On the last day of 2022, I'd like to share the work of some artists I've been paying attention to this year, for both pleasure and inspiration. Also a few of my own, and pages from my husbands journal this year.
In fall of 2020 I started an online painting class at the NY Studio School. It's the first painting class I've taken, and not a technical class, but rather a class that helps you find subjects that have personal meaning. I've found my favorite subjects have to do with memory. Here are a few recent memory paintings I've made:
Walking in the rain, 2002
Ode to Sandra
My room, early 1970s
I gravitate to painters who work in a figurative style, using a loose hand. Here are a few painters I've been interested in, and some painters that inspired them as well.
Below: These are by Izzy Barber. She says so much with so few marks, and does amazing work with artificial light...quite inspiring. Saw her work at James Fuentes gallery in NY, and you can see more on her site. They're very small scale.
Izzy Barber, Outdoor Bar I, 2021
Izzy Barber,
Izzy Barber, Deli 2010, 2020
Izzy Barber, Myrtle-Broadway II, 2021
The Whitney had a Hopper retrospective this fall/winter...the painting below was in it. I see a connection from Izzy Barber's work to this Hopper painting.
Below: Sophie Treppendahl is someone I saw in a group show at Philip Martin's gallery in LA this year, and she's about to have a solo show there in January 2023.
September Evening, 2022
Seven loves in Oaxaca, 2018
India Ink, 2022
I love to see the world through Lois Dodd's eyes...I especially appreciate her focus on windows, even when you don't see the actual window, just the light coming in. Frieze magazine describes her as "The greatest painter of windows since Henry Matisse".
Lois Dodd, Sunlight on Floor + Door, 2013
Lois Dodd, Window with Amaryllis Plant, December
Lois Dodd, March Snowstorm
Below: Caroline Walker is an artist I've been following for a few years. Her subject matter is women, often working, ranging from an intimate series of her mother doing housework, to women in service jobs at hotels, office cleaners, nail salons, tailoring, and shop assistants, to her more recent series in birthing rooms. She also painted a series of her sister in law Lisa, pregnant, and with her baby. I love what appears to be her light casual touch, but in fact immense preparation is done to achieve that looseness. She makes studies and full size oil sketches beforehand. She talks about that here in a conversation at the Royal Drawing School. You can see how much she enjoys painting the details...the bottles, the reflective surfaces, the draperies, the cellophane. Those may not be her main subject but they're a joyful part of it.
Cashing Up, 2022, Grimm Gallery
Detail of painting above
Housekeeping, Floors, Room 324, 2018
Housekeeping, Bathroom Room 608, 2018
Detail from above
Above: Beautiful to see the quick strokes that become legible details.
Nearby, Alem II, 2021
Detail from above
Walker's mother Janet, Sizing Pillowcases, Mid Morning, March, 2020
Birthing, Theatre, 2021
Maternity 19, Ink on paper, 2021
Walker's sister in law, Lisa...Refreshments, 2022
Jean-Philippe Delhomme makes sparse rooms and simple objects come to life with the energy of his boisterous brush strokes and interesting compositions.
Jean-Philippe Delhomme "Picasso's Picasso's" and tape, 2022
Jean-Philippe Delhomme, The Studio in the Summer
My husband Steven paints in his journal most days...here are some of this year's pages...
This spring we had a chance to see two large Milton Avery retrospectives, quite a lovely thing. The first was at Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The other was at Yares Gallery in NY. Roberta Smith wrote a good piece on the two shows, (and included his wife Sally Avery's concurrent show). You can read it here.
Fishing Village, 1939
Detail of above
Above and below: In these two details you can really see the way Avery scratches into the paint.
Detail from Husband and Wife, 1945
Two Figures at Desk, 1944
Fishing Harbour 1944
Morning Sea, 1955
James Iveson is an artist who shows at South Willard in LA. Here are some of my favorite works of his...
James Iveson
James Iveson, Lotto, 2020
James Iveson , Drink, 2020
James Iveson, Arms, 2020
Andrew Cranston is a contemporary Scottish painter who often uses hardcover books as his canvas. Here are some of my favorites:
Andrew Cranston, "Easter 2020, Sicily", 2022
Andrew Cranston "By the time I got to Findhorn", 2020
Andrew Cranston "A room that echoes", 2021
Above: This Andrew Cranston image was on the cover of the Paris Review this year and is available as a poster here. Cranston speaks about how this painting includes "Matisse's goldfish, Vuillard's claustrophobic interiors, and Chardin's mysterious open drawers. He says it's a painting about this weird time of isolation and hiding away (2021).
Andrew Cranston "The hue of an orange" 2019-2021
Vuillard, Jos and Lucie Hessel in the Small Salon, Rue de Rivoli, 1900-05
Detail above
Edouard Vuillard "The Pink Bedroom", 1910-1911
Spending a few days in NY this December, I went to Yun-Fei Ji's show, "The Sunflower Turned its Back" at James Cohan Gallery. Ji is interested in stories of migration, labor, he speaks to people being displaced in the name of progress, and also to their resilience. The show ends January 7th.
Everything Moved Outside, 2022
Detail from above
The Red Truck is Waiting, 2022
Detail from above
Sewing, High Noon, 2022
The Red Moving Truck, 2022
At Nonaka Hill in LA, their show "the garden" included recent paintings by Hiroshi Sugito as well as paintings Sugito selected by a painter who had been iconic to him, Zenzaburo Kojima (1893-1962). Sugito selects the vintage frames and sees them as part of the art he is making.
Hiroshi Sugito, Untitled, 2022
Hiroshi Sugito, Untitled, 2022
Hiroshi Sugito, Untitled, 2022
Zenzaburo Kojima, The Hill Over Yonder, 1930-32
Zenzaburo Kojima, Autumn Day, 1941
At Bridget Donahue I was so moved by the spirit and magical realism of Kyoko Idetsu's work. Some of the paintings are accompanied by writing that gives the paintings even more poignancy. The show is on till February 4th. Idetsu will be showing with Nonaka Hill at Frieze in LA this year.
I want to wear a warm sweater, 2022
To Mexico, 2022
"She is the mother of an 8 year old son and 3 year old twin daughters. The last time I saw her, she was picking up her son from swimming by herself. The 3 year old twins were sitting at home for a little while. She had been taking care of the children on her own for the past few months because their father had gone on a business trip to Mexico. For the past few months, she had been debating whether to follow her husband to Mexico or return to her parent's home in Kyushu, but yesterday she decided to return to Kyushu."
Truck Driver, 2022
Above: This was written on the wall next to the painting of the truck driver.
Below: Iranian born artist Manoucher Yektai (1921-2019) builds up such thick layers of paint the still lives almost become sculptural. These are from a show at Karma Gallery.
Untitled, 1981
Detail above
Untitled, 1983
Striped Table, 1995
Untitled, 1979-1981
Detail above
One show I was sorry to miss this year, but did enjoy online was Tabboo, also at Karma Gallery. The installation is worth looking at here.
Big Green Manhattan Skyline, 2021
West Side Story, 2021
Happy New Year!!!
Wonderful post! Thank you so much for all these great images.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing!
DeleteBeautiful post. Sandra would have been honored!
ReplyDeleteNot sure who wrote this, but thank you for it. I loved feeling Sandra nearby, thinking about her, remembering adventures while I painted that still life.
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ReplyDeleteOn New Year's morning I have set my sights on the sort of life these paintings show. Here is to a year of noticing beauty in the everyday. Thank You Laura!
Thank you...so glad to hear it.
DeleteI love seeing all of these through your eyes and sensibility!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a Beautiful selection, including Your work.
ReplyDeleteThreading depictions of loose figures and interiors a’ Vuillard to contemporary painters is close to our hearts
Thank you!
DeleteLaura this is fantastic! I love your paintings and Steven’s sketch book… And all these figurative artists with loose brush styles are amazing. Thanks for posting and introducing me to the ones I didn’t know.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed this...I know we appreciate many of the same painters!
DeleteLaura your paintings are gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing them with us...and this whole post is wonderful and inspiring...! xJessica
ReplyDeleteThank you Jessica! So glad to hear from you!
Deletelaura, i always learn so much from you, you have the best eye, and it turns out i REALLY LOVE what you love. izzy barber! the artificial light, wow. your ode to sandra made me cry, of course. my mom was a huge fan of Vuillard, always makes me think of her. and also, my mom often sl,athered on the oil paint in her own paintings -- manipulating the globs with a palette knife, still lives as well. fantastic to see steven's incredible journal paintings. thank you. x phoebe
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear from you. I'm touched that you could feel Sandra in there. She's so amazing and so deeply missed. Would love to see more of your mom's paintings...I loved the ones I've seen. And very pleased you enjoy the artists I included! Thank you! xox
DeleteLaura, this is wonderful. I love your paintings and it is inspiring to see the artists who have influenced you. And I am always amazed at how Steven captures your essence so perfectly in his journal paintings. Like others, I was moved by your ode to Sandra. Thank you for this lovely trip through these images! Love, Marty
ReplyDeleteThank you Marty...lovely of you to write in. It's true about Steven...he does get me! Thanks for looking so closely. xox
DeleteYour memory paintings are beautiful and evocative. I hope we'll get to see more of them!
ReplyDeleteLove this work and evolution, Laura! Somebody said that memory is the only thing that has real atmosphere. And there is so much atmosphere in these.
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