

Rudy Cremonini  The Storage  2014  oil on canvas  20" x 16.4"
rudycremonini.com

William Conger

William Conger  The Prisoner  2014  oil on canvas  56" x 36"
williamconger.com

I remember seeing Congers work in Chicago in the mid seventies when I was a grad student at SAIC. He showed at Kenyon Gallery on Michigan Av. as well as Zaks Gallery on Ontario. He has been a prolific and consistent painter for the past 40 years.  Over the years I have seen his work develop and refine itself. The last show I saw was at Roy Boyd Gallery a few years ago. I was impressed with his ability to work small or large without missing a beat. His compositions and color combinations are elegant formal studies with a hint of Chicago idiosyncratic edge to them, kind of De Chirico meets Mondrian.  It is funny how one's appreciation comes with time and looking at a lot of painting.

I hope he has many more years ahead of him. He is one of Chicago's best painters.

M'onma

M'onma  Untitled  2000 colored pencil on paper  14.57" x 20.67"
cavinmorris.com 

Carlo Zinelli

Carlo Zinelli  Untitled  1972  ink and tempera on paper  16.5" x 23.25
cavinmorris.com

The curious thing about self taught artists is their apparent lack of inhibitions in the work they do. Zinelli is a good example of using text and imagery to develop an uninhibited view of his inner world inspired drawings. The jumbled symbols and intuitive compositional style give the viewer the feeling that any thing is possible as the flow of imagination roams free.

Solange Knopf

Solange Knopf  Behind the Darkness  2013  mixed media on paper  28.75" x 31.1"

cavinmorris.com

Angkasapura

Angkasapura  Untitled  2014 ink on found paper  11.75" x 8.25"
cavinmorris.com
I thought this jubilant image would be appropriate for the day.

Kirk Hayes

Kirk Hayes  Sculpture For The Capriciousness Of Life  2008  oil on panel (trompe-l'oeil)
 48" x 32"
zsandh.com
Larry McMurtry meets Philip Guston in Ft. Worth. That was my first impression of Hayes work. Upon further review, this Texas artist has a lot more going on than that cursory description. Like other Texans, Terry Allen and James Surls, Hayes is dancing to his own tune. His collage paintings fuse an obscure narrative with blunt abstract forms to give the viewer an unsettling look inside his mind.

Peter Gallo

Peter Gallo  Qualgeist  2014 oil and wood on linen on panel  39" x 35.5"
zsandh.com

Mimi Lauter

Mimi Lauter  Portrait Of My Brain And My Studio  2014 oil and soft pastel on paper           72" x 54"
shanecampbellgallery.com
I usually do not think of U.C. Irvine in Orange Co. Ca. a hotbed of expressionist painting. They are more known for a "Cool School" attitude at their confines on the beach. However, Lauters work belies that thought as is evidenced with the above beauty. Fauvistic, rich color defines the work as it harkens to a time past and a future filled with possibilities.

Lauren Silva

           Lauren Silva  Flicker  2014  acrylic and oil on canvas  96" x 84"
          zsandh.com
Who ever is directing Zeither, Smith and Horton is doing a bang up job selecting painters. Silva is one of many that I can rave about. I really enjoy her use of different painting techniques on one painting. Illusion, diaphanous color passages and straight ahead paint handling come together to make a disquieting and captivating image.

Clare Grill

                         Clare Grill  Flukes  2014 oil on linen  48" x 33"
                        claregrill.com

The work of Clare Grill comes on like a subtle poem. Alluding to nothing and everything. Just enough said and not a bit more. No confusion just good painting.

Jesse Littlefield

Jesse Littlefield  Say Uncle  2014  silkscreen printing ink on muslin on canvas 48" x 36"
zsandh.com
I like Littlefields painting/collages. They are very well composed with just enough happenstance to give them credence and authenticity. I see Alan Davie, Robert Motherwell and Caroll Summers as antecedents. That said, they seem more than the sum of parts and pieces of past masters. For some reason they seduced me like an orchestral passage from Bach. 

John L. Moore

John L. Moore  Mirrors And Eyes  1994  oil on canvas  80" x 68" 
clevelandart.org

Steve Gibson

Steve Gibson  Music City  2008  ink, spray paint on mylar  12" x 12" 
stevegibsonart.com

Drawing is my default place. When I want to recharge and clarify my thinking I do these drawings that feel rather Zen like. They reinvigorate me and give me the freedom to move on to the next thing. I feel a sort of a contemplative constraint that is satisfying and liberating.

Angelina Gualdoni

Angelina Gualdoni  Screens  2014  oil and acrylic on canvas  24" x 28"
asyageisberggallery.com

Ciaran Murphy

                 Ciaran Murphy Holding Together 2  2014  oil on canvas  15.8" x 15.8" 
                 grimmgallery.com

Kimberly Rowe

Kimberly Rowe  Tomorrow Never Knows  2014  acrylic on canvas  12" x 9"
kimberlyrowe.net

Carolyn Case

Carolyn Case  Blue Sky  2012  oil on panel  22" x 24"
asyageisberggallery.com

Julia Schwartz

Julia Schwartz  1.9.31.24  2013  oil on canvas  12" x 12"
juliaschwartzart.com

Julia Schwartz is an artist working in L.A. whose work is layered with psychological undertones. When viewing her painting it appears very inner directed as she flows from abstraction to figuration. She is also a writer and interviewer for Figure Ground where she engages with other artists gaining greater understanding of the work they do. The work I chose to show here is part of her "Beingless States" series. Not having a background in psychology, I can't speak to the intellectual side of her work. However, I can appreciate the beauty of this piece.

Anne Neukamp

Anne Neukamp  Reputation  2013  acrylic and tempera on cotton  94.5" x 74.8"
galeriechezvalentin.com

Thanks for introducing me to Ann Neukamp Josh Miller. I agree just about any of her paintings could be posted here. She has the chops.

Robert Coto

Robert Coto Diagonal  1980-2010  acrylic on wood panel  14" x 13.75"
roberticoto.blogspot.com
I can identify with working on a piece for that long.

Mai Van Oers

                            Mai Van Oers  Untitled  2009  paint on paper  9.1" x 6.3"
                            maivanoers.nl

Peter Saul

Peter Saul  Head  2013  acrylic and oil on canvas  72" x 72"
vwberlin.com

Matthew Bourbon

Matthew Bourbon  A Woman Determined  2014  acrylic on canvas  24" x 24"
avisfrank.com

Matthew Bourbon is a painter and educator working in Texas. His forth coming exhibition of paintings at Avis Frank Gallery in Houston should be exceptional. I may be a bit prejudiced since I own one of his smaller works but his talent is not just in his paint handling. He is a thoughtful and erudite writer and teacher. In the statement for the exhibition I came across a sentence that exemplified his intensions. He was talking about what to paint and why he paints when he said "the paradox of the interconnectedness of all things". Clearly, this is what most of us strive for in our work- to understand the paradox of the interconnectedness of things.

Michael Williams

Michael Williams  Michael  2012  air brush and oil on canvas  96" x 76"
vwberlin.com

Ellen Siebers

Ellen Siebers  A Lesson In Water  2013  oil on marble ground  21" x 21"
ellensiebers.com
Siebers works with oil paint on panels. The work is on an intimate scale, usually no larger than 24 inches square. The abstract elements in her work seem to appear and disappear or float in and out of view while looking at them. She has a mastery of the medium without being overly facile and that is what makes the interaction so pleasant for me.

Greg Gong

                    Greg Gong  Untitled  2014  oil on canvas  48" x 36"
                     lucegallery.com

Miriam Hitchcock

Miriam Hitchcock  Night Landscape  2012  mixed media on paper  17" x 21.25"
miriamhitchcock.com

Miriam Hitchcock is a FB friend and a very interesting painter from Northern California. I enjoy her muted color pallet and shaped format paintings depicting a view of the world that is neither abstract or narrative. They remind me of a nether world where any thing can and will happen. She draws from nature and extrapolates and reintegrates imagery in a fresh and innovative way.

Henning Strassburger

Henning Strassburger  No Pun Intended  2014  oil and lacquer on canvas 51.18" x 59.05"
boltelang.com

Jorge Queiroz

Jorge Queiroz  Infinite One  2013  oil and acrylic on canvas  63" x 71"
vwberlin.com

Queiroz is a Spanish born artist that studied in NYC. His work melds a non linear narrative style with abstract color fields that prompt the viewer to a new and quietly disturbing reflection of what they are seeing. The offering is seductive and constantly in flux as he moves from painting to film and back again.

Miyoko Ito

Miyoko Ito  Seven Santis Brothers  1955  oil and collage on canvas  54" x 30"

vwberlin.com

David Aylsworth

David Aylsworth  Fine, Fin and Haddie  2014  oil on canvas  78" x 84"
inmangallery.com

William J. O'Brian

William J. O'Brian  Untitled  2009  colored pencil, ink on paper  45.5" x 36"
shanecampbellgallery.com

Sam Windett

                             Sam Windett  Bull  2014   oil on linen  21.65" x 13.77"
                             theapproach.co.uk

I curated Sam Windett into an online exhibition a while back and was impressed with what he was doing then. I am even more impressed with what he is doing now as he refines his modernist approach to image, surface and color. This is a U.K. artist you should know more about.

Rezi Van Lankveld

Rezi Van Lankveld  Big Mouth  2013  oil on canvas  24.4" x 22.83"
theapproach.co.uk

Peter Dean

Peter Dean (1934-1993)  Crazy Dance Of The Crack Of Reality  1975  oil on canvas  75" x 62"
georgeadamsgallery.com

I saw Dean's painting in the late 60's and was immediately struck by the intensity of his vision. The work was vividly aggressive and poetic at the same time. His view of humanity and his emotions were evident in every brush stroke. At the time I did not know he was an auto didactic painter as well as a highly trained geologist. He ultimately forsake geology for painting full time in the 60's and we are the beneficiaries of that decision today.

Dean was an advocate for paintings lasting impact on humanity through a visionary narrative that could stir the viewer to a greater understanding of their place in the world. That view was going against the grain of critics, curators and galleries of the day. Needless to say the times were not as pluralistic as today. Still, his off handed style and passionate view of the artists roll in society still resonates with me today.

His exhibition is on view at George Adams Gallery in NYC through Dec. 23rd.

Vince Contarino

               Vince Contarino  Missing Pieces  2014  acrylic on canvas  68" x 54"
               vincecontarino.com

Margaret Lanzetta

Margaret Lanzetta  Quartz Site  2014  oil and enamel on panel  30" x 24"
heskincontemporary.com

Christopher Kuhn

               Christopher Kuhn  Woopsy Daisy  oil on linen  20" x 16"
                christopherkuhn.com

Stephen Mueller

Stephen Mueller (1947-2011)  Shape Shifter  2001  acrylic on canvas  68" x 64"

lennonweinberg.com

Steve Gibson

                      Tall Ships For Turner  2014  oil and encaustic on linen  54" x 40"
                       www.stevegibsonart.com

Lily Stockman

                            Lily Stockman  Baboon  2014 oil on linen  52" x 32"
                            luisdejesus.com
Stockman is a painter based in Joshua Tree, a town in the high desert of So. California. She is a transplant from the east coast where she earned her MFA from NYU in 2012. She also has traveled to India where she and her sister have organized a cooperative to produce textiles for export. While viewing her paintings and reading about her history, it struck me how well she has integrated her experiences into her work. 

Using simplified brush strokes imbued with hues from the desert, she has managed to capture her experience's with paint and surface using the essentials of those experience's.  The allusion to subject matter beyond the apparent abstract forms take the work past formal abstraction to a another realm, a realm that is ultimately much more interesting to contemplate.

Her paintings are on view at Luis De Jesus in Culver City through Dec. 20th. 

Thomas Scheibitz

Thomas Scheibitz  Studio Lukretia  2014  oil on canvas  74" x 94.48"
thomasscheibitz.de

Nick Wilkinson

Nick Wilkinson  C.R.E.A.M.  2014  acrylic, spray texture on wood panel  60" x46"
nwilkinson.com

Wilkinson's vibrant and colorful paintings explore elements of pattern, texture and color in an intuitive and exuberant way. I recently had the opportunity to view some of his work first hand at the Object Object exhibition at Helmuth Projects here in San Diego and was immediately impressed with the verve and experimental nature of his work.

He melds elements of the vernacular and formalism into his own language of abstract painting in a way that is approachable and exciting.

Clara Broermann

                Clara Broermann  Grobes Spielebild  2014  oil on linen  94.48" x 48"
                clarabroermann.de

Andrew Holmquist

                Andrew Holmquist  Column  2014  oil on canvas  26" x 20"
                andrewholmquist.com

                Holmquist has subdued his palette in some of his latest efforts. Geometry and 
              expressionistic paint handling are still his stock and trade but it seems that a 
              more refined approach is being contemplated with this latest work. I get the feeling
              that a quick maturation is occurring with this young SAIC grad.

Richard Diebenkorn

               Richard Diebenkorn  Untitled  1988-92  gouache, ink and graphite on paper
              15" x 14"
               vandorenwaxter.com
              The Vandoren Waxter Gallery is showing Richard Diebenkorns late works 
             completed in Healdsberg, Ca. The work on view shows that Diebenkorn 
             was continuing his investigations of the Ocean Park series begun in 
             Santa Monica as well as pushing into new territory informed by his early
             figure ground work. As always, he was never satisfied with standing pat and
             resting on his past success. 

David Lloyd

        David Lloyd  Night and Day  2014  mixed media on canvas  24" x 22.5"
        klowdenmann.com

 

Johannes Rodenacker

Johannes Rodenacker  nrtz  2013  egg tempera, acrylic and oil on canvas  63" x 55.11"
johannes-rodenacker.de