James Siena

One of the blogs I have in my RSS feed is Two Coats of Paint. They used the image below as the headline for their January gallery review, and the show is at Pace, so I paid attention. I’ve heard of Siena before (he’s got twenty on me so he’s been at it for a minute) and decided to look deeper. (One of the) reasons to keep this blog is to remember to look what other folks are doing (and keep a record of things I like). I won’t lie- reviewing his catalogue gives me hope that some day mine might be worth some young abstract painter doing the same.

#jamessiena

Elias Simes

Glad I went to see the O’Keefe show at NCMA because I discovered they’ve also got a huge piece from Elias Sime’s show at James Cohan in 2015 (Tightrope 9)- it’s pretty spectacular if you haven’t seen it yet. The composition is clearly non-representational- abstract if you will- but his use of computer parts (and the social and cultural context for the acquisition of the materials) clearly carries a rich depth of content. Even more interesting to me was the conceptual bent he shared with O’Keefe and they both shared with their subject matter- the materials they make work about and from have a visceral attraction for both that comes through loud and clear. Check out his bio for more of this type of color on this amazing artist.

#eiliassimes

Fran O’Neill

I first encountered Fran’s work while Tumblr’ing, please check out her online gallery. I find these to be almost narrative- they impact me kind of like Lichtenstein’s brushstrokes which I always saw as comic book hero versions of brushstrokes being… well. Anyway, they all seem to tell a sort of story.

#franoneill

Matthew Kubler

Ran across this artist because I follow the tag #hardedgepainting on Instagram*, and was not surprised to find we like a lot of the same color field painters. I encourage you to visit his website and peep some of the videos that shows the work over time. *He also has an Instagram feed.

#matthewkubler

Cole Pierce

I ran across Cole’s “199” recently on Tumblr, those of you from Raleigh (like me) may have seen his installation at the CAM in ’12. His recent work includes paintings, works on paper and public Art. I definitely find myself drawn to the planned randomness of these, as well as the early modernist pallet which doesn’t feel derivative so much as aware.

#colepierce

Regina Scully

This one is a #TBT… I got the chance to see this show about 2 years ago when the family was in New Orleans. One of the most interesting exhibits I’ve ever seen, NOMA showed Scully’s work right alongside some Japanese prints, similar to the types which directly influence her work. Check out her website but most importantly, if you ever can, see some in the reals!

#reginascully

Tomory Dodge

I have had a Pinterest board of work by Mr Dodge for a while but only got to see this LA-based artist for the first time this summer at the Knoxville Museum of Art. It was interesting recently to listen to this interview and read a synopsis of his most recent show and find we have similar interests- something I don’t always find with painters to which I am drawn.

#tomorydodge

Marcia Hafif

Hyperallergic is another recent find for me- as is Marcia (apparently as you’ll read in this article, I’m not alone). I am not usually drawn to minimalism for its own sake, either visually over intellectually, but these caught my attention. It was interesting to find out after questioning the initial attraction that one of my biggest inspirations, Robert Irwin, was one of Hafif’s instructors at one point. I hope I get to run across these at some point. While I certainly enjoy a good bit of painting that considers itself conceptual, I tend to be drawn to work that is primarily concerned with formal investigation, which is of course a concept in itself. I think the key distinction is that the impetus of the type of work to which I’m referring points to itself in the end (as the writer puts it, “they offer complex visual, intellectual, and emotional experiences.”). I would encourage the reader to also Google for images of other paintings made by Hafif, she certainly explored several ways of creating these experiences.

#marciahafif