BIALA

Yesterday I went to Tibor de Nagy and saw one painting that made my entire trip to NYC more than worthwhile. It was by the artist Biala in a little side gallery with about six other pieces some by Jane Freilicher and others by Nell Blaine. I passed over Blaine pretty quickly, the Freilichers were pretty nice and then this painting above hit me in the stomach. The richness in the subtlety found in person is something rare and stunning. It was a perfect painting.

"Biala's paintings seem touched by a tough ingenuousness — never sentimental or naïve, but slightly nostalgic in their playful intimacy. Suffusing them is the outlook of a painter who has found what she needs and knows what she wants to do. The results glow with a wondrous candor." John Goodrich NY Sun

I really hope there is a solo show of her again soon. They had one in 2007 and I didn't know of her until pretty recently. There is very little online and these have to be seen in person. Her palette, subject matter, touch, restrain all create a really magical work and again I see what I want to do and just how much work it will take.

First Friday Fun

This past friday I was in a show with 9 other PAFA MFAs in Old City. It was a good time and the show looked really nice. I ended up putting in two smaller works rather than the one in the postcard. It's at Margot and Camille and open on the weekends all month at 142 N 2nd St.

Brenda Goodman

Loss, 2009

Self Portrait 2, 1994

Here are two excerpts from a great interview of Brenda Goodman by David Brody on artcritical. Her view of the world communicated through her work is different than mine but her work is so felt that it makes me realize 1. not to be so fearful and 2. how incredibly far I have to go...maybe in the next 46 years...

"I guess for me why my work doesn't ever seem current is that I try and stay with the intensity and the emotion, the feeling, without making it ironic...I don't know if I have but I do everything I can not to distance myself in the work. Otherwise I wouldn't do it. Where we are now in the art world is that artists go out of their way to distance themselves. I try to do just the opposite."

"What I've learned most about painting in 46 years is the act of surrender: to look at something and to know that you can keep stubbornly working on it to make it look like the way you think it should, or you can let go of that preciousness - that precious area that's keeping the painting from being finished. You can just wipe it out and trust something bigger than yourself to let it resolve....To me this is one of the most spiritual aspects of painting."

A Little Rothenberg

Goat Eye, 1991

"My first goat. (My only goat.) Framing the yellow eye which I loved to look at."

Tender and simple; an effectively perfect painting by Susan Rothenberg.

A little Neel

Gray Still Life, 1959, Oil on Canvas

Such a gem from Alice Neel. I love a lot of her work. Beautiful, honest line quality. I love this especially because its more of a caught moment than a conscious, set-up portrait which is more my interest. Plus the light coming in, varied grays and ambiguous, tender objects create such a mood. So good.

George Segal

These are from one of the best kept secrets of the PAFA library...a small blue book which holds about 30 color reproductions of George Segal pastels and an interview. Both have been important to me. I find these much more compelling than the sculptures he is so well known for.