Untitled, no date, charcoal on Strathmore paper, 25 1/8 x 19 inches, (63.8 x 48.3 cm), PF8230
An exciting exhibition of Myron Stout’s early charcoal drawings is currently on view at Peter Freeman Inc. in the SoHo district of NYC, running from January 16th to March 1st, 2025. This collection of approximately 35 works from the late 1940s and early 1950s offers a glimpse into the evolution of Stout’s personal style as he shifted toward reductive geometric abstraction. Positioned within the broader context of mid-20th-century abstraction, these drawings mark a bold departure from the era’s dominant trends, which often incorporated symbolic, gestural and representational elements.
From an early age, Louise P. Sloane has been compelled by an intense fascination with how color and texture influence mood. “I was one of those art nerd kids who went nuts each time there was a new color crayon from Crayola!” she recalls, describing a childhood shaped by a relentless curiosity about different mediums and textures. Making art quickly became the dominant force in her life, guiding her on a creative journey that has spanned over fifty years.
Signal to Signal by Crystalle Lacouture at Trustman Gallery, Simmons College in Boston, MA.
As Boston’s fall season unfolds, the city comes alive with a vibrant tapestry of exhibitions, from the creative heart of the SoWA Arts District to the bustling streets of Back Bay. University galleries join the celebration, offering a rich array of materials and themes that captivate and inspire. While the leaves change color and the evenings grow cooler, the art scene radiates warmth, keeping the city’s creative pulse strong and steady. Here are some standouts this month.
Garden of Music (after Bob Thompson), 2024, acrylic and oil on canvas, 54” x 94”
For artists working within the realm of geometric abstraction, understanding the weight of art history is vital. The hard-edge lines, a keen understanding of color theory, and structured patterns—all form part of a visual language that has evolved over a century. Artists today, when approaching geometric abstraction, face a unique tension. On the one hand, they inherit the legacy of giants such as Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, and Kazimir Malevich, whose works laid the foundation for what we understand as “geometric art.” On the other hand, the question looms large: How does one continue to make geometric abstraction in 2024?
“Untitled (United States Marine Hospital)” by Firelei Báez at The Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston
There are many excellent art exhibitions to visit in and around Boston this summer. Museums and galleries have created an abundance of programming that’s playful and profound. Dance parties, concerts, salons, and festivals supplement what’s on view, making summertime feel even more celebratory for the arts community. A visit to the Cape and Islands is a must for a reprieve from the heat, but also a great place to see brilliantly curated shows and satellite exhibitions. Within the city you’ll find most galleries foregoing their beach time to maintain regular hours and offering a rich selection of dynamic shows. Here are some highlights.
Reverse Cascade, Hesse Flatow, Installation View- Curated by Kirsten Deirup
As the season of exhibitions at commercial galleries winds down, the need for enriching visual engagement becomes more demanding over the thick heat of the summer months. Out of the way for viewers and gallery dwellers, there are some noteworthy exhibitions that take place outside the boroughs of New York City that are worth noting and can easily be missed if you were not looking or aware. A good point of example is Hesse Flatow East. Karen Hess-Flatow has launched a unique exhibition at their Amagansett space, nestled on the east end of Long Island in the Hamptons, a location that adds to its allure.
Linda Kamille Schmidt’s exhibition Fiber Space opens at Garvey|Simon Gallery on June 27, 2024. This is her first solo show with Garvey|Simon and her third in Manhattan. It showcases her semi-transparent fabric collages, ranging from large installations to smaller, intimate pieces.
John Cino, curator of Eccentric Abstraction at MoCA L.I, first encountered the works of Eva Hesse, Jackie Winsor, and Linda Benglis during his undergraduate years, an experience that deeply influenced him. He draws a throughline from their pioneering works to the current exhibition, “For each of the artists in the show—Stephanie Beck, Sky Kim, Christina Massey, and Sui Park—the process of making is a visible element of the work, and the forms they create are evocative with minimal narrative, Cino explains.
In Harriet Korman’s exhibition titled Portraits of Squares, the squares in question are either nested within the framework of a grid or stand alone as discreet entities surrounded by blocks of color. Her palette, in the main, is made of secondary and tertiary colors, which for the most part, are applied in an opaque and unmodulated manner — her surfaces tend to be flat and dry. Korman uses color both as a formal element to reinforce her composition’s structure as well as spatially. As one moves around the gallery, there seems to be no logical progression or sense to the paintings’ variations. The canvases, all of the same dimensions, are rectangular and are hung on the horizontal at eye level; their sequencing refuses to surrender an associative, conceptual, or anecdotal narrative. What one is left with is the fact they all, in part, reference squares and that they are all relatively different in approach. Subsequently, it is hard to determine if the “portraits” represent systemic deviations on a singular theme or if each painting was individually intuited. Behind the reception desk hangs a painting from 1979 whose forms are organic, their edges blurred, and whose surface is mottled. This painting stands as a reminder that Korman works thematically, and the present paintings are an aspect of her broader investigation of abstract painting’s various idioms.
Holding the Mountain, 2018-23, Oil on Wood, 36X24 Inches
An acute sense of yearning permeates the ten artworks showcased in Dov Talpaz’s debut exhibition at SARAHCROWN in Tribeca. The exhibition, The Sound of Longing, was thoughtfully composed by curator Sarah Corona, who selected small to medium-sized oil paintings characterized by their strikingly vivid hues. The modest dimension of the paintings enhances a sense of an intimate space, while the rich, dynamic colors seem to resonate with a loud auditory experience.
