"Sprater", 2010, oil on panel, 28" x 18"

Group Show "Kink" at Koplin Del Rio Gallery

There are two new paintings of mine in summer group show.

http://www.koplindelrio.com/

“Rip-Staver”, 2010, oil on panel, 60” x 48”

“Chivvy”, 2010, oil on panel, 42” x 36”

"Priss" 2009 ,oil on panel, 41" x 29"

Nolan Hendrickson paints with riotous humor.

There is a giddy irreverence at play in the large canvases of New York artist Nolan Hendrickson. Queer culture seems equally celebrated and lampooned as swishy/butch men pose lasciviously together and alone. Hendrickson's keen color sense and daring graphic approach captivate as he hilariously gooses good taste with raunchiness. While these paintings must inevitably be seen against a background of social and political change, their impish ambivalence keeps them from being either didactic or merely decorative. We are charmed and challenged. This is gutsy stuff.
Nolan Hendrickson's website can be found in my list of links. nolanhendrickson.com

Gag.

Renoir's Late Paintings (As seen at LACMA's "Renoir in the 20th Century")

Part of Speech : Noun

Definition : Paintings made by an aging, arthritic artist who seems to have been a perfectly nice man.

Synonyms : abhorrence, affect, awkwardness, banality, boiler, booby trap, charade, chicanery, cliche', contrivance, corn, crime, crap, disappointment, drollery, dupery, eyesore, fakery, fibbery, fluff, fog, fraud, frippery, gaucherie, gaudiness, gewgaw, hoax, hokum, hodge-podge, howler, jest, lapse, mendacity, mess, mishmash, muddle, nuisance, pretense, ruse, saccharin, sham, shibboleth, subterfuge, stew, syrup, vulgarity.

Antonyms : Late Bonnard, Late Cezanne, Late Degas, Late Monet, Late Picasso.

A Memorable Show Opens at Sloan Fine Art, NY.

Aint Art grand? Every so often a show comes along that gives me happy butterflies in my stomach. This is one of those shows.
This week Sloan Fine Art presents a group of deceptively produced foam rubber cuckoo clocks that warm the heart while hinting of menace. Sculptor Nathan Skiles draws one in with nostalgia, then startles with a surprise.... Not unlike the little creature who lies in wait inside each of the real Black Forest contraptions. I love these pieces so much, I'm taking one home with me.
Heather Sherman's paintings in the project room thumb their noses at suburban attitudes. This young woman can paint! The paintings are a perfect compliment to Skiles' work with their fearless mixture of humor and rage.
Good times.
To see the work online, go to sloanfineart.com


Nathan Skiles pieces shown:
"Der Jordan-Sprudle" 2009
"The Vanitas of Vineta B" 2009
-both are corrugated plastic and foam rubber.

Heather Sherman pieces shown:
"Umbrella" 2009
"Suck It, Suburbia" 2009
-Both are oil on paper.

Two new portraits in the works. oil on panel, each 30" x 20"

"Firtler" 2008, oil on panel, 31"x29"

Magnus Enckell (1870-1925)

It feels dangerous sometimes to share a great love. One is always fearful of sounding too sentimental or naive. It is dishonest however, to have a painting career without acknowledging what one has learned from others. Any artist who implies that their creative voice somehow sprang to life without influence is not to be trusted. A painter who has profoundly influenced my work is the great Finnish Symbolist and Post-Impressionist artist Magnus Enckell. His work has a spiritual, almost mystical quality. His Symbolist work's compact design displays a restraint of color and gesture that concentrates the introspective mood. Enckell's identification with the sensitive male adolescent is particularly moving. Sensuality and spirituality are perfectly balanced. These pieces never succumb to the considerable danger of becoming kitsch. Among the Symbolists, there are very few who didn't lose themselves to decorative, sensual, or sentimental excess. Later in life, the mood of Enckell's work lightens. His Post-Impressionist phase becomes more colorful and pastoral. This major change in his approach is very inspiring in it's apparent fearlessness. I am smitten by Magnus Enckell.

Curating is fun!

Alix Sloan is a gallerista goddess. She has also been a peerless friend for eighteen years. So, when she asked me to curate a landscape show at her gallery, I said "yes please". Here are some photos of the installation, as well as shots of the opening. The cityscape is by Erik Benson. The nice looking folks posing together are three of the artists: Clare Grill, Ryan Mrozowski, and Jean-Pierre Roy.

"Relocation"
Sloan Fine Art
128 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
http://www.sloanfineart.com

October 14 - November 7

With works by Erik Bensen, Thomas C. Card, Clare Grill, David Jien, Ryan Mrozowski, Marion Peck and Jean-Pierre Roy.

"Chippy" 2008, oil on panel, 28'x28'