Jim Mott " Night Blizzard", oil on panel
Before we hit the road for Buffalo, I want to call your attention to the new online magazine called: "Explore Art" which is directed by Renee Rose. Here is a link to look over what she is accomplishing:
This month she is featuring the painter Jim Mott ( see above ). I admire this artist's work and once, years ago, I wrote about his "Itinerant Artist Project" for American Artist Magazine. Now, Renee Rose is also an artist and she owned a gallery in Chicago. She wants to promote the visual arts and she finds an interest in helping young artists find an audience. Here is what Renee had to say in part about Jim and his work:
"What's remarkable about Mott isn't just the beauty of his brushwork or the nuanced handling of light and form - though these things are certainly there. What sets him apart is the integrity with which he has used painting as a form of public engagement and social dialogue. he has made it his mission to dissolve the barriers between artist and audience, studio and street, art object and lived experience".
Renee is doing an awesome job with this Explore Art online magazine and I am glad that she is introducing new folks like Jim Mott, especially at a time like this when coverage for the visual arts is hard to come by in our newspaper, and even the business of selling artwork is in a difficult spot.
"Laura". Marble head outside Albright Knox on a rainy afternoon
Yesterday, the forecast was for rainy snowy mix of weather and we head out west for an afternoon at the Albright Knox Art Museum in Buffalo. We have not been back there since they renovated the place and now they even have underground pay parking! The whole entrance is different with a gargantuan marble head out on the lawn to entertain passersby. Over the years we have seen many shows here and we anticipate a whole new look this visit!
Entry now has a new court for Albright Knox
Bierstadt and Adolph Gottlieb
Once we are in the gallery we can see that there have been radical changes in store, and we start out being greeted by Adolph Gottlieb and a Bierstadt painting which represents a mountain range in a style of the distant past. The core of the Albright Knox is dedicated to modern art and that presents a learning curve which begins to take hold in the late 1800s and continues to the present day.
Clyfford Still oil painting at AKG
Having studied painting in the 1960s to 1970s, I was familiar with many of the artists that we found in the galleries at AKG. Some of these artists had been art teachers at The Cooper Union when I was a student there getting my BFA. I remember Jack Tworkov and Larry Poons both of these painters are represented in the new galleries. Most notable is a room devoted to paintings by Clyfford Still. ( 1904-1980 ), and the wall text informs us that many of the paintings we see there were donated to the museum by Still while he was alive.
Not all of the art on view is abstract.. and we can point to the painting by Charles Burchfield of the snowy town of East Liverpool that he painted in 1927.
Painting by Charles Burchfield, 1927
Along with many paintings there is also sculpture in the collection with a wonderful Brancusi bronze, and a recent work by Alison Saar called: "Barefoot" from 2007. Alison Saar was a neighbor of mine when I was working in a studio building in Brooklyn, New York, before we moved upstate. She comes from an art-minded family, and this figurative work is certainly galvanizing!
Alison Saar and her sculpture: "Bareroot", 2007 made with wood, bronze, tin and tar
We march over the new bridge that takes one over to the Gundlach Building, a big new exhibition hall to see the show called " Hi Vis", and this show is all about regional artists and it is a large collection seen here for the first time. I was really attracted to these rising stars, and I urge you to get over to the AKG to witness this opportunity!
Logan Hicks painting of Mercer Street in SoHo, NYC
Aerosol on canvas
The giant painting of Soho by Logan Hicks is a standout and you really have to wonder how he does this kind of work - is it an airbrush? The work is really convincing! I remember Mercer Street really well as I had an exhibition in the gallery 55 Mercer so many years ago....
There are so many talented folks in this show - you have to see it for yourself...even if it requires a trip in the rain!
Large scale wall piece by Felipe Pantone
at
The Albright Knox Art Gallery
Buffalo, New York
