Jasper Johns

Here’s one I wish I could get on a plane to go see, Jasper Johns at Matthew Marks.

NYTimes Review by Roberta Smith.

At the age of 88 Johns is still producing remarkable work.

In 2014, the “Regrets” series (2012-14) had its debut at the Museum of Modern Art. The title comes from a rubber stamp — “Regrets,” coupled with Mr. Johns’s signature — which he devised to decline social invitations.

Which is why he has time to still paint rather than get caught up in the daily drone of everyday life.

 

A visit to In Tandem

A bittersweet visit to both G. Gibson Gallery and James Harris Gallery to the joint exhibit In Tandem with Fay Jones and Robert C. Jones. Bittersweet mainly as it is a goodbye to local painter Robert C. Jones who passed away this last December.

Both galleries were a joy to visit since I hadn’t seen work by either painter for a long time.

It sounds like Fay is doing okay since the passing of her fellow painter and spouse Robert in December and is working towards a new exhibit in November. I have no idea how one does that since my own head has been such a mess after the passing of each spouse. I suppose like Joan Didion you go on to write The Year of Magical Thinking you keep doing what you know best (if you are fortunate to pull it together).
I am of course pleased to hear there will be new work to look at and eagerly look forward to the show.

Somewhat unrelated sidebar – it is really weird living in a town with truly no coverage of galleries, no consistent place to find information about what is being exhibited, essentially the land of no fucks to give. Yet I know it is filled with people making great art and other people dedicating their lives to exhibiting it. A conversation that’s been going on for a long time but it always stuns me everytime I step back into it.

Currently obsessed

with Terrence Malick’s movies. Just watched Tree of Life and now want to see the rest of his work.

This started not long ago with Days of Heaven, which is magnificent. As is the lovely Sam Shepard seen above. More soon.

On the cinematography of Days of Heaven (1978)]
“With Néstor Almendros, we decided to film without any artificial light. It wasn’t possible in the houses at night, but outside, we shot with natural light or with the fire. When the American team was saying, ‘This is not how we should proceed,’ Nestor Almendros, very courageously insisted. As we filmed, the team discovered that it was technically easier, and I was able to capture absolute reality. That was my wish: to prevent the appearance of any technique, and that the photography was to be processed to be visually beautiful and to ensure this beauty existed within the world I was trying to show, suggesting that which was lost, or what we were now losing.” – Terrence Malick