In his fourth solo exhibition at James Fuentes Gallery on the Lower East Side, John McAllister (on Curator Anne Ellegood’s list of recommended painters, as seen in NAP #97) presents a series of medium and larger scale paintings that touch on Modernism, Fauvism, Zen, and interior design.  The works in Damned Sparkling Pomp vibrate with lush color, swatches of pattern and abbreviated paintings of paintings, a la Matisse.  These flattened interior scenes emphasize the push and pull of the material and flat picture plane, suggesting depth within the foremost layer in flattened space.  Within the larger painting, the suggested paintings are often askew, slightly disturbing the evenness and balance of the outer borders.  Unlike Matisse’s Red Studio (1911), which depicts paintings arranged in a flattened, red artist’s studio, McAllister has painted his paintings into cropped views of luxurious domestic walls, an element in an overall design and color scheme.  Mixing a reverence for painting's history with a tongue-in-cheek nod to the realities of being a contemporary painter, McAllister’s works are fresh and nostalgic, if not also a little breathtaking. - Alex Ebstein, Baltimore Contributor

See more pictures after the jump!

Damned Sparkling Pomp at James Fuentes LLC installation view

Under Spells Spelled Vital, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 35x 29 inches

Darksome Almost Dawn, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 58 x 49 inches

Darksome Almost Dawn, Detail

Rioutous Gleaming Jungly, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 31 x 25 inches

Flora Florae, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 31 x 25 inches

Solstice Sometimes, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 29 inches

When Runs Silence, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 58 x 49 inches

Damned Sparkling Pomp at James Fuentes LLC installation view

Damned Sparkling Pomp at James Fuentes LLC installation view

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John McAllister is a 2007 MFA graduate from the Art Center College of design and a 2007 Joan
Mitchell Foundation MFA grant recipient. In 2011, he will have participated in group exhibitions at The
Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation, Miami, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles,
David Kordansky, Los Angeles and White Flag Projects, Saint Louis and held solo exhibitions at
Ribordy Contemporary, Geneva. He was born in Slidell, Louisiana and is based in Los Angeles,
California.  

Alex Ebstein is a Baltimore based writer, artist, and co-director of Nudashank.