Ken Kelly: Land Ho at studio e

When I ran into Doug Parry a few weeks ago he highly recommended a visit to studio e to see Ken Kelly’s latest show. Kelly is a long surviving/practicing artist in the Seattle art world.

The show and the space did not disappoint. Strictly drawing and painting exhibits seem to be a rare occurrence and for me it’s always a thrill to seek one out. I liked Kelly’s small works the best in this show. Particularly this subdued almost Robert Ryman-esqe pocket size canvas.

studio e is a cheerful building to come across in the Georgetown neighborhood, and I appreciate the work they are championing.

Ken’s show is up through July 14th.

studio e is open every Thursday, Friday & Saturday 1-6pm.

Ken’s instagram is here.

More images from the show below:

Last one here I think is my favorite.

Amy Sillman on Painting

Here’s possibly my favorite explanation about the what of painting. From the recently published Amy Sillman the All-Over.

Excerpt from: Interview with Amy Sillman, Fabian Schöneich, December 2016

AS: Yes, people are always asking what paintings  mean
I responded by staging a joke*. I don’t really think you can understand a painting by reading about it.

FS: OK, so what does “understanding a painting” even mean?

AS: Ha ha! Good question. People who don’t make paintings, no matter how sophisticated they are, often say, in a kind of desperation, “I don’t know how to talk about abstract painting−can you teach me?” But painters don’t need this kind of explanation. Painters appreciate paintings probably the way car mechanics look at cars: you sort of marvel at someone else’s ability to put something across and you look at how it’s built, how it works, its compression system, its layers, or something like that. You only really learn this over time by appreciating how hard painting is all the time, even as a kind of antique construction. In a way, I think you only understand it by trying to make a painting yourself−or living with someone who paints. It’s almost impossible.

FS: So understanding a painting is not about “reading” something, which it seems you’re saying is against the nature of abstraction and simply doesn’t work. Would you say that painting is physically “doing” something, while language is more about “thinking”?

AS: No−I’d say it’s both. And that each half sort of vexes the other. Half of my painting process is accident/chance/mistake/erasure/discovery (i.e. body!), and this is balanced by about 50 percent decisions/analysis/editing/conceptualizing/etc. (i.e. mind!). And this is where the “mood” of painting really appeals to me, this crazy slippage between what we do and what we think….And language, or utterance, is a state in between the physical and the mental, which is precisely why I love it so much−that intermediary space of not really knowing what will happen next.

 

*conversation references Sillman’s satiric table-seating diagrams.

I’ve always appreciated Sillman’s ability to make painting (and her work in general) funny.

The Circular File.

A phrase guide for the spring art season 2006.

Mitchell Retrospective on horizon

A retrospective of Joan Mitchell’s work is coming to San Francisco (in awhile).

“The Baltimore Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art have revealed plans for a major Joan Mitchell retrospective. Currently slated to open in April 2020 at the BMA, the exhibition will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in September of that year and then make a stop at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in early 2021.”

Looking forward to it.

 

Orange Sweater

Painting and retiling my heinous bathroom which I have been meaning to do for eleven years. The only way I can get through this mind numbing process is to circle back on Tyler Green’s MAN podcast, which like all things in life I’ve abandoned for awhile.

During a double-header interview Tyler does with painter Wayne Thiebaud my breath stopped a bit when Thiebaud suddenly starts discussing the finer aspects of one of my favorite paintings, Elmer Bischoff’s 1955 Orange Sweater. Be still my heart indeed I laughed. Thiebaud is a complete gentleman. I am so grateful the ponderings of this 97 year old legend have been captured and it’s a complete and utter joy to listen to.

(Episodes 324 & 325)

Tyler also has a wonderful interview in Episode 336 with Anne Appleby who currently has a show up at Tacoma Art Exhibit titled We Sit Together At The Mountain and as I am trying to discern, sounds like made a contribution to the exhibition catalogue. When I go to TAM I will ask them about this as there is nothing on their website eluding to its existence.

Appleby and her luminescent paintings are a favorite here and I can’t wait to see the exhibit which includes a video she created.

As you well know I have been a loyal follower of Tyler and his continuum of MAN projects over the years. It is so wonderful to know he persists in his thoughtful exploration of the art world. I am glad he is still here.

I’m such a fan we even had a site category dedicated to him on this website: MAN.

Back to the drudgery of painting walls, which is an entirely different pursuit than making a painting on canvas.

 

 

 

 

“Stop Telling Me About Your Divorce”

Best painting title ever, and a beauty.

Julian Kreimer is a painter I randomly came across on the internet.

I don’t think his paintings translate as particularly funny but the interview with him (above) on Gorky’s Granddaughter is hilarious, talking about doing site specific painting on the sly. His titles are near perfect.

[image is ‘Stop Telling Me About Your Divorce‘, 2012, oil on linen, 24 x 24″]

Ten Questions…..About Painting

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In compliance with Flash Arts somewhat recent questionnaire (here are the others):

1. Q: What is painting? A: Mark making with oil laced pigments. My interpretation any way.

2. Q: What is your favorite color? A: Chartreuse.

3. Q: Which artist or painter has influenced you? A: I keep thinking about Bonnard. For someone recent, I can’t help but admire Amy Sillman’s work.

4. Q: Is there a work of art you would like to have in your home next to your own work? A: Sure, how about Matisse’s “Interior with Goldfish”.

5. Q: What is the best way to exhibit a painting? A: A nice wall with no competing details. Thanks. Please keep away from the wood paneling.

6. Q: What are the limits of painting? A: Only the one’s the artist puts on them self. Okay, and what ever surface support that can reasonably fit through your studio door frame.

7. Q: How do you start a work — do you have any rituals? A: Lots of puttering, reading, doodling, throwing darts and then it happens.

8. Q: Is there a future for painting or you are one of the last survivors? Q: Never underestimate what drives humanity. We still have books. We still have paintings. We’ll continue to have both.

9. Q: If you were about to be reborn, what would you like to be — still a painter? Q: I guess I found that out by starting and stopping and missing it, so yes, still a painter.

10. Q: Do you think painting is under-appreciated today? A: It certainly isn’t front and center in the mainstream world like it might have been in prior decades. I think it depends on what kind of company you keep. I don’t know if most people actually think much about painting on a daily basis, but during my lifetime I don’t know if they ever did. That being said, it seems like everyone wants to be an artist these days, which of course is open to interpretation.

AsideThe Modern Arts Podcast this week starring the above mentioned Amy Sillman is superb. I literally, like Bonnard’s wife lay in my bathtub Thursday night with my eyes closed and listened to it. Sillman is funny, thoughtful and not shy of commenting on things in her work that some other painters might not own up to. For instance she pokes fun of herself for having a skill set that would allow her to paint cute quite well if need be. She tasked herself with an assignment to paint only adorable subject matter for an extended bit of time (which she discusses in the exchange with Tyler). She stresses (as she has in other interviews) that drawing is central to her work. I’m already a large fan but it is always a delight to hear people talk about their work so candidly.

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I’m particularity fond of a painting that’s in the catalog  One Lump or Two  from her current survey show at the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston. Sadly no cross country flights planned for this one in the near future. In that parallel universe of a perfect life I  would very much choose to see the show with my own eyes, up close and personal.  At any rate, the painting is titled Them, 2006 (pg. 79). It would go nicely with the Bonnard at the top of the post. The catalog is beautiful and I’m still working my way through the essays.

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More things about Amy. Her website also gives you access to some of her non-painting projects such as her spot on zine Visiting Artist and video shorts made on her iPhone.

David Park

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I’ve just started reading Nancy Boas book David Park – A Painter’s Life and was excited to see a post about Park on the front front page of The Painter’s Table today, leading to a nice blog entry by Left Bank Art, where writer Carl Belz posts a 1983 essay on a Park exhibition.

Park was a favorite of mine in my early painting years and after seeing the Diebenkorn Berkeley Years exhibit in San Francisco this summer it is hard not to have a restored crush on the Bay Area Figurative painters. Boa’s book is dense and printed in very, very small type which is leading to a slower than usual reading rate, but I am very thrilled to see someone like Park given his due in print. I am a little shocked to find that he died as such a young age (49).

I’m partial to this one:

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David Park, Mother-in-Law, 1954-1955; oil on canvas, 26 in. x 19 1/2 in. (66.04 cm x 49.53 cm); Collection SFMOMA, Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan, fractional and promised gift to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Estate of David Park

SourceSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Emily Gherard at Francine Seders

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[Emily Gherard’s Drawings 2013: Wherever Green Is Worn, Francine Seders Gallery]

All good things must come to an end.

I am pleased that I pulled my head out of a fog in time to catch the last few exhibits at the Francine Seders Gallery.

When ever I needed to clear my head I would take a trip to her gallery.

The first exhibit space I visited when I decided to start looking at art again was Francine’s.

I will miss her integrity, most notable in her emphasis of presenting thoughtful exhibits and taking local artists seriously. I enjoyed being able to go to a place where I knew I would see a grown-up show.

I also appreciate that she was a stand alone there on Phinney Ridge. We need more art up here in North Seattle.

Jen Graves profile of Seders from 2006 stated “Seders has a reputation for intellectual sincerity, business honesty, professionalism, and devotion to her artists.

Emily Gherard’s exhibit (photos above) in the upstairs rooms of the gallery looks very much at home in Seders fold. A handful of elegant, tonal works on paper.  Downstairs was work by Michael Stafford and Jacob Lawrence, two of the artists that the gallery is most well known for.

The final few exhibits are being mounted as 2013 winds to a close when the gallery will be shuttered. The final opening is on December 8th, for Norman Lundin, Dale Lindman and Diann Knezovich.

PS. I like this interview of Gherard in her studio on the blog Contemplative Process .

Fischl

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Just listening to Tyler Greene’s podcast interview with Eric Fischl, discussing his new book. Fischl asserts that when he was just getting out of grad school he went through a period of making Diebenkorns. Only a person who studied painting on the West Coast would be familiar. He said Diebenkorn left the door open for other painters, as did DeKoonig, while Pollack and Picasso closed it. I thought that was beautiful and of course agree. I have been thinking a lot about Diebenkorn lately as a painting re-entry.

I thought of another thing while listening to Tyler’s podcast, which is pronunciation. For those of us farm-raised and still wet behind the ears (i.e. don’t live in New York City) the lack of knowledge of correctly pronouncing artists names can be a hilarity.

At any rate, Tyler’s podcast is as thoughtful as his the writing he produces. He is such a champion of art. I’ve been a long standing fan and he, along with Diebenkorn are helping me pick up the pieces here.