(An Appropriate Distance)


FROM THE MAYOR'S DOORSTEP

By Piri Halasz

Report from the Front

An online column/newsletter of art criticism, art comment & occasional political comment. Estab. 1996. Published in hard copy 5-7 times a year.

THE LAST PROSE OF SUMMER

September 3, 2010

Tags: Charles Burchfield, Mike & Doug Starn, Ike Ude

The kind of show that appeals to feature writers on the Times is the incoherent mess of bamboo stalks assembled by Doug & Mike Starn on the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of far more visual satisfaction is “Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield,” (more…)

UPCOMING SHOWS & EVENTS

August 5, 2010

Tags: Lauren Olitski, Paula DeLuccia, Ann Walsh, Randy Bloom, Susan Roth, Joyce Weinstein, Frank Bowling

Through September 11, "David Evison: Sculpture and Reliefs," at Quest, in Bath, UK. The exquisite little catalogue shows very fresh-looking small sculptures in copper and steel, as well as elegant ceramic reliefs, made of glazed terracotta mounted on plywood.

Through September 19, paintings, sculpture, works on paper and ceramics by Lauren Olitski and (more…)

SUMMER SUMMARY

July 21, 2010

Tags: Michael Filan, Picasso, Durer, Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux, Matisse

The press release for “Excavations Non-Objective: Paintings by Michael Filan” was a real turnoff, illustrated as it was with reproductions of two of the sloppiest paintings I’ve seen. They looked as though the artist had simply hung his canvases on a wall, and slung paint at them, allowing it to (more…)

A RADICAL SYNAGOGUE

July 2, 2010

Tags: Percival Goodman, Motherwell, Gottlieb, Ferber

The Jewish Museum has two appealing summer shows, one for grownups and one for the kiddies. (more…)

TWO STEAMY DAYS & NOTES

June 28, 2010

Tags: Oliver Johnson, Pheoris West, Richard Yarde, Fred Danziger, Picasso, Fairfield Porter, William Zorach, Marguerite Zorach, Lennart Anderson, Leland Bell, Louisa Matthiasdottir, Temma Bell, Rosemarie Beck, Philip Guston, Ed Rath, Kenneth Noland, Roy Lerner, Peter Reginato, Francine Tint, Arthur Yanoff, Jules Olitski, Matisse

On two steamy days last week, I visited five galleries, all with reasons to recommend them. First was “Images of Dance: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Evidence Dance Company” at Peg Alston Fine Arts (through July 15). Founded in 1985 by Ronald K. Brown, (more…)

TWO FOR THE SEESAW

June 26, 2010

Tags: Helen Frankenthaler, Stamos, Greenberg

Given her present eminence, it’s easy to forget that Helen Frankenthaler was only 23 in 1952 when she painted that landmark picture, "Mountain and Sea." At the time, she was still within the orbit of Clement Greenberg. Yet within three years, (more…)

TWO EXTREMES; THREE OTHER PRETTY SHOWS

June 16, 2010

Tags: Andy Warhol, David Ratcliff, Kenneth Noland, Jeffrey Bye, Risa Glickman, Ann Walsh, Gene Davis, Monet

Sumer is icumen in, lhude sing cuccu! It’s time for summer group shows, and two Chelsea ones have recently grabbed my interest --- one because of the largest piece in it, the other because of very nearly the smallest. (more…)

A QUICK GANDER AT POLITICS

June 14, 2010

The last time I looked at politics, during the second week in March, Congress (and the headlines) were all about health care reform legislation. Shortly after I went to press, that legislation was passed, and signed into law by President Obama. Sundry states are bringing lawsuits, trying to get the law invalidated (more…)

IN THE PRINT EDITION

June 12, 2010

Tags: Cesar Alvarez

FEATURED IN THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE DELUXE PRINT EDITION OF FMD #90 (April 15-June 1, 2010): THE SCULPTURE OF CÉSAR ALVAREZ....

History's Mysteries & Contemporary Soupçons

May 30, 2010

Tags: Monet, Peter Reginato, Dee Shapiro, Anne Truitt, Robert and Ethel Scull, Jasper Johns, Greenberg, Larry Poons, Sheila Luck, Mitchel Smith, Helen Frankenthaler, Craig Barnes, George Hofmann, Michael L. Williams, Franklin Einspruch

Down in the bowels of West 21st Street, Larry Gagosian, who is to Chelsea what P. T. Barnum was to circuses, has mounted what he obviously hopes will be the same kind of historical blockbuster that his big late Picasso show was last season. “Claude Monet: Late Work,” curated by Paul Hayes Tucker, (more…)

Selected Works

Memoir
A Memoir of Creativity: abstract painting, politics & the media, 1956-2008
A journalist tells how she developed a radical theory of abstract painting through varied experience.
Travel
A Swinger’s Guide to London
The go-go mini-guide telling where ‘60s swingers hung out, and how they went about swinging.

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