November 30, 2014, 6:20pm

New American Paintings Alumni at Art Basel Miami Beach

As I have said many times, one of the great joys of publishing New American Paintings is following the careers of our alumni. We do so assiduously and bring updates to our readership through the publication and on-line via the New American Paintings/BLOG. Part of the publication’s raison d’etre is to give our readership the type of inside information that allows them to discover artistic talent before it emerges. Whether it is an artist such as Matthew Day Jackson, who was featured in 2001 while still earning his MFA, or Evan Nesbit, who was featured in 2012 only months before Roberts & Tilton picked him up, we have time and time again offered savvy collectors the chance to be there first.

Brian Calvin (Issue #11). Courtesy of Anton Kern Gallery.

It is no secret that art fairs are driving much of the art market these days, and, like everything in life, the art fair system has a pecking order. At the top of the mountain is Art Basel, and its sister fair, Basel Miami Beach. For all intents and purposes, galleries that are included in this fair have “made it,” and the artists they present there are having their work exposed to thousands of collectors, art world professionals, and art enthusiasts. For these lucky artists, it is a very big deal that can launch careers and push already thriving ones to the next level.

Every year we scour the rosters of the various fairs set to open in Miami in search of NAP alumni who will be on view. As in the past, the various satellite fairs will include dozens of them. This year, however, we are excited to see that no less then 30 NAP alumni will be featured at the Big Show: 2014 Basel Miami Beach. A sample of them are listed below, many of whom are now internationally known. Our congratulations go out to all of them. See you in Miami. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

November 19, 2014, 9:30am

MUST SEE PAINTING SHOWS: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

There has been a lot of talk as of late about the receding importance of brick and mortar gallery spaces and a perceived dearth of quality programming at those that still exist. While the internet and the general ease of global communication are sited as causes, the rise of the art fair is most often blamed for the trend. I did not see a lot of evidence of gallery Armageddon as I conducted my monthly review of painting shows. Even on the eve of art world spring break (aka Miami art fair week), dozens of commercial spaces around the country are mounting first-rate solo and group exhibitions.

New American Paintings’ alumni look great this month. In Chicago, one of the city’s most interesting emerging artists, Dan Gunn, has new abstract work at Monique Meloche, as does Terence Hannum at Guest Spot in Baltimore and Seth Adelsberger at ltd los angeles. In New Orleans, Havana-born local legend Luis Cruz Azaceta looks good at Arthur Roger Gallery. My own gallery in Boston has been taken over by the great Franklin Evans, who is presenting new paintings in the context of a floor to ceiling installation. Former New York City dealer, and all around great guy, Jeff Bailey, has relocated to Hudson, NY, where, this month, he is presenting work by University of Iowa Professor and painters’ painter, John Dilg. In the City, Sarah McEneaney continues to blow me away with her suite of hard won new paintings at Tibor de Nagy (Be sure to read Roberta Smith’s review of the show in the New York Times.)

Jaqueline Cedar. Courtesy of Gallery 106 Green, Brooklyn.

I want to give a special shout out to one of my favorite emerging artists, Jaqueline Cedar, who has four new large-scale paintings at Gallery 106 Green in Brooklyn. I first did a studio visit with her when she was finishing her B.F.A. at UCLA, and she was already a skilled painter. She subsequently attended Columbia and since graduating in 2009 has only gotten stronger and stronger as time goes by.

Some of the many strong solo exhibitions around the country this month include: Angelbert Metoyer at Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston; Donald Moffett at Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin; a beautiful show of figurative works on paper by New York School founding member Jack Tworkov at Valerie Carberry Gallery in Chicago; Brian Bress at Cherry and Martin and a major show of new work by Jonas Wood in David Kordansky’s cavernous new gallery space, both in Los Angeles; and Whiting Tennis at Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle. As usual, New York City is brimming over with strong shows. Top among them for me are: Bill Traylor at Betty Cunningham Gallery; Lily Ludlow at CANADA; Alexander Ross at David Nolan Gallery; Sean Landers at Petzel; R.H. Quaytman at Gladstone Gallery; Ridley Howard at Koenig & Clinton; Huguette Caland at Lombard Freid Gallery; Gladys Nilsson at Garth Greenan Gallery; Kara Walker at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.; and be sure to catch the work of emerging artist Ted Gahl in a project room show soon to open at Zach Feuer.

I am a huge fan of well-conceived group exhibitions of which there are a number around the country this month. Two in particular caught my eye, not only because they are well curated, but because, as a pair, they effectively speak to disparate, but vital tendencies within the realm of painting. In Los Angeles, Overduin & Co. presents “Seven Reeds,” a group exhibition that includes an international cast of five of the most talked about emerging artists on the planet – including Jacob Kassay, Julia Rommel and Fredrik Vaerslev - each of whom are pushing abstraction to new places. On the opposite coast in Brooklyn, The Journal Gallery has just opened “The Great Figure.” In this show six artists working in a figurative mode – including Dana Schutz, Henry Taylor and past NAP cover artist Keith Mayerson – demonstrate how the oldest of subject matters can, in the right hands, be as relevant as ever. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher

November 03, 2014, 9:34am

Rebecca Farr’s Sweet Broken Now

Rebecca Farr’s recent solo show at Klowden-Mann was a strong force to be reckoned with--both in terms of the physical presence of her paintings and in the contending contemplation her subject demanded.

With heavy paint on blotted and torn, layered paper, Farr collages print photos from 1970s and 80s coffee table books as her source material. She layers those with paper and heavy paint on wood panel, creating works that feel dense and heavy, yet very exciting and current.

Farr paints photos into vague suggestions of landscape paintings, as if her subjects inhabit a ghost world or ethereal dream. In “Sweet Broken Now,” Farr’s third solo show at Klowden-Mann, Farr made Manifest Destiny her subject of inquiry and aimed to capture the complex history arising from the ideology and religious fervor that justified white westward expansion during the early 1900s. – Ellen C. Caldwell, Los Angeles Contributor

Rebecca Farr | Installation view featuring Tilth 1, 2014, Mixed media on wood panel, 48 x 72”. Courtesy of Klowden-Mann.

October 14, 2014, 10:10am

Far North: Interview with Beau Carey

As a culmination of a recent winter residency in Denali National Park, Far North marks Beau Carey’s second exhibition at Goodwin Fine Art in Denver, CO. This recent offering showcases a group of exquisitely painted artic environments that highlight contemporary themes of globalization, environmental concerns and the variety of constructs that shape our perceptions of landscape. No stranger to the harsh conditions of the northern-most hemisphere, Carey’s inclusion in the Artic Circle Residency in 2012 prompted an interest in coastal surveying and profiling, a theme he hopes to continue next year during a residency at Rabbit Island, a remote, 91-acre forested island on Lake Superior three miles east of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. I recently caught up with Carey to discuss his work. – Claude Smith, Albuquerque/Santa Fe Contributor

Beau Carey | Batholith, 2014, oil on canvas, 40 x 46 inches; image courtesy the artist