michael light

some images from michael light to go with my comments on “the road” by cormack mccarthy (see “what i’ve been reading”)

michael light, “pinto basin at 500′” from “some dry space”

michael light, “cadiz lake” from “some dry space”

michael light “dragon’s back” from “some dry space”

michael light, “calumet mountains” from “some dry space”

michael light, “#16″ from “bingham mine / garfield stack”

michael light, “#7″ from “bingham mine / garfield stack”

story telling

i’m working on a series of group exhibitions. the art will be paintings or drawings on paper. and narrative — not illustrative — the stories are original to the artists. the narratives are personal, intimate, and coded. the artists have developed personal visual vocabularies that allow them to express stories that are open-ended and can be interpreted in many ways, possibly posing more questions than giving answers. the work is lyrical.

shahzia sikander “plush blush 12″ (2003) gouache and ink on hand clay-coated paper, 15 x 11 1/2 inches

like all of the work that i’m interested in, these pieces are beautifully executed. the “craft” seduces you. next you’re bewildered by the story — the piece is purposeful — the message is puzzling. you can look and look and there’s always something new to discover. your interpretation of the work changes over the course of time. the imagery gets lodged deep in your psyche and repeatedly re-surfaces. as your life experience changes, so does your understanding of the art. that, in fact, defines what i think good art is.

chris ballantyne “untitled (stair)” (2007) acrylic on paper, 14 x 20 inches

crystal liu “nature’s betrayal (and i told her)” (2007) ink, watercolor, gouache and collage on paper, 21 x 21 inches

some of the work is obsessive. frequently i find work that’s a product of a focused, intense, often laborious process to be inward-looking, sincere and original. the key is that the work transcend navel-gazing and touch themes that are meaningful beyond a specific individual experience, culture or time.

rachell sumpter “the gleaners” 2007 gouache and pastel on paper, 11 1/2 x 18 inches

why works on paper? the subject matter of this work is personal, and internal. works on paper often feel very intimate. as if (and it’s sometimes the case), the artist stopped in the middle of a thought or experience and recorded their emotional place on paper. the creative process seems less planned, less edited, more raw, spontaneous and honest.

yuka yamaguchi “park – debut” (2007) colored pencil on paper, 14×11 inches

the first exhibition in this series will open in new york the 10th of april. it’ll be called “100 stories” and focus on the work of crystal liu. we’ll show a group of her photographs, as well as a group of her ink, water color and collaged drawings.

crystal liu “the sea (say that you know)” 2008 gouache and ink and collage on paper, 27×27 inches

at the same time, we’ll show a group of ruth marten’s drawings made on found 18th century engravings. rachell sumpter’s gouache and pastel drawings and yuka yamaguchi’s colored pencil drawings.

yuka yamaguchi “koinobore” (2007) colored pencil on paper, 14×11 inches

by showing works in series, the artists can play with themes and explore issues more fully. it also gives a viewer a better opportunity to “decipher” the work.

the second exhibition will be in san francisco in september of 2008. i’m interested in suggestions for that show. have you seen an artist’s work that fits? do you make work that does what i’m describing? let me know… i’m looking for suggestions.

crystal liu

“the storm” 2008  c-print 30×30 inches, edition of 7.   from the upcoming  show “100 stories” opening 10 april in ny.

ko-an (‘ko,än) noun : a paradoxical anecdote or riddle used in Zen
Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and
provoke enlightenment. Origin: Japanese, “matter for public thought,”
from Chinese gongàn “official business.”

The meanings of Crystal Liu’s enigmatic photographs unfold quietly -
revealing, obscuring, gently teasing, delighting. Quotidian objects in
domestic interiors become landscapes. Patterned wallpaper is the
forest floor; a lace curtain the falling night; spilled jam on a white
tablecloth a violent crime scene. Liu’s imagery is at first playful, then
puzzling and ultimately provocative, as domestic narratives become
metaphors for intimate relationships and private joy and tragedy.

anoka faruqee

anoka faruqee is an extraordinarily talented artist who lives and works in l.a. she’s a conceptual artist who makes these gorgeous paintings composed of fields of interlocking brush marks. the image above is a detail of this painting (freehand fade to gray green ground”):

the “pixels” that make up the picture reference islamic tile work (faruqee is a second-generation bangladeshi) and digital technologies and are hand-painted. the “fade” or “shadow” that appears in the paintings is effected by mixing more than a hundred subtly shifting colors for each painting.

you can see the way it works in this detail of a painting called “freehand fade to exposed gray green”:

note the brush strokes visible in the paintings. while the paint is exceedingly flat, there’s surface texture resulting from the gesture of the mark-making.

“Each painting represents an heroic labor of inconceivable
precision, yet their scale exposes the “hand” and inevitable
irregularity in human endeavor. They are mementos of the
human ambition to understand, control and represent
phenomena — and its futility.” (from our press release)

we currently have an exhibition of faruqee’s work at our new york gallery.

at their most basic, these paintings are about the way light moves across a surface. seeing them bathed in daylight — which modulates throughout the day — is a phenomenological experience far more compelling than anything elliason achieves. and what a treat to see these paintings in a context where you can examine the variations between paintings. i keep finding myself standing in front of a painting and being lost within it. marveling at the ability to create something so complex and beautiful. as solid and detailed and carefully constructed as the paintings are up close, they dissolve into something atmospheric a few steps away…

an earlier, more “op-y” painting in our conference room: