Steve Gibson "New View" 24"x18" oil on linen 2012 permanent collection of Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

New work is turning a corner. Also, has had a piece curated in the Bradley International

Print and Drawing exhibition opening March 9th 2013.

Martin Durazo "Om" 9'x6'  acrylic on canvas 2012

http://www.luisdejesus.com

The subtitle of this exhibition could be "I like to party. I like to disco". The artists has constructed a black light installation complete with a Trance, Dance and Rap sound track in the back gallery of Luis De Jesus' Culver City gallery. It is the first thing you hear as  you enter the door. When you pull back the black plastic wrapped "Club Room" curtain you might feel you just got transported back to the early 70's lower east side New York, L.A. or any of a myriad other cities engulfed with club culture during that time. It's interesting but not enlightening.

The paintings in the front gallery however, are. Here, the artist has managed to increase the size of the painting format from previous works and we are all the better for it. These works could have devolved into murky riffs on Richter but they didn't. Insulated by swaths of silver and black paint along with the white of the canvas to subordinate the high key color, each composition finds it's equilibrium. Familiar techniques of scraping and scumbling are used by Durazo, however, he manages to pull off a unique take on contemporary painting using his own voice as he subverts pop culture in his own meaningful way.

The exhibition continues through 2/18/13

Craig Taylor "Influence of atmosphere"  2012  72" x 54"  oil on canvas

http://cb1gallery.com

Clyde Beswick, owner and director of CB1 gallery in downtown L.A., has the rare ability to understand contemporary painters and their work.  Years of looking at and collecting art have honed his eye and his aesthetic. His passionate education manifests itself with a program that yields exceptional exhibitions of unique painters and their work.

The current exhibition of Craig Taylor's paintings in the west wing of his spacious gallery is the latest example of Beswick's efforts to bring the best work he can to Southern California.

Taylor, who lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Providence R.I., has a unique approach to painting. His work wrestles with tradition and art history while at the same time pushing new ground in abstraction. There is a wonderful ambiguity and subtle mystery to these mostly modest size works. They fall into a sort of hybrid abstract/narrative. All together, quite a beguiling experience.

The exhibition will be up through Feb. 17, 2013

Raoul De Keyser     (1930-2012)
  "Again"  watercolor and charcoal on canvas mounted on wood panel 6 1/2 " x11 4/5" 2012
www.davidzwirner.com

 Work that appears deceptively simple, in reality, has much nuance and complexity. The hand is always present in his painting but more importantly, so is his inquisitive mind. Sadly, passed this past year.

Tom Driscol New Sculpture at ICE gallery 3417 30th st. San Diego Ca.

If you are not familiar with Tom Driscols sculpture, here is a chance to see the latest in his innovative approach to object making. ICE gallery has invited Tom to show these polyurthethane pieces for their last show in the current space. They will be moving to Logan Heights after the first of the year. As usual, Tom has hit the cover off the ball with this latest offering.

Alexander Kroll  "a bird is not an ornithologist"  76"x67"  2012 oil on linen
http://www.jamesharrisgallery.com               http://www.cb1gallery.com

Controlled exuberance, deft paint handeling, performative, open ended are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind when viewing the new paintings of Alesander Kroll at CB1 gallery in downtown LA. There is a toughness to this group of paintings that is lacking in much of the current work being exhibited in galleries around town. These paintings were hard fought and the final result gives us that evidence. Kroll builds on the vocabulary of abstract painting and in doing so has found an authentic voice. His expansive fields of color are loosely held together with an ambiguous structure the sets up an unusual dialectic. Raw linen interacts with  impasto and wash to become portals to a new way of seeing what painting can be.

Jim Lee
  "Behind the Drapes, Under the Draft"  2012 acrylic on canvas with plywood and staples
    27"x21"x6.5"
http://www.nicellebeauchene.com

"Whether it's pieces of wood, a slice of linen, graphite marks, oil, latex paint, rubber, aluminum, I try to be open and not get caught up with prescribed hierarchies. I don't want to have limitations when I work----I want more possibilities." Quote from interview on www.paintersbread.com

Lees' work is idiosyncratic, multifaceted, straight forward, ambiguous, questioning, intriguing,  Steeped in history while jumping of the cliff of certainty. These odd configurations are very satisfying to say the least.

Zak Prekop "Untitled Transparency"  oil and paper on canvas 72"x48"  2012

http://www.thomasduncangallery.com

Zak Prekop's new paintings at Thomas Duncan Gallery are obvious and obfuscated at the same time. Prekop gives the viewer the opportunity to decipher his take on perception and at the same time takes care not to give too much away on how he crafts his elegant efforts. The viewer is left with a quizzical sense of satisfaction and wonder. The artist has developed a strong sense of what problems and pleasures can be derived from intuitive rule making and deft paint handling. The show is not to be missed if you are in LA the month of November.

Alice Neel 1900-1984   Self Portrait  54"x40" oil on canvas 1980

Always unfashionable and always true to her self. One of Americas greatest portrait painters.  She painted the truth and was uncompromising to the end of her life.http:/www.davidzwirner.com

Jonathon Borofsky  Flowers at 2984208  48"x40" hand colored screen print 1986

http://www.borofsky.com

Jeff Colson  "Jumbo Cube" wood and paint  60"x60"x60" 2007-10
http://www.gf.org/fellows/17181-jeff-colson

Pasadena based Jeff Colson has been awarded a Guggenheim grant for 2012. His show last year at ACE in Beverly Hills was a stunning example of what an artist can accomplish when given time. Many of the works took years to complete.

Andrew Masullo "5173"  oil on canvas 30"x24" 2009-10

http://www.danielweinberggallery.com

Masullo is a non objective painter that works in the same vernacular  as Thomas Nozkowski, Jim Lee and others. His work opens doors and asks questions rather than setting up enigmatic conceptual theories. His intuitive approach is inventive and usually right on since he sometimes takes up to 10 years to complete a modest size painting.

Milton Resnick  (1917-2004)  "Untitled"  oil on canvas  1983
http://www.cheimread.com

Ab Ex painter that never quite received the accolades that his contemporaries De Kooning, Ad Reinhardt did during the 50's. However, it appears that he may have laid the ground work for the minimalists like Robert Ryman, Donald Judd, et. all. His all over approach to painting brought into question the fore ground, middle ground, back ground dictum of the modernists and paved the way for a new way of looking at painting.

Thornton Dial b. 1928 "Bone House" mixed media 75"x99"x11"  2000

Rick Griffin or Phillip Guston............which eye ball came first? 

Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997) "Egg Sock" oil on canvas 1996
http://www.zwirnerandwirth.com

Kippenberger combined many styles and approaches to his art making. Eclectic, provocative   and oddly egalitarian, he was chided by many in the art world for his prankster style and self promoting demeanor. However, many considered his unusual mix of sculpture, painting and installations a harbinger of things to come in the art community.

Steve Gibson  "South Park" mixed media on paper 30"x41" 2012

http://www.stevegibsonart.com

Agnes Martin "Untitled" oil on canvas 72"x72" 1977
http://www.zwirnerandwirth.com

Martin's quietly elegant work evokes a poetic toughness that can only be explained via her focused mind and unerring hand. Her installation at the DIA Beacon is a wonderful homage to her vision and skill as a painter. Not to be missed if you are in NYC.

Richard Hull  "Age" oil and wax on linen 24"x20"  2012
http://www.westernexhibitions.com

Hull is a Chicago based artist that has been exhibiting his paintings since the mid 70's. He has evolved his imagery from early architectural narratives to a more abstract approach in his more recent work. Although they are abstract, the paintings underlying elements of a figurative iconography are apparent. Having viewed his work over these many years, I am impressed with his ability to retain a consistent thread while continuing his push into new realms and possibilities.

Aidan Doherty  "Jumping Geoffrey" oil on linen 50cmx45cm  2008
http://www.aidandoherty.co.uk

Doherty is a young painter that works intuitively and without much concept cluttering his mind as he slowly develops his images. He paints, scrapes and removes areas that develop elements of interest. These elements of interest are then reworked and labored over until they reveal a subtle and refined surface where intriguing  imagery confronts the viewer. Very engaging work.http://www.aidandoherty.co.uk