artists – Page 2 – Painting After Art is Dead

Jack Whitten

Jack had a really great moment in 2025, and deservedly so- Helen Molesworth put his retrospective at the top of her “best shows” list (link is to her year end wrap on the David Zwirner pod “Dialogues”). I did not get to see The Messenger but I did see to see 9.11.01 shortly after MOMA reopened in 2020.

In the snobbish spirit of “I dug him before you guys,” I first blogged about Jack in 2019 to note a fantastic show at the Baltimore Museum of Art which (posthumously) included his work and many others* and which at the time, inspired me to create a “gallery” on Pinterest of Jack’s work.

I also really like to show my students, when I have occasion to teach, this wonderful (YouTube) Art21 video that includes some interview audio with Jack made while he is in his studio.

*I’ve previously blogged about a number of exhibits including above at BMOA, which center the practice of nonfigurative art work created by Black Americans. I’ll note that Black artists on this blog are not all of African descent, and, if you are interested in what artists from Africa are up to, I have a hashtag for that, too.

More (Wikipedia)

#jackwhitten

Butt Johnson

is in V-Effect at Halsey which gets a nod from Two Coats in their February gallery guide. Below is layers of marker, gel ink and ballpoint on Bristol board.

More (IG, hit this link to get close ups on below)

#buttjohnson

Joshua Adeyemi

(From Artsy) Adeyemi (b. 1991, Nigeria) is a Neo-traditional artist living and working in Lagos. His mixed-media practice transforms materials such as pallet wood, fabric, leather, aluminum cans, and paper into layered compositions that balance figurative and abstract elements. Drawing on African motifs, symbols, and patterns, Adeyemi’s work explores themes of history, folklore, and personal and political narratives (and is not all abstract).

#joshuaadeyemi

Amy Pleasant

(From Reynolds Gallery) is pleased to announce the opening of Within, a solo exhibition of work by Amy; (from me) if you liked Adam’s work these will probably resonate.

#amypleasant

Adam Simon

who has been mentioned on this blog many times (in their capacity as a writer) is showing at Ptolemy with Larry and Michele. There are definitely recognizable shapes in their work.
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#adamsimon

Barbara Owen

is one half of Slip at Overlap (with Olivia Baldwin*). She is particularly drawn to and work within the themes of landscape, femininity, and beauty.

*Two Coats published a conversation between Barbara and Olivia in the context of their exhibit

#barbaraowens

UPDATE apologies to Barbara for initially publishing a post with an image incorrectly attributed to her

Choong Sup Lim

Ben Godward says, in the context of Lim’s show “Yard” (Madang) at Shin Gallery, that they don’t paint their sculptures but rather find the color in the city. Ben also notes that while Western artists look to use Western aesthetics to illuminate Eastern philosophy, Choong does the reverse.

More (from Yau)
#choongsuplim

Rodney McMillian

Artsy notes galleries and museums are featuring shows of exceptional Black artists who are tackling complex subjects from housing policy to interpersonal relationships. Vielmetter in LA gets a nod for their exhibit Some Lives in the Sunshine featuring Rodney (Suzanne also gets flowers, once again).
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#rodneymcmillian

Peter Schuyff

was interviewed recently by Noah Becker, founder and writer at Whitehot Magazine, in the context of his newest in London at Massimo de Carlo.

#peterschuyff

Sharon Butler

No one who regularly reads this blog will be surprised to see Sharon’s name, but perhaps surprised for me to blog about her. I have of course (before today), originally in 2020, as I was first discovering my favorite blogazine, when she juried/curated The Daily. The second image below is from a series of paintings that she was making at the time based on very quick sketches she was doing on her phone. The work for me was a step beyond provisional painting, and had a sincerity and love for materials that is lacking in that group. As a creative focused on the active faith it takes to produce in a time after Art has died, while holding the contradiction that it is likely a pointless activity, really resonated, and still does.

Sharon has started off 2026 with a couple of very interesting projects-one at McBride Dillman* and another at CLEA RSKY – so I wanted to update my flowers for her.

*from the gallery- “Sharon Butler’s “new casualism” takes up the incomplete, the provisional, and the unfinished as meaningful categories. Her paintings challenge the authority of polish and perfection, foregrounding process as a form of truth-telling.”

More and more and more

#sharonbutler

Channing Hansen

is a polymath, simultaneously pursuing interests in craft, science, and technology in his work.

#channinghansen

Kate Nartker

had an amazing show overlapping the turn of the year: Cutting Room at Anchorlight. Not all of it was abstraction of course, and her interest in non-representational forms (like Sabrina) relates to optics- to be clear her main interests are in film and the history of women’s labor. Fascinating stuff- oh did I mention these are made on a loom?

#katenartker

Sabrina Gschwandtner

Mostly posting this for local folks who, like me, fell in love with Kate Nartker’s work because of her recent exhibition at Anchorlight (yes I’ll do a blog about Kate tomorrow). And! Yes, there are images embedded in these patterns- opticality and film are part of a Venn diagram that overlaps many concepts with which abstraction is concerned.

#sabrinagschwandtner

Peter Plagens

I was surprised to find I’ve never noted Peter, probably because he’s often the source of a good Two Coats article rather than the subject (Jonathan covers his newest at Nancy Hoffman calling them “portals and vortexes”).

#peterplagens

Leila Seyedzadeh

Painters on Painting looks at Under the Sky, Above the Sea, a solo exhibition by Leila at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey in Summit.

#leilaseyedzadeh