February 14, 2014, 8:41am

Material Concerns: Q&A with Mitzi Pederson

To say that JPEG images don’t do justice to Mitzi Pederson’s work at Ratio 3 (3:43, open through Saturday, February 15th) is a bit of an understatement. Her exploration of materials finds her once again working with tulle, a fine netting that is lightweight and translucent and seemingly fragile from up close -- good luck capturing that with your DSLR. Sculpturally, Pederson continues to work with simple arrangements of cinder blocks on the floor that are formally reminiscent of Carl Andre. On the walls her assemblages are clear references to painting -- squint your eyes enough and Pederson’s color palette might remind you of Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, step back and you’re sure to find a connection to Rebecca Morris’ whimsical abstractions. I recently had the chance to email Mitzi a few questions about her show, her materials, and her interest in painting. Her answers after the jump. -- Matt Smith Chavez, San Francisco Contributor

Mitzi Pederson | Untitled, 2014, Tulle, ink, 35 x 31 inches. Courtesy of Ratio 3

February 10, 2014, 9:22am

Radcliffe Bailey’s Maroons

In Radcliffe Bailey’s (NAP #28) new exhibition, Maroons, on view at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, the Atlanta-based artist challenges the dominant history of slavery, and probes the unexpected cultural interactions that it inadvertently promoted. The show’s title references the “maroon” communities of escaped African slaves that formed illicit settlements throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. The English name for these “maroons” comes from the Taíno word símaran, a word describing the flight of an arrow. Taíno is the indigenous culture and language of Caribbean islands like Hispaniola that the colonists first made landfall on, making it an appropriate root for the term. The title also primes viewers for the issues of displacement, diaspora, and migration that the works in this show primarily engage. – Nadiah Fellah, NYC Contributor

Installation view showing Vessel, 2012 (left), tarp, iron, vintage model ship, wicker basket and glass, 120 x 188 x 89 inches; and Pensive, 2013 (right), bronze and rough-sawn fir logs, 58 x 39 ¼ x 45 ¼ inches. Courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery.

February 03, 2014, 3:47pm

In The Studio: Process of a Painting with Terrence Campagna

Terrence Campagna uses new and found wood to make art that is both painterly and sculptural.  Gathering wood from a range of places including Wisconsin, Nebraska, New York and more, Campagna (NAP #101) pieces together beautifully weathered pieces with newer and bolder painted pieces that are inspired by the traffic signs on the interstate. 

In a way, his work encapsulates the blurriness our eyes encounter when taking in the juxtaposition of aged buildings and new signs we see while speeding down an interstate.  As with all Process of a Painting pieces, we follow Campagna’s work from start to finish…A process which began by filming video studies for inspiration and one which ended with two additional pieces (Untitled) pictured at the end of the post. – Ellen C. Caldwell, Los Angeles Contributor

Terrence Campagna | Plumule (Reedsburg, WI/ Omaha, NE/ Marquette, NE/ Utica, NY), 10' x 5.5' x 1', 2013.

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 7^th, 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 15^th.

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