show with Miles McEnery. Dowell’s unique visual language, developed over the past 45 years, stems from his interest in cross-cultural iconography and symbols. With a process as varied and layered as his ideation for the work, Dowell thins Flashe paints to achieve a transparent, matte quality once dry.
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#roydowell
still makes luscious paintings (thanks Amanda at Two Coats). I’ve previously blogged about her work and made a Pinterest “gallery” (below is from the #armoryshow in 2020).
I remember that she was having her first good art world moment when I was in undergrad. It’s often weird what sticks in your head but I still remember a cover of Art in America with one of her paintings.
More (Brooklyn Rail 2006)
#karindavie
Alex’s practice touches many parts of the Art world. In addition to being a practicing artist (he is in Refraction/Abstraction with Minku) he is the founder and (now, former*) Director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid and a writer for Hyperallergic.
*see below pic for more on all Alex has done to guide the development of one of the most important artist run spaces in the US.
#alexpaik
(From TSA) After nearly 17 years of visionary leadership, our founder Alex Paik is stepping down as Network Director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid (TSA). We are grateful that Alex will continue to guide our organization as Advisory Steering Committee member, ensuring his wisdom and vision remain part of TSA’s future.
From our DIY beginnings in 2009 to our current five-location network, Alex Paik has long been the North Star by which we navigate as an organization. He has shepherded us from scrappy and ragtag beginnings to a nationally recognized model of what artist-run spaces can achieve. Under Alex’s leadership, Tiger Strikes Asteroid grew from a tiny space in Philadelphia to become a national network of artist-run spaces sharing an ethos of community and collaboration, a commitment to exploring the work and practice of artists both emerging and established, giving a platform to the marginalized, and championing works that are resolutely non-market-driven. Through countless exhibitions, community gatherings, and collaborations, Alex cultivated not just a network but a model and philosophy for artist-led collaboration.
Alex led and guided our institution with remarkable grace, humility, and openness. Through a pandemic that pushed his family to relocate from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, through wildfires and cycles of economic uncertainty, Alex kept us focused and attentive to our goals and mission. We are forever indebted to Alex for his vision of an equitable and transparent horizontal operating structure, his embracing of the unconventional, and his willingness to experiment, knowing it could all fall apart.
As Alex transitions to Advisory Steering Committee Member, we honor his service.
Jodi Hays at Visual Questions has a chit chat with Hamlet who was a big, early influence on her.
#hamlettdobbins
Tara Escolin visits the Atlanta-based studio of Jackson Markovic to discuss his practice of analogue photography and documenting Atlanta’s dance scene. I certainly don’t think he would call himself an abstractionist, and some of this work is definitely nonfigurative. I’m guessing most readers are also familiar with Jeffrey Gibson, another queer artist whose work ties into dance music. Jackson also did a review himself recently of Ross Landberger, another photographer pushing materials. And yeah I do love some photography, with a bent that won’t be surprising.
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#jacksonmarkovic
I’m sure you’ve read about the Cloud Dancer controversy (maybe you’ve seen it framed as a dog whistle to our current, white nationalist administration). As usual I’ll note that two things can both be true- Pantone can be not-ill intentioned and tone deaf. All I see is editors and marketing folks (on all sides) who want clicks and likes but maybe that’s just me. And…
White and white-adjacent hues in the context of Art make me think of Robert. I initially blogged about him with the news that Ryman had passed, and took a little time to reflect on my reactions to his work over the years. This interview from 2007 is helpful. I also made a Pinterest gallery of some of his work.
Here’s an early work from right around the time he really found his voice (’62). Thanks for helping me learn to see Mr Ryman!
#robertryman
I have a full-time job in clean energy. In a prior manifestation of this career, I used to travel a lot, many times to Biloxi Mississippi to call on the local utility. I’ve vividly remember the “Hurricane Katrina high watermark” line painted on the wall in the lobby of the Holiday Inn on the waterfront, 400 yards from the ocean that previously had viciously swallowed this small City.
So when I saw that Merin McDivitt had reviewed Molly Sawyer: Through the Light, a material response to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, at the Spartanburg Art Museum, I immediately read it, and so should you
#mollysawyer
Nnena is the 2025 winner of the Turner Prize. She is the first learning-disabled artist to win. Born in Glasgow in 1966 to Nigerian parents, Kalu is known for sculptures resembling cocoon-like forms that she strews with videotape, cellophane, and other unconventional materials.
#nnenakalu
I hope if you’re in the Bay Area you’ve seen Muzae’s newest at pt. 2 Gallery. Juxtapoz had words about his practice several times. The paintings are really something else (I’ve seen a couple irl- this post is a revisit also).
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#muzaesesay
Artsy recently asked Jeffrey Gibson to list 10 Native American artists to watch. employs acrylic polymer, reindeer hair, acid-free Mylar, nylon thread, and steel pins to evoke animal skin and guts.
He also mentions Caroline and Teresa.
#sonyakellihercombs
was a founding member of Supports/Surfaces, known for questioning pictorial illusionism with unmounted stretchers, flexible ladders, and assemblages of collected objects. He is represented by Ceysson & Bénétière.
#danieldezeuze
Karl at Whitehot has words about Georg’s chromatic logic (in the context of a recent, posthumous exhibit of the German artist’s work at Nino Mier Gallery.) Rising through the hard-edge movement after World War II, his work pivoted between Bauhaus experimentalism and New York’s emergent formalist abstraction.
More (estate IG)
#georgkarlpfahler
Jonathan Stevenson discusses Stephanie’s “coolly seductive” paintings on display at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery in Dublin. Below is one of many titled “Emotional Calculus” like the show itself. He notes that, in “due course, the paintings reveal deeper intent, which is to complicate and enrich your ultimate apprehension of the presumptively simple life.”
#stephaniedeady
Painting After Art is Dead 