David Rabinowitch Construction of Vision Drawings / Peter Blum, 99 Wooster St. / October 17

There are two significant premises that must be understood about this exhibition.  The first is that it is a historical show in that the drawings were executed between 1969 and 1976. This is an important fact because the work looks remarkably contemporary for its age.

The second premise is that, though the artist is best known as a minimalist sculptor, this exhibition of drawings is meant to, and does, stand on its own merits. According to the press release these drawings ��translate the formal and perceptual concerns of his massive, planar steel sculptures into elegant yet powerful ink and graphite works on paper�.  There is that link between the two, but the latter function as an independent entity parallel to the sculpture rather than as an addendum.

The contrast between Rabinowitch�s drawings and sculpture are revealing. Where the drawings possess a light, airy and delicate quality the sculpture is brutally massive and heavy. In large part this is due to the materials that each are made of and what�s interesting is the way the two different mediums create differing perspectives of the same content. The sculpture lies imposingly flat on the floor as chunked shapes of metal. But the drawings cling to the walls and, being constructed of paper and placed in elegant wooden frames, are warm and organic.  Yet both are inextricably linked through their mutual inclusion of lines. For both types of works placement of line and form is significant and goes a long way toward defining the subject matter.  Perhaps this is even more the case with the drawings where the spareness of form and color make the arrangement and placement of the forms crucial.

Another important difference is the mood projected by both types of work. Rabinowitch�s sculpture is exceedingly serious, nearly tomb-like, in what it presents -again the materials are an influence.  But the drawings walk a line between such seriousness and humor, also due in part to their medium.  This is comparable to what Alexander Calder achieved with his work though Rabinowitch is far more minimal than Calder.  The connection between the two artists is the way the lines are rendered or the bits of color are placed.

The last word about this show is that it is presented quite well.  There is a lot of work but it does not suffocate itself.  For all the minimalism you walk away sated with the vision the artist projects.  Some of the drawings are hung together in pairs or in threes and come close to creating a diptychs and triptychs.  This tends to work quite well and, in addition to the varied sizes of the works, prevents the show from becoming a serialization.  Only one thing would have improved this show and that would have been to include the sculpture too so as to make the visual comparisons.

Return to Archive Directory

Straight Painting /Joan Thorne, David MacKenzie, Edward Shalala, Stewart Hitch and James Little / The Painting Center, 52 Greene St. / October 28

Here is a delightful group show that gives truth to the name �The Painting Center� which is where it takes place.  Straight Painting was curated by James Little and presents a variety of styles and approaches to abstract painting.  The artists included are Joan Thorne, David MacKenzie, Edward Shalala, Stewart Hitch and James Little.  Unfortunately, many of the images in the show were not available so we have included other work that is representative of those artists.

One of the first things that grabs you after walking in and surveying the gallery space is how intelligently presented this show is.  Besides each of the pieces being given plenty of breathing room, artists with smaller works like Shalala are allowed to include more of them while those, like Hitch and Little with the largest paintings, have only one each in the show.  Each of the painters is given a fair share of wall space to command and each does so quite well.  Little�s single painting on the east wall looks like it was meant to hang there and is counterpointed by one of Thorne�s works on the opposite west wall.  MacKenzie has no trouble handling the south wall with three fine pieces while Shalala and Hitch comfortably share the north wall.  The latter create an interesting balance in that Shalala�s five small and color-intensive paintings hold up fine against Hitch�s large painterly abstract work.

Some of the artists group into general categories such as Thorne and Hitch, whose paintings ride a close affinity to figuration.  Then there is Little and Shalala whose paintings contain the most reductive forms though they differ completely as to size and color.  MacKenzie, Thorne and Shalala turn up the intensity on the color. Hitch and Little pair up in standing more independently alone from the group and each other.  This is due to how these paintings were done along with their singular presence in this exhibition.

So, what is meant by that title, Straight Painting?  �Straight� might be considered a rather loaded term for its political implications. In other words, is this show to be understood as countering something defined as �Gay� painting?  Clearly that is not the case as demonstrated by the imagery.  The term straight translates here to straightforward so that this show is a collection of abstract paintings that are simply about painting itself and otherwise stripped of pretense, political or otherwise. Another way of looking at this exhibition is as a collection of artists with differing styles whom, when brought together in a well thought-out exhibition, offer a cumulative definition of abstract painting that goes beyond any one artist.  Words are of little help because its all there in the work itself.

A deep undercurrent of this show is a roundabout, somewhat humorous attitude to making paintings as opposed to a more drop-dead, overtly serious approach.  This does not mean that these artists are not serious about their painting.  Rather there is a loosening of the intellect in favor of a more emotional approach that instills an honest sense of joy into all these pictures.  Everything else is there too - the difficult work of self-expression and the balancing act between control and chaos along with any number of other resolute concerns.  But clearly these painters love to create paintings, as evidenced in this work, which is about as straight as it gets.

Return to Archive Directory

Cathy Diamond / The Painting Center, 52 Greene St. / October 28

A nice parallel show to Straight Painting is the solo exhibition of Cathy Diamond in the project room of the Painting Center.  Indeed, her work easily fits in with the exhibition in the larger space.  The show consists of oil paintings and works on paper that incorporate gouache, ink and pencil with the latter making up the bulk of the show.

Diamond�s work functions within the realm of what might be described as psychological abstraction.  The images in these paintings are realistically effective in expressing the oblique, intangible qualities that constitute a world of dreams.  You look at this work and struggle to make figurative connections that just don�t quite complete but leave an impression.  Still, these are not �school of the personal� paintings because the worlds they offer invite everyone in for the experience.

In the press release the roots of Diamond�s paintings are aligned with the work of Kandinsky, Miro, Gorky and Guston.  One might add Matisse to that list from the period in which the �The Red Studio� was created, especially as to color and form.  But Diamond is far more abstract then Matisse.  Two paintings are knockouts, Electric Garden and Wall Vignettes, especially as to color handling. She is an adept colorist and mixes the various mediums in the paper pieces quite effectively; that is, in conveying an excellent balance of proportion and emphasis in handling of those mediums.

Return to Archive Directory

Kunihiko Maehara / George Billis Gallery, 508/526 West 26 St. / October 10

You look at these paintings and quickly discern that the grid defines the forms.  But the next thing you realize is how a delicious rawness challenges and defines that grid. The result is paintings that create their own cacophonous visual music within a texture that is sensual in its many-layered splendor. These pieces suggest complex overhead vistas of tightly congested cities including the accompanying visual fatigue such views create. A natural response is to shutdown, relax and merely soak in the rhythmic nature of the �big picture� all of which happens here.  Doing so leaves you open to patterns of motion moving across and around the picture plane while also forcing the eye to move in and out.  After awhile you may be compelled to wonder just what is buried beneath all the activity, what secrets do these paintings contain?  So begins the road to understanding their content.

According to Maehara, there are no pre-conceived ideas for these works.  Rather, they are dependant upon a process involving masking techniques with liquid rubber that seems related in a way to reductive-cut block printing.  The conceptual subject matter is movement and chance in that the artist is unsure of what he has until the work is complete.  Maehara does claim that one area of surety and control, or at least of emphasis, is color. In this he is successful, for no painting gives itself over to a single color but, like the forms, is a complex mixture that defies a single definition.

Having said all that, there are problems with this work; one of which is size.  Most of these paintings are quite small at 12 x 10 inches with the largest going to 30 x 30 inches.  Because of this and, in spite of the elements of chance, you don�t sense that the artist is really taking chances.  After awhile these pieces begin to feel predictable, a bit precious even, and you wonder what would happen if they were much larger, say, 8 x 8 feet.  Or suppose the grid images were varied in size and the general uniformity of the grid broken up?  What would happen if Maehara risked making some paintings that were way out of control, bad paintings, to truly test his process and the elements of chance?  Hopefully, by creating an array of wide-ranging work that would push both the artist and the viewer, some really great paintings would be produced.

In the gallery the paintings are shown in the back by some windows with most of them placed on small easels.  The remaining work is crowded on the walls.  One can appreciate the informal presentation as being within the character of the work.  But these are very busy paintings, for all their diminutive size, and they demand more and better wall space on which to be seen.

Return to Archive Directory

Serena Bocchino / Jeffrey Coploff, 526 West 26th / October 26

We reviewed Serena Bocchino�s last exhibition this past May (see the archives) at the Exhibit A gallery.  In that show she presented smaller, often colorful paintings on vellum that created a luminous sensation.  With this exhibit she presents large to mid-size canvases that take a very different turn from the vellum pieces as well as her earlier, more traditionally painterly work.  One of the hallmarks of this artist is to constantly challenge her previous notions and methods for painting while also maintaining a solidly recognizable style.

This work is far more reductive as to color and form while also given to a more defined figure/ground reading.  Before moving to the lines in the foreground, consider how the background is handled.  The paint is applied in broad strokes and thinly brushed out; seemingly or actually scraped into the canvas. The muted low-contrast color sets a subtle stage on which the dynamic lines perform. Yet these larger background forms contain their own sense of motion that is both large and slow.

Now on to the stars of these paintings: those signature dancing lines. Here Bocchino overtly pursues her subject matter, the evocation of music in a visual form. These pieces contain far fewer of them than past work, which raises the stakes for how well they work.  The gesture has to be just right to capture the fresh spontaneity and fluidity while the forms maintain structure within the picture plane. Too much of the former and the paintings are chaotic, but too much of the latter and the subject matter feels more illustrated than evoked.  Bocchino maintains the delicate balance between the two adding in bits of color to reinforce both.  The result is paintings that seem alive with motion and rhythm yet are solidly composed.

These paintings are also interesting for the way they are painted. Although the backgrounds are given a more traditional handling, the lines are applied by carefully dripping the paint on. In this way they suggest minimalist Pollocks.  The work initially may seem artificial with an almost plastic quality.  But they don�t really read as synthetic because the overall effect contributes to the subject matter.

Some very small sculptures constructed of wire with paint media applied to them are also included in the show.  Are they studies or an addendum to the painting?  Regardless, they create an interesting three-dimensional perspective but come nowhere near holding up to the paintings.  Perhaps they were never meant to. Even so, it would be interesting to see them pursued further on a much larger scale and then compare them with the two-dimensional work.

Return to Archive Directory

Scott Richter / Elizabeth Harris, 529 West 20 St. / October 26

How thick do you like your paint?  How about twenty-four inches?  Are these paintings or sculpture?  What difference does it make whether they are on the wall or not?  Do the various bases upon which these pieces sit play an active role or are they just pedestals?  This is one show that raises any number of engaging questions but the first ones are about the paint itself, as medium, as object, as subject.

It is also one of best shows to successfully combine a conceptual idea with a purely carnal and emotional approach.  If nothing else these works make the �flesh� of paint apparent, suggesting post-modern Soutines.  Within the larger conceptual context the artist also plays with allusions to figurative objects.  One of the best examples is a piece consisting of bright red paint stacked in multiple layers that suggest a huge tongue form while still existing as nothing more then a pile of red paint. The connection is to Pop Art subject without becoming a Pop object.

Another aspect of Richter�s subject matter is subtle art historical references to painters. There are, and have been in previous work, direct links to specific artists such as Philip Guston and Barnett Newman.  But generally Richter takes a somewhat post-modern stand with regard to traditional oil painting.  The artist himself has indicated that his work begins and ends with the inherent process of building up a palette with paint.  But Richter�s layers become increasingly thicker and grotesque in what might be characterized as �impasto extremis�. 

Richter�s has a great deal of fun with his medium.  He �sculpts� the paint into forms and makes the bases upon which they sit integral to the work. The freestanding work sits atop sheets of paper that hold linseed oil stains, smudges and other marks.  The pieces also expand into the realm of surrealism possessing a nightmarish dreamlike quality.  Its as though you�ve gorged yourself on cakes, candy and other sweets, went to bed and these were your dreams.  Yet for all that they also emit a cartoon-like humor.

The question could be raised, how long can Richter sustain the one-trick pony idea of grossly heaped paint?  Many another arhtist would be cheerfully content to constantly beat such an idea to death (think of the �Sensation� debacle at the Brooklyn museum for immediate examples).  But this artist turns the idea into a personally defined style and then pushes it into all sorts of directions.  Rather then being confronted with the initial surprise of medium, how it is handled and the more obvious comparisons between painting and sculpture, the viewer is challenged by this work to engage in an array of possibilities and directions.