these writings seem to get few and farther between... i guess thats a good thing, in that work in the studio is getting done, as opposed to sitting with coffee and a laptop-- typing away.

* the chelsea gallery scene has been interesting of late. actually having seen some very strong painting in the last few weeks, i'm coming to the conclusion that the world may be reaching it's fill of digital tomfoolery and the like... maybe not, but it's a good thought to think.

* speaking of chelsea, the brice marden shows at matthew marks should not be missed. the large paintings in the "letters" show are simply and stoically, beautiful. i was very pleased to find that the palette is of soft, restricted, earthy tones-- the approach quite painterly. and i gotta say, the borders, or margins (to my eye) really push the compostion forward and, obviously, give it some sense of order, outside the gestural... the smaller show next door of earlier work is equal in it's pleasures, but from the other side of things. here was marden as a young artist, dealing with his influences and fighting through it. but, god damn, what a fight it was... these paintings are rugged as hell and, given the small size (indeed, scale) all the more physically vigorous.

art of this quality makes me feel good to live in manhattan and, that said, here in manhattan, we're lucky enough (as we should be) to have one of the most important (to my mind) shows to be put together in, well, quite a while. MOMA's Ab-Ex show is as purely beautiful and important (on many levels) as one could wish. all the greats are there-- the artists and the works-- and some of the lesser known artists as well-- alfred leslie, grace hartigan and, from the earlier years, bradley walker tomlin. in some instances, artists are afforded their own gallery: the newman offerings are particularly strong-- onement 1, white fire, abraham and, of course, vir heroicus sublimis... to this day, i look at vir heroicus and i shake my head at what newman was able to accomplish in his solitude. the space he created was one where the optic takes on the physical-- you look into this work and you just know that there is importance to what we, as painters, strive for... no matter how far we fall from attaining anything at all-- our efforts are worthwhile, in and of themselves.

in the morning, i'll meet with the painter, pat lipsky, and we'll take all this in together. something to look forward to...

as far as the studio goes, it's been a very productive time. right now i'm getting work ready for a january 15th solo show at 210 gallery in brooklyn and getting ready to crate up work to ship to paia contemporary in maui... life is good. sometimes it's better.