December 10, 2013, 10:52am

Bodies of Work: Rebecca Campbell

Since her LA emergence in 2002, Rebecca Campbell (NAP #37) has been crafting sumptuous, painterly scenes that range from the poignantly quotidian to the kaleidoscopically fantastical.  The embrace of her paint handling and leaning towards large formats lend heroic, almost legendary proportions to the men, women, and children who inhabit what often appears to be a magically-real version of domestic, middle-class life.  But the dazzle of the paint does not distract or disguise – her pictures look in the eye what is often relegated to the nostalgic, the sentimental, and the emotional.  In the hands of a lesser artist, images of this sort frequently fall outside the purview of contemporary art.  Campbell, however, forges a meditation on autobiography that demands a closer investigation.  The depth of her imagery upends and reclaims motifs such as family, children, rainbows, fireworks, lightning bolts, and mushroom clouds with such deftness that their full meaning seem linked to their depiction in paint. - Jason Ramos, Los Angeles Contributor

Rebecca Campbell | Just Another Diamond Day, 2010, oil on canvas, 72 x 64 1/2 inches. Private collection. Image courtesy of LA Louver, Venice, CA

December 08, 2013, 10:17am

Taking the Long Way: Miles Cleveland Goodwin’s Paintings of Montebella Road

Miles Cleveland Goodwin paints images of a rustic, evasive place few might guess to be his home. Flocks of crows, a floating black ray, wiry snakeskins, lonely doves and other unsentimental creatures inhabit the dusty roads and muddy skies seen earlier this year in his series A Long Road Home, at Froelick Gallery, in Portland, OR and now continue in Montebella Road, at Greg Kucera Gallery, in Seattle, WA. Eschewing the signs of routine we expect to find in the place someone resides, Goodwin’s desolate scenes, referencing a road that he lives on in Mississippi, have the air of true remoteness—the kind that inspires countless questions among onlookers and outsiders, despite the underlying sense that they never will get any real answers.

Miles Cleveland Goodwin | Trapped, 2012, Oil on canvas, 24 X 36 inches. Image courtesy of Greg Kucera Gallery.

December 05, 2013, 12:14pm

Rebecca Ward: Unraveling Tradition

In a delightfully revealing exhibition, shucked & silked at Barbara Davis Gallery, the multifaceted Rebecca Ward presents new work that not only references on her ambitious installation practices with electrical tape, but also indicates interesting new territory her studio practice is headed. Ward’s newest offering highlights her material fluency through her synthesis of painting, installation and sculpture. - Claude Smith, Albuquerque/Santa Fe Contributor

Rebecca Ward | Believers and Deceivers, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches; image courtesy of Barbara Davis Gallery

December 02, 2013, 10:46am

Art Basel Miami Beach; Can't Wait (Part One)

Here we go again: it is Miami time for the art world. Over the next week hundreds of galleries representing thousands of artists will descend on southern Florida for an annual event that is part cultural bazaar, and part art world summer camp. Once again, there are a multitude of art fairs: NADA, Untitled, Miami Project and Pulse just to name a few. At the top of the art world pyramid though, stands the fair that got the whole week humming: Art Basel Miami.

For someone who is in Miami working, on-line art fair catalogs are a god send. I spent a few hours scouring the Basel online catalog in search of work/exhibitions that I “must see” in the relatively brief time I will have to spend at the cavernous Miami Beach Convention Center. I am also always curious as to which artists from past issues of New American Paintings have made it to what is arguably the biggest stage in the commercial world today (for example, Andrew Brischler who appeared in NAP just a couple of years ago and now finds himself at the big show with GAVLAK).

Andrew Brischler (NAP #98)
Gavlak

In the next few days I'll be posting lists comprised of artists, artworks, and exhibitions appearing at this year’s installment of Art Basel Miami that I am eager to see. I focused mostly on emerging artists. There is obviously a plethora of historic and blue chip work that will be on view as well, but I tend to focus on the new and interesting at these things.

Today's list is comprised of former New American Paintings artists that you'll find at this year's Art Basel. Tomorrow we'll start posting other artists at the fair. - Steven Zevitas, Publisher