studio visit with andrea higgins

this is a portrait of first lady pat nixon by andrea higgins.

several years ago, higgins became interested in representing people by painting textiles from their wardrobes. fabrics are fundamental to the aesthetics of a culture and for higgins, a style of dress can be as evocative as the representation of a face. first, she did a group of paintings — glen plaids, herringbones and tweeds — that her grandmother had worn. the paintings were abstract and optical and very familiar. for higgins, they represented “the look” of her grandmother and inspired memories of her. every fiber was represented by a brush stroke and each stroke was built up, one color upon another, layer over layer, to created a three-dimensional mark. in a sense, the images are woven of paint.

so actually, the first two images aren’t full portraits… they’re detail shots from paintings to give you a sense of the surface and labor inherent in this work and the relationship these paintings have to weaving. this is the full “portrait” titled “pat”:

and the dress pat wore to her daughter tricia’s wedding that inspired the portrait:

higgins’ “presidents’ wives” series was exhibited at the san francisco museum of modern art in 2003. since then, higgins has been working on portraits of characters from novels. in portraits of characters from books, she’s added another layer of abstraction and additional burden of labor to her paintings. because the characters exist first in the mind of the author, then that of the reader, there are no images from which to extrapolate. instead, she thoroughly researches the particular type of fabric from the specific era and society the character inhabited. the characters she portrays are particularly conscious of what they are wearing and what it says about them.

a close up of george babbit’ts brown suit, from sinclair lewis’ novel of the same name:

and the crettone in which george’s mistress upholstered her sofa:

the unfinished painting on the easel is a representation of the striped trousers worn by dorian gray.

a detail showing the bottom layer of paint – the horizontal bands of dark gray – as the lighter gray marks get worked across the surface. this panel will be 1/2 of a diptych representing dorian gray.

in the process of painting hundreds of thousands of marks representing threads in a piece of cloth, higgins began thinking about the objects that appear in traditional portraiture. since the inception of portraiture, people have both carefully selected the apparel they would be memorialized wearing, and the objects they surround themselves with. those objects represent the the pursuits and interests of the sitter as well as their social status and aspirations.

holbein’s “the ambassadors” 1533, in the collection of the national gallery, london.

higgins became interested in a passage in oscar wilde’s “the picture of dorian gray” in which dorian is handed “a pile of letters, on a small tray of old sevres china” by his valet. wilde knew that an “old” or “soft paste” piece of porcelain would evidence dorian’s sophistication, taste and financial wherewithal. higgins researched the hand-painted decoration on 18th-century porcelain, which inspired this panel:

which is the other 1/2 of the diptych portrait of dorian gray. when completed, the panel representing gray striped morning suit trousers (the unfinished painting on the easel) will hang next to it.

this is a second portrait of dorian gray – a single panel. in this detail you can see how higgins handles paint as if she is painting on china.

and from the 14th-century japanese autobiographical novel, “the confessions of lady nijo” higgins is

painting from the following passage:

The next day, when the high priestess was to arrive, oxen handlers, messengers, and imperial guards were dispatched by the dowager empress to meet her.

GoFukakusa took special pains with his costume. He wore a yellow informal robe lined in green, with a design of burnet flowers worked into it, over a light violet gown bearing gentian flower crests, His light violet trousers were lined in green, and everything was carefully scented

At dusk her arrival was announced. The doors on the south side of the main room had been opened and dark gray curtained screens set out with smaller curtain stands inside. Soon after Empress Omiya received her, a court lady came to tell us: ‘The former High Priestess has arrived. This is an out-of-the-way place and I’m afraid our hospitality is sadly lacking, so please come to visit with her.’ GoFukakusa went at once, and as usual I accompanied him, carrying his sword.

historical images of “gentian flower crests” and brocade which influence the patterns higgins will work into the green and violet painted panels are pinned to the studio wall.

and this passage:

About this time the Kamakura government revealed its official displeasure over the breach between the two retired emperors and suggested a conciliatory visit, with Kameyama calling upon GoFukakusa. This prompted an elaborate discussion as to whether Kameyama should view the gardens or watch a kick ball game. GoFukakusa turned to Lord Kanehira and asked, “How shall we entertain him? What would be appropriate?”
Sake might properly be served before matters are too far along,” he replied. “Then, in the middle of the kickball game, when he is resting, some persimmons in sake would be appropriate. It would be suitable for one of the court ladies to serve.”

“Which lady” GoFukakusa inquired.

“Lady Nijo is about the right age,” came the reply. “She would be a far from unfortunate choice.” And so I was assigned the task.

For the occasion i donned raw silk pleated trousers, a seven-layered gown in various shades of red, two outer garments — one crimson, one yellow lined in green — and a light green formal jacket. underneath i wore two sets of small-sleeved gowns: a three-layered set in red and pink shades of brocade and a two layered set in chinese brocade.

andrea higgins will have a solo exhibition at my new york gallery 3o october – 2o december 2oo8.

thomas nozkowski

i went to see the show “recent (made in the course of the last three years) paintings” at pace yesterday.

i’ve known his work for years and probably would have missed the show (it’s so easy to get wrapped up in your day-to-day) had andrea higgins not asked me to see it. it’s a relief to look at work by someone who’s been practicing for more than 30 years and remained true to a vision. and while i don’t have any personal knowledge about his market, the work is clearly well outside anything that has been en vogue for a long time, so i’d guess that his sales have been to a relatively small group of “connoisseurs.” in other words, for years he’s been making paintings to please himself, not a market. admirable.

a lot is being made of the “modest” scale of the paintings – about 22×30 inches. “could this mark a shift away from large abstract painting?!” people are always looking for trends. i guess it’s human nature. like when people look for recognizable imagery in clouds or need to see representation in abstraction. they need to find order to feel in control. not very interesting, but it fills space in newspapers and gives curators something to talk about and hang shows around. let’s put it this way, a lot of really good artists have been making work at this scale or smaller in the last 58 years. the scale of these paintings isn’t revolutionary.

there are a bunch of paintings in this show. more than 30, maybe 40. they are sensuous and intimate. he’s a man who understands his medium and knows how to make it do what he wants. at the same time you feel he delights in “happy accident” — there’s something organic going on in them. most appealingly, they feel like they have been painted with sincerity. even reverence.

all of that said, they don’t feel groundbreaking. they’re nostalgic — and not in a good way — they’re without freshness. they’re kind of abstract and kind of figurative and kind of symbolist and kind of about landscape. there’s a bit of late johns and a bit of miro and gustan and about twenty other people. and it doesn’t add up to anything that makes you think or feel any differently about anything…

so as much as i really wanted to love this work, particularly after andrea’s prodding, i just didn’t. it’s like richard tuttle for me. everything about it is what interests me – process, honesty of material, personal vision, serious artistic practice, trend-bucking, devotion to beauty, attention to craft, poetry, quirkiness – and yet i’m left unmoved. they failed to bewitch me.

which is the difficulty of work like this. when you make something shocking or flashy or spectacular, there’s no expectation for transcendence. the work is what it is – a one-liner. nozkowski’s reputation is that of a painters’ painter — an insider’s artist. with this show at pace, he’s being shamanized. these are mature, thoughtful paintings. they are, disappointingly, not magical.

“recent paintings” is up through 3 may 2008. all images are courtesy of pacewildenstein gallery. i reproduced the ones i like best, not a full range of the work and certainly not the ones i liked least.

medusa

by timothy horn is based on 19th-century zoologist ernst haeckle’s illustrations of jellyfish. horn’s massive rubber chandelier refers to the history of ornamentation based on nature and the mythological gorgon. it is extraordinarily beautiful and at the same time monstrous… “medusa” which was recently exhibited at the andy warhol museum in pittsburgh will be exhibited at the san jose institute of contemporary art (www.sjica.org) from 15 august to 27 september.

the accuracy of haeckel’s illustrations are questioned by scientists but remain influential because of their beauty.

“medusa” (detail shot from underneath) 2006, silicone rubber, copper tubing, fiber optics, 72 x 102 inches in diameter.

sweet thing

“sweet thing” 2008, nickel-plated bronze and blown and mirrored glass, 60×44x9 inches

a new work by australian artist timothy horn, made for his upcoming project at san francisco’s herzog & de meuron designed de young museum. the exhibition, “bitter suite” will consist of three pieces inspired by the decorative arts collections of the san francisco fine arts museums and the life and legend surrounding the legion of honor’s founder, alma le normand de brettville spreckles, wife of sugar baron adloph spreckles.

horn’s work always begins with the history of design and aesthetics. from there it delves into social history, politics, mythology, sexuality and fetish. horn has written about this upcoming show:

i am intrigued by the stories that surrounded alma (which for me, were sparks that ignited ideas for the work I’ve gone on to make) – she was someone larger than life, the stuff that “myths” are made of – and therefore i’m sure, even during her day was the source of much swirling speculation, tall tales and chinese whispers, by both admirers and detractors.

i definitely share your affection for alma, whom you aptly, and I believe respectfully describe as a “monstre sacre”. . .

my precise interest is the intersection between beauty and grotesque, perfection versus vulgarity.

timothy horn’s exhibition “bitter suite” will be on view at the de young museum from june 14 – october 12, 2008

from the studio of driss oudahi in dusseldorf…

driss oudahi “fences” 2008 oil on canvas, 67×71 inches

“fences” (detail)

“signs of life” 2008 oil on canvas 70×87 inches

“guardian of the night” 2008 oil on canvas 70×87 inches

a recent review of oudahi’s work from the san francisco chronicle: http://www.hosfeltgallery.com/reviews/ouadahiSFChron07.jpg

“100 stories”

a photograph by crystal liu from her exhibit that will open in new york on the 10th of april.

“i wanted to make this photo of wallpaper. before i moved into the room someone else lived there and made their own memories there. a house is a kind of storage space… just like someone’s journal. or brain. or heart. or a box of recipes.

the wall paper is about someone discovering something. so many questions are racing through my mind… i wonder who lived in this room? why beige stripes? it’s like when people go to the desert and dig for bones… it’s to piece together a more complete past. i want the whole answer…”

crystal liu, 2008

there is a hindu story of an elephant…

there is a hindu story of an elephant – restless, inquisitive, always straying… in india, elephants are sometimes taken through the narrow, fruit and vegetable stall-lined streets. the elephant with his restless trunk, will grab mango or coconut or bananas from the stalls as he passes. no punishment or coaxing can keep the elephant from wrecking havoc. but if the trainer gives the elephant a bamboo stick to hold in its trunk, the elephant will walk through the market with the stick, no longer stealing the produce because his trunk has something to hold on to.

the mind works in the same way.