Sunday, May 4, 2008

nyc... a couple of martinis in the burbank airport and then i'm on the plane, trying to study japanese. reading some paul thoreau and waiting to get home. the line for taxis was brutal, especially having to hear the conversations around me... so be it. back in the new york groove.

with a tan...

Saturday, May 3, 2008

so while floating in the pool with a cold beer and looking around me at the water under the sun, i was thinking about the small moses piece at the blake gallery that was really my favorite. i wish i could remember it's title. in any event, sometimes you just wish you walked around with 4 grand in your pocket... water, motion, etc.

checked out bergamot station, some strong stuff going on... at ruth bachofner, barbara kerwin and gary edward blum made for a really impressive pairing. blum's work has that full-on originality that rarely comes about-- he's working the representation of the abstract that my friend, wess dahlberg has so eloquently operated in for the last few years. blum goes a bit too far for me though. his hand and his eye are sure, but i'd appreciate just some straight abstraction, the representative just a bit too much. but nicely done, really well done...

barbara kerwin's work has gone from the sculpturaly minimal to a take on the grid and it's potential. she works in encaustic, now adding acrylic and it's flat opacity, for a more complex visual give and take. the wax rests in relief on the surface almost quivering there in it's armature. this is sensitive, poetic stuff that one should expect from an artist of her stature.

at frank lloyd gallery there was some great porcelin sculpture by cheryl ann thomas. the pieces were modest sized and very powerful, given their scale. modestly priced as well. like i said, you just want to walk around with 4 grand on you when you check out the scene... thomas somehow manages to give the work the look of fabric layered upon itself, or indeed, carelessly tossed into a corner and left behind. this is a work with the handsome incidental quality i really relate to. to be honest, this is probably the first time i've seen porcelin as a medium of real power in contemporary art-- outside of the utilitarian or decorative. very refreshing...

bobbie greenfield presented david shapiro, the show consists of a few paintings and works on paper.... tough, organic labors-- gesture, soft line, earthen palette. startling compositions in horizontal formats that really seduced the eye...

Friday, May 2, 2008

6 ribeyes on the grill and i ate 2 of them... life is good sometimes.

last night was in laguna beach at peter blake gallery, checking out the andy moses show. good crowd, great area, beautiful night and beautiful women. the art? well... moses is working the landscape/seascape horizon line, i've mined this myself, still am. when he ties it together with a signature sharp white pinstripe across the center it all comes together. when he eschews the sharp line it tends to blur. maybe thats the point, who am i to say? but i'm saying it... he's capable of making some really strong work. his use of blue and of black is poignant and indeed, sublime. when he strays off into the neon and electric things go awry. but that holds true for any painter.

all in all quite a night. the perfume of weed permeated the back gallery and the patio, the women tottered on high, high heels and there were a few tussles with a rather sad band of hipsters, one of whom got dumped on his ass, another chased around an alley by a 52 year old painter. good fun for all, except maybe the hipsters in their outfits and bruised egos.

earlier in the day i was at the studio of robert kingston. he had a few pieces in there, a new large one that was looking good and 2 smaller pieces that, though very minimal, were powerful, intense works. i mentioned to him that perhaps the smaller proportion lends itself to a pared down composition-- his scale rarely changes-- the larger works offers the appropriate arena for grander gesture and content...

from kingston's studio i drove (endured traffic) east to alex couwenberg's home and studio. then alex and i took off for laguna. i reflected that it was a pretty cool to be cruising to an opening in the black mercedes of another painter. success is a sweet energy...

spent the day in the pool and working with pastels, charcoal and graphite. trying to hit the color i'm surrounded by out here-- flowers, olive trees, eucalyptus, sky, grass, life, etc.

it was a good day.