Gene Davis (American, 1920-1985) . Trafalgar, 1984 acrylic on canvas 95 1/2 x 119 3/4 in.
Report from the Front
Art criticism, sometimes with context, occasional politics. Published in hard copy 5-7 times a year. New shows: "events;" hard-copy rates & how to support the online edition: "works."
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: THESIS
July 10, 2018
THOMAS DOWNING AT YARES...WHAT A BEAUTIFL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD....
July 9, 2018
Thomas Downing, Untitled, 1959, Acrylic on canvas, 77 5/8 x 92 inches (197.2 x 233.7cm).
On July 1, at 2 am, I managed to hit my head so hard that it took 14 (or was it 16?) staples to close the scalp wound I’d incurred. Physically I seem to be recuperating nicely, but getting my head back together again in a figurative sense is proving harder. I do hope I am now up to giving you a report on “Thomas Downing: Spot On” at Yares Art at 745 Fifth Avenue (through August 6). This report will consist of (more…)
A MESSAGE TO BENJAMIN
June 26, 2018
Oh say can you see....
First, among the small but loyal band of people who subscribe to the print edition of (An Appropriate Distance) From the Mayor’s Doorstep are – gasp, yes, a few Republicans.
And, because its subject is primarily art, I normally try to avoid discussing my admittedly Democratic preferences in it.
I feel that art and politics are like apples and oranges, irrelevant to one another.
Though I know that many great artists have used their art to make political statements, it is because of the quality of their art as art which has made those works survive. Whatever political situations they may have been concerned with, as time passes are forgotten, so irrelevant that it becomes necessary to explain them in museum labels.
That said, on this occasion, I am going to discuss my preference in the Democratic primaries being held today, June 26, in New York State’s 12th Congressional District. This is where I live, and it is a heavily blue district in a heavily blue state. Thus whoever wins the primary is more or less assured of election in November. (more…)
NATHANSON AT BERRY-CAMPBELL: GOSSAMER RADIANCE
June 8, 2018
Jill Nathanson, Cadence, 2017. Acrylic and polymers with oil on panel, 55 x 72 inches. Courtesy Berry-Campbell.
ZAMBON AT FIGUREWORKS: FANCIFULLY FIGURATIVE
May 31, 2018
Fulvia Zambon, "Muffin Lost Her Home," 2018. Oil on linen, 36” x 44.” Courtesy Figureworks.
RUN, DO NOT WALK TO “GOLDEN KINGDOMS” AT THE MET
May 24, 2018
MASK. Turquoise, wood, mother-of-pearl, shell (Spondylus princeps, Spondylus calcifer). Probably Mixtec (Ñudzavui), A.D. 1200–1521. Mexico MiBACT Museo delle Civiltà - Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico. “L. Pigorini” Image © Museo delle Civiltà - Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico L. Pigorini, su concessione del MiBACT, Photo Archive scans (Mario Mineo).
TWO ART FAIRS: THE ARMORY SHOW & TEFAF NEW YORK
May 22, 2018
Paul Kasmin booth at "Tefaf New York Spring 2018". Photo by Mark Niedermann
RECOMMENDED: EARLY BOXER, RECENT LITTLE
May 11, 2018
James Little, "Near There," 2017. Raw pigment on canvas, 33.5 x 41.50 inches. Courtesy of the artist and the June Kelly Gallery, New York