Must-See

November 30, 2014, 12:02pm

A Run Through Art Basel Miami Beach 2014

It is Miami time again. I spent the last few weeks prepping for my own gallery’s presentation (UNTITLED, Booth #A04), and finally had a chance to peruse what is happening at the various fairs that will be scattered throughout the city. At the top of the heap is, of course, the fair that started them all: Art Basel Miami Beach. Over the next few days, two hundred and fifty + galleries representing thousands of artists will be busy installing their booths in preparation for next Wednesday’s Private Viewing. With the contemporary art market continuing to race along a break-neck speeds, all indications are that it will be another successful year for all involved.


Photo by Andrew Katz

I spent a few hours visiting various sites on-line to get the lay of the land. With very few exceptions I focused on emerging/mid-career artists…I mean, we all know what an Anish Kapoor looks like at this point. The list below is made up of artists and work that I am particularly excited to see next week. Enjoy the list. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

Listed under: Art Market, Art World, Must-See

April 02, 2014, 9:32am

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: April

Back in December, I wrote an article in which I suggested that, after a number of years in which abstraction has been the dominant mode of painting in the “contemporary art world,” we might start to see an upswing in image-based painting. It is not exactly a Delphic prophecy given the way in which today’s market driven art world is constantly craving the next best thing, and, I might add, in ever more compressed cycle times. In conducting my monthly survey of commercial gallery shows this month I was struck by the amount of representational work on view, and even more so by the “academic” rigor much of it evinces. So what am I talking about? Have a look… – Steven Zevitas, Publisher


Deborah Oropallo. Courtesy of Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco.

Listed under: Must-See

March 05, 2014, 8:51am

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: MARCH

It is a big week in the New York art world as six art fairs come to town, including The Armory Show and The ADAA Art Show, and the 2014 installment of the Whitney Biennial opens. Art dealers know an opportunity when they see one, so don’t be surprised to see a number of Biennial artists well represented in the various art fairs. I want to congratulate two New American Paintings’ alumni, past cover artist Keith Mayerson and Chicago-based Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, on their inclusion in this very painter friendly Biennial. Both are also currently featured in commercial gallery shows at Derek Eller Gallery in New York City and Corbett vs. Dempsey, respectively.

There are close to three-dozen NAP alumni on view around the country. In Los Angeles, Ben Weiner continues to impress with his painterly chops. His just opened show at Mark Moore Gallery includes stunning examples of his large-scale photorealist/abstract images, as well as a new series of small-scale works made with some interesting materials. Right nearby in Culver City are Brian Porray’s show at Western Project, and a soon-to-open solo of work by 2013 MFA Annual artist and Yale grad, Evan Nesbit. Four extremely talented LA-based NAP alumni are currently having solo shows in New York City, including Lisa Sanditz at CRG Gallery, Iva Gueorguieva at Ameringer | McEnery| Yohe, Sarah Cain at Galerie Lelong, and the young and already in demand Brenna Youngblood at Jack Tilton Gallery (Youngblood will be the focus of an exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis later this year).

Some months seem to favor mid-career and established artists, but emerging talent is on view everywhere in March. In Chicago, William J. O’Brien, who works in a range of media, from ceramics to painting, opens a show of new work at Shane Campbell Gallery (the artist is currently having his first comprehensive museum survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). In San Francisco, Altman Sigel is presenting the delicate paintings of the Japanese artist, Shinpei Kusanagi. In Minneapolis, the young and on-the-move David Petersen Gallery is exhibiting new paintings by hometown emerging artist, Scott Nedrelow.


Jordan Kantor. Courtesy of Churner and Churner, New York City.

I don’t even know where to begin with New York City. Shows by emerging artists that I am excited about include: Ethan Cook at American Contemporary, Jordan Kantor at Churner and Churner, Mika Tajima at Eleven Rivington, Rose Marcus at Eli Ping, Gabriel Hartley at Foxy Production, Liam Everett at On Stellar Rays, Donelle Woolford at Wallspace, and Lauren Silva at Zieher Smith. One of our favorites at NAP, Summer Wheat, opens a show at the Lower East Side space, Pocket Utopia, on March 16th, and will also be the focus of a solo booth presentation with Samson at the Nada New York art fair in May. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

Listed under: Must-See

January 30, 2014, 9:50am

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: FEBRUARY

There are more than two-dozen New American Paintings’ alumni on view this month, and some of our favorites are among them. Molly Zuckerman-Hartung opens a show of new work at Corbett vs. Dempsey in Chicago on February 7th, just two months before she appears in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. Four extremely talented Los Angeles-based artists will have exhibitions in New York City this month: Sarah Cain at Galerie Lelong; Iva Gueorguieva at Ameringer|McEnery|Yohe; Frohawk Two Feathers at Morgan Lehman; and Lisa Sanditz at CRG Gallery (I should add that all four of these artists were featured in NAP early in their careers…yes, it pays to subscribe). If you are on the West Coast, then be sure to check out James Sterling Pitt at Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco and Patrick Wilson at Susanne Vielmetter in LA.

Frohawk Two Feathers. Courtesy of Morgan Lehman, New York City.

It sounds like an obvious statement, but there is a lot going on in New York City in February, especially for emerging painters.  I am particularly excited about the following exhibitions: Julia Rommel at Bureau, Katherine Bernhardt at Canada, Gabriel Hartley at Foxy Production, Davina Semo at Marlborough Chelsea, Whitney Claflin at Real Fine Arts, Ted Gahl at Dodge Gallery and Holly Coulis at Sardine. Our old friend, Eddie Martinez, has once again put on his curator’s hat and cooked up a must see group show titled Bad Fog at Martos Gallery that closes on February 15th.

A number of galleries around the country are giving shows to deceased artists who are just starting to become better recognized. One of the truly great “realist” painters, of the twentieth-century Gregory Gillespie, will be on view at Forum Gallery in New York City. Also in New York, be sure to see Mitchell-Innes and Nash’s show of work by the Croatian painter, Julije Knifer, and Michel Majerus at Matthew Marks Gallery. In Santa Fe, overlooked abstractionist Oli Sihvonen will have eleven paintings from his last, and largely unseen, body of work on view at David Richard Gallery. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher 

Listed under: Must-See

January 15, 2014, 8:46am

Annie Lapin at Honor Fraser

You have seen Annie Lapin's (NAP #91) work in our magazine, and on our blog. See her work, in the flesh, at Honor Fraser in Los Angeles. Her exhibition, Various Peep Shows, is one of our Must-See shows for the month of January!

Check out this video we produced about her a couple of years ago with Future Shipwreck. And, below the jump, read more about her current exhibition.

Listed under: Noteworthy, Video

January 06, 2014, 8:52pm

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: JANUARY

I looked a lot of art while hunkering down to escape the subarctic temperatures blasting through Boston and much of the rest of the country. My monthly review of more than four hundred gallery shows yielded close to one hundred must-see painting shows, three-dozen of which involve New American Paintings’ alumni.

Among the NAP exhibitions are Radcliffe Bailey at Jack Shianman Gallery in New York City (the mid-career, Atlanta-based artist’s work was the focus of a stellar museum exhibition that traveled for much of 2011 and 2012); John Sparagana at Corbett vs. Dempsey in Chicago,; Astrid Bowlby at Gallery Joe in Philadelphia; and in Los Angeles, Annie Lapin (2010 NAP Artist of the Year) and Matthew Penkala, at Honor Fraser and Western Project, respectively.


John Sparagana. Courtesy of Corbett vs. Dempsey.

There are two noteworthy gallery shows of artists who made their reputations in the earlier part of the 20th-Century: works by Regionalist Thomas Hart Benton are on display at Alan Avery Art Company in Atlanta, and Mr. Push/Pull, Hans Hoffman, whose students included a number of prominent second generation Abstract Expressionists, is on view at Ameringer|McEnery|Yohe in New York City. A number of emerging painters look particularly good this month, including: Alexandra Grant at Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin; Zoe Nelson at Western Exhibitions in Chicago; Laeh Glenn at Altman Siegel in San Francisco; and in New York, Anke Weyer at Canada, Davina Semo at Marlborough Chelsea, and Kour Pour at Untitled.

If abstraction is not your thing, there are plenty of shows of artists working with images, some in a more traditional mode. In Chicago, eighty-something Jane Freilicher will have a one-woman show at Chicago’s Valerie Carberry Gallery. Maine-based painter Gideon Bok has a soon-to-close solo show of paintings depicting the interior of his studio at Barry Whistler Gallery in Dallas, Texas. In New York, be sure to catch Yvonne Jacquette at DC Moore, Steven Assael at Forum Gallery, and Robert Bechtle at Gladstone Gallery.

After the jump, you'll find the entire must-see list for January. Enjoy. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

Listed under: Must-See

December 19, 2013, 3:59pm

14 Artists (+2) to Watch in 2014

Artists kept making paintings in 2013, and they did so in ever more inventive ways. If any single word can sum up the overriding concern of many younger artists over the past few years it is process. As of late, many painters have defined themselves not so much with a specific image or style, but with the way in which they go about “producing” their work. Fire extinguishers, bleach, the sun, printing technologies and even spaghetti have all been employed in the quest for aesthetic advancement. For these artists, the way in which an artwork is made becomes deeply embedded in the meaning of their work. The results of such technical explorations can occasionally come of as gimmicky, but, when successful, they can lead to extraordinary art and new ways of thinking about the medium of paint.

What does painting hold for 2014? If a quick survey of upcoming museum shows, including the 2014 Whitney Biennial is any indication, it will be more widely exhibited and talked about than ever, and mature artists such as Dona Nelson (a 2012 Painters to Watch pick) and Suzanne McClelland will, more and more, have their long overdue day. I will also go out on a limb and say that, after several years where abstraction has been the dominant language of painting, representational work will start to mount a comeback. Among the hundreds of artists I consider each year while publishing New American Paintings, I have noticed a considerable uptick in the number of young painters working with recognizable imagery, some in, dare I say it, almost traditional modes. (And yes, I am aware that representational painting never left, but the institutions that make up the so-called art world have been preoccupied with other things in recent years.)


Dona Nelson. Courtesy of Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, NY.  

Over the past year I conducted dozens of studio visits, traveled to numerous art fairs, and saw hundreds of gallery and museum shows. The list of Painters to Watch in 2014 is made up of some new discoveries, a few artists who, in my mind, presented breakout work this year, and a few old favorites who deserve wider attention. For the purposes of this list, I am defining the activity of painting as broadly as possible. Traditional definitions of media have become less and less important for emerging artists, and, no doubt, some of the listed artists would not consider themselves to be painters per se. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

Who is on your list?

Listed under: NAP News, Noteworthy
Tagged as: NAP, Publisher, Must-See, 2014

November 12, 2013, 7:19pm

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: NOVEMBER

There are more than two-dozen exhibitions by New American Paintings’ alumni on view this month. Among them are the always environmentally conscious Alexis Rockman at Baldwin Gallery in Aspen, hot Chicago export Scott Reeder at Lisa Cooley in New York City, and the extraordinary Sarah McEneaney at Locks Gallery in Philadelphia. 

I am not overstating it when I say that Sarah is one of my favorite painters working today. Her ability to construct space intuitively gives her intimately-scaled egg tempera paintings a shocking immediacy. It might be tempting to lump Sarah in with the widespread trend of “faux-naïve” that has been pervasive in the last decade, but there is nothing “faux” about her paintings. My sense is that there is no strategic impulse at work at all. Sarah’s pictorial language simply is what it is and can be no other way


Sarah McEneaney. Courtesy of Locks Gallery.

Listed under: Must-See

September 11, 2013, 10:50pm

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: SEPTEMBER

September traditionally marks the beginning of the art season, at least as far as commercial galleries are concerned. As collectors and art world professionals return from summer destinations far and wide, you can feel the art world start to shift into high gear. Not surprisingly, many galleries choose to present shows by their top talent in September, and this year is no exception.

Among the dozens of strong painting exhibitions around the country this month are more than three-dozen shows by New American Paintings’ alumni. We pay careful attention to the careers of our alumni at NAP, and over the past twenty years we have seen a number of them go on to achieve great success, both critically and commercially. Some of our favorites are on view this month.

Internationally acclaimed artists Wendy White and Matthew Day Jackson were both featured in NAP when they were still finishing their graduate school work; be sure to catch their shows at Andrew Rafacz Gallery in Chicago and Hauser & Wirth in New York City, respectively.  Two solid, and in my mind underrated, mid-career painters, John Bankston and Alexis Rockman, have solo shows at Walter Maciel Gallery in Los Angeles and Sperone Westwater in New York City, respectively. If emerging artists are your thing, then don’t miss two of Los Angeles’ hottest artists, Eric Yahnker at Ambach & Rice and Devin Troy Strother at Richard Heller Gallery, or Jeanette Mundt at Clifton Benevento and Andrew Schoultz at Morgan Lehman, both in New York.

A big shout out to one of my favorite cities, Chicago, where I will be heading next week to catch the attempted reboot of Art Chicago in its glory days, Expo Chicago. Those living in Chicago, or visiting this month, have a lot of gallery shows to be excited about. Aside from the aforementioned Wendy White show, don’t miss work by the incredible Bill Traylor at Carl Hammer Gallery, or Rebecca Morris at Corbett vs. Dempsey. One of Chicago’s best known exports, Judy Ledgerwood is also on view at Rhona Hoffman Gallery. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

Devin Troy Strother, Courtesy of Richard Heller Gallery.

Listed under: Must-See

June 10, 2013, 8:30am

Must See Painting Shows: June

Summer is a time when many galleries choose to mount group shows, and beginning in July, dozens of such shows will open throughout the country. This month, however, solo exhibitions dominate the commercial gallery landscape…are there are a lot of good ones in the mix. Among them, are shows by more than two dozen New American Paintings alumi. I am particularly excited about John Zurier at Peter Blum Gallery, Garth Weiser at Casey Kaplan, and Ann Toebbe at Monya Rowe Gallery, all in New York City. And if you live in Chicago, be sure to catch a two-person show featuring 2012 MFA Annual artists Samantha Bittman and Gabriel Pionkowski that opens at Thomas Robertello Gallery on June 14th.

Listed under: Must-Sees

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