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 16^th, 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

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.

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?

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.