contemporary art – Page 51

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022, by Etty Yaniv

Paul Behnke – a Champion of Painting

Portrait of Paul Behnke in the studio with Gloria’s Guardian, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 62 x 60 inches, photo courtesy of Robin Stout.

Paul Behnke is a champion of painting – and he does it with evident gusto. His paintings come from idiosyncrasies, life experience, and a process that begins as intuitive, mixed with periods of sharp critical gaze. His paintings have evolved from early contained and minimalistic bold-color geometries, to more recent chaotic forms and layered complexity, at times almost explosive.

March 12, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

Entanglement at BravinLee Programs

In Conversation

*Entanglement (Paintings by Cecile Chong, Sculpture by Jack Henry, courtesy BravinLee Programs*

Entanglement is a new exhibition of works by Jac Lahav, Cecile Chong, Jack Henry, and Erik Olson. The work ranges from the psychological to the sentimental with many references to the natural world. Much of the work is dissimilar, like a portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg wearing leopard print and a leafy necklace which stands in contrast to atmospheric encaustic paintings referencing Chinese landscape. Together these pieces take us deep into a post-pandemic psyche. The binding theme is plants, using nature as a metaphor for an internal growth many of us have experienced during the past two years. Entanglement opened on Thursday March 3rd and is up at BravinLee Programs in Chelsea New York until April 9th. We sat down with gallerist Karin Bravin and two of the artists to talk about the show.

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022, by Maggie Pavao

Not knowing is most intimate at Amos Eno

Nishiki Sugawara-Beda, Installation view of *Somewhere Around There,* 2022. Photo courtesy of Maggie Pavao

It is perhaps in this state of “not knowing” that we first encounter the works in artist Nishiki Sugawara-Beda’s current solo exhibition Somewhere Around There, on view at the Amos Eno gallery. The exhibition, which presents works from the artist’s KuroKuroShiro series (‘black-black-white’ in Japanese), features dynamic shapes in shaded monochrome that seem to alternately emerge and recede from view. Faced with this shifting visual field, the viewer gradually develops a kind of intimacy with these unknown forms, opening up new possibilities for interpretation and engagement.

March 7, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

Terrarium at Ice Cream Social

Featured Project with Curator and artist Jenn Cacciola, and Artist/Owner of Ice Cream Social Matthew Shively

Installation view, photo courtesy of Ice Cream Social.

The inaugural group exhibition, Terrarium, at Ice Cream Social features painting, photography, sculpture, fiber and site-specific installations by 26 artists. Terrarium examines growth of different forms, inside and outside of containment, managed and wild, protected and exposed, as well as growth that sometimes requires destruction or thorny discoveries. The show runs from March 5th through May 6th, 2022.

February 28, 2022December 23, 2021, by Susan Hoffman Fishman

The Last Ones Standing

A picture containing floor, indoor, furniture

Description automatically generated — *Sea-Change* Installation at MARS gallery, Melbourne, Australia, 2017. Photo by Matthew Stanton

Many artists have begun making work related to the climate crisis in recent years. But Australian visual artist Penelope Davis decided to address the subject eight years ago. Originally trained as a photographer with a portfolio including mainly camera-less photographs, she turned to sculpture and the looming environmental disaster after observing her first jellyfish blooms along the Melbourne coastline. Although alarmed by what appeared to be an unnatural and terrifying phenomenon, she was also attracted aesthetically to the jellyfish’s semi-transparency and how they reflected light.

February 13, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

Barbara Laube: Morning Has Broken at Gold/Scopophilia Montclair

Featured Artist

These works are a way of repairing, an offering and a form of prayer
They are a way of making sense of my life my loves and beliefs
They are about questioning and the acceptance of not knowing
They reflect my inner and outer life

They teach me and I follow

I cut up of old paintings,
the macro has become micro
and past and present have merged

The familial and collective transitioning of the world
Piecing together a loved one’s psyche

Think of them as a cat. I cannot know their mind
I can offer saucers of milk

The work is complete when it has transcended the materials and a new presence is born
They are alive and ever changing

-BL, 2021

February 7, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

Ellen Kozak – Vigil

Featured Artist

*Gallery View. Photo courtesy of David Richard Gallery*

Vigil, Ellen Kozak’s first solo painting exhibition with David Richard Gallery, featured two fully realized series of abstract oil paintings on panel. The painter, with studios in New York City and beside the Hudson River in Greene County, explores the relationship between the fluidity of paint and river surfaces affected by the intersection of natural and manmade phenomena. Altogether the paintings activated the gallery space into a cohesive site-responsive installation.

January 26, 2022January 25, 2022, by Etty Yaniv

Doomscrolling at Petzel

In Conversation with Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston

Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston, “May 27” (2021), multi-color woodblock print on paper. 57.5 x 42.25 inches (courtesy the artists and Petzel, New York)

The woodblock prints by the artists Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston at Petzel refer to recent harsh events that occurred in the United States and the way we perceive them through iconic media imagery. The prints specifically address 18 moments that took place between May 24^th, 2020 to January 6^th, 2021—marked by the COVID pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the ensuing protests, and the insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The exhibition is on view at the gallery Upper East Side location through February 12, 2022.

January 12, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

Alignments at Flinn Gallery

Featured Project: with curator Tracy McKenna

Installation view, photo courtesy Flinn Gallery

Alignments at Flinn Gallery in CT is a three-person exhibition featuring abstract work by Meghan Brady, Ben Godward, and Erika Ranee, curated by Tracy McKenna. The work triangulates around shapes and strata. It runs through January 26^th, 2022.

January 5, 2022November 2, 2022, by Art Spiel

A message from the Underground at Mana Contemporary

Featured Project: with curator Maria De Los Angeles

Ryan Bonilla. Hope, 2004. Encapsulated Digital C Print, 20 in x 30 in.

The group show, A message from the Underground at Mana Contemporary Jersey City, curated by artist and curator Maria De Los Angeles, featuring 18 artists from Mana Contemporary whose work explores current political climate, love, and sense of place. The exhibition runs through 1/15/2022, 3rd floor, Mana Contemporary in Jersey City