Verification

The work on the left is by Farzad Kohan and I'm not sure if the positive elements are collage or what's left of an underpainting after he applied the green ground. Either way, it reminded me of my painting on the right, titled "Moron". There is an underpainting that I "washed out" wih an off-white glaze. The next step was tracing out the letters of the phrase and then painting the bluish ground for contrast. It's always a pleasure to exhibit this painting and watch people try to figure out the phrase. A few get it instantly, but most take several minutes and a few never do get it. (the answer is at the bottom)  I'm convinced it has more to do with your current mental state than any amount of smarts you have.

The image of Farzad's work is from his Blog which you'll want to visit because this particular piece is a one-off and not representative of his oeuvre. His Website showcases his abstract paintings.
  

EVRYBOdy is Just Exacty Where They're Sposed to BE

Calligraphy As Grid

.
It's always intriguing to find different artists who come to the same conclusions artistically. On the right we have Denise Lach and this example of her work is from Terres d'ecritures. Although almost everything about her is in French, you can still get the gist of her oeuvre by viewing her work.

They're both presenting the written wordy as a grid or a minimal pattern where the subject matter is not the meaning of the words, but of the visual pattern itself.

The above work is by Ruslan Naiden and the image is from Calligraphy MVK, which is a huge calligraphy site you'll want to explore. We're not talking wedding invitations here; this is contemporary calligraphy that will surprise you.

Russian Crosses

This is a tremendous joke.

On the left we have Kasimir Malevitch's Suprematist composition which sold for $17,052,500, (includes the buyer's premium) at Phillips New York: Thursday, May 11, 2000.

image is from Artnet. see the auction page of The City Review, here.

.

On the right - "Kitchen Suprematism" series (IV) 2005, photowork is by either Viacheslav Mizin or Alexander Shaburov, of the Blue Noses Group.

image from das artes plasticas

.

Thomas Ingmire / Brion Gysin

.
It was a pleasure to go though the artists listed under Ab/Cal, on the right side of my blog and to find artists whose works were similar. In fact, what became very clear is that as these many different artists experimented with letters, words, calligraphy and cursive, gestural mark making, they tended to do the same types of things; found the same answers.
Here we see Thomas Ingmire's "The Edge Of Light" (1998), 18” x 24,” acrylic on handmade paper mounted over canvas, on the left. On the right is Brion Gysin's "Germinations" 1959, Ink on paper.



















As you can see, they seem to have come to the same conclusion in these two works that are 39 years apart. It looks like they're trying to show us the movement, the activity of writing, but without producing any specific letters or words. Writing without results. When we speak and when we write there's a natural cadence or rhythm involved. I believe that's what they're trying to show us here - a picture of the inertia of the act of writing.

The image of Ingmire's work is from his on-line Gallery

The image of Gysin's work is from Creativetime.org.
.

comPairs

These two beauties were painted 23 years apart by two distinctly different artists.
The painting on the left is by Daniel Mendel-Black and was painted in 2006, the very same year that the painting on the right, by Gerhard Richter, sold at Sotheby's November Auction for $2,368,000.
























You certainly can't help but notice the squeegeed, quasi rainbows in both; the vertical canary yellow, the addition of thick black strokes and some goldfish orange. They both even have the thin undulating green lines.
If you go to Daniel's page at the Mandarin Gallery and view the 12 works there (of which this is one), you'll soon come to the conclusion that he's not copying anybody. He's found his own oeuvre and is pursuing it fully.
But it certainly is interesting that Daniel's painting "#69" from 2006 should have so many elements that are similar to those in Gerhard's "Maria(544-4), 1983 - Image from Artnet.

comPAIRS 3

What we have here is 3-dimensional calligraphic gesture.

On the right is "SQUIGGLELinearB307" by Creighton Michael. Read more about his thoughts and reasoning on his Squiggle and Scribble page; one of several styles of Sculptures.

And on your left is Shinique Smith. The image is of "Nobody's Fool, GMG Version" from her page at the Skestos Gabriele Gallery. You'll find more examples of her work at Moti Hasson Gallery and go see her Exhibition there as well.

With a little research you'll find that they are coming at their sculptures/installations by two different trains of thought and processes. But for me, I see the singularity, beauty and strength of the calligraphic gesture and the creative possibilities of it existing beyond the parameters of 2-dimensions.

comPAIRS 2

.
The word Pointillism immediately brings to mind the Impressionists and Pointillists of the late 19th Century. Some may even know the name Georges Seurat, who seems to be the most famous of the practitioners of that oeuvre. At that time, the object was to break a scene down into it's most basic of elements - single brush strokes of color, and let the viewer's eye blend the colors and perceive the tableau, instead of using the brush to blend. In the years since, artists have applied that same principle to abstract painting. Peter Young and Andrew Forge come to mind. Gastone Biggi pretty much mastered this oeuvre in the early 90's, and in the 40 plus years that Kuno Gonschior pursued this, he took it right on into (pointillist) Minimalism.


Here we are in 2008 and pointillism has evolved into a celebration of itself. It's definitely cut the apron strings to realism and now stands on it's own or works as just another prop in any composition. These "points" can be any size, both large or small, whether painted or made of collage.
Both of these paintings were done in 2007. In John's mixed media work, below, these orbs of nuanced colors seem to just hang and float there with no apparent purpose other than to entertain us. On the other hand, Glenn's work (left) gives us some other realistic clues to work with. Even though his orbs are front and center and an integral part of the composition, they remain very neutral, making them open to interpretation. Fascinating how similar the color tones are in these two works. So we've come quite a ways from painting realistically and copying nature using small brush strokes or points of color, to actually constructing abstracts that celebrate the dots of color, themselves.

Top image, Glenn Fischer's, "A Boy With Guns Means Business", 16"x20" from his Website.


Right is John Belingheri, "Dipthong Azure", 78"x88" , from his page at Andrea Schwartz Gallery.

comPAIRS 1

This is the first in an occasional series of posts to compare similar work by different artists. I honestly have no point that I want to prove. It's just fascinating to find artists who work in the same vein. You're free to make your own conclusions.

The work on the right is a beautiful example of trompe l'oeil, titled "Cover" 2006 by Kees Goudzwaard. At first look you think you're looking at a composition of colored paper and masking tape. You're partially correct; that's how it started, but he replaced those items with oil paint. A wonderfully sly joke, this is an oil painting of what you think you're looking at(a pretty composition of simple materials).

The work on the left is by Stefan Anneral, titled "Spens" 2007. This also looks like a composition using simple materials; and it is. Stefan builds his painting in layers and does use tape. But he has a different goal in mind and it'd be best if you go here to get the gist of it.

Both artists are listed under Abstract Artists in the links to your right.

"Spens" image is from Absolutearts.com

"Cover" image is from Zeno-x.com