What Meets the Eye

Is it Fair (to Valloton) to Hang Picasso’s Gertrude Stein Right Next to Valloton’s Gertrude Stein at Valloton’s show at The Met?

January 2, 2020

It really isn’t. Not at all. Picasso’s Stein is a masterpiece and just so much better than Valloton’s Stein or anything else in the show. Still, it is very interesting to [...]

Renee Cox: The Holy Family

November 30, 2019

I want to talk about Origins in the context of visual invention and the evolution of Christian iconography. To find out more of the backstory (for example, why the left-hand panel, christened Yo Mama, has shown alone until now) I refer [...]

Victor Muniz and Christian Marclay: One-offs

November 1, 2019

A selling point of both of these shows is that the works shown are “one of a kind” (Muniz) and “unique” (Marclay)l. Actually, they are manufactured objects which they only made one of. High-end manufacturing—but still. A major trend in [...]

Ed Clark, A Great Painter

October 22, 2019

PS I’m very sorry to say that I just found out that Ed Clark died last Friday. In the interview I quote from below, he also said “I want to be called ‘great’.” No problem, Ed. When I saw my first Ed Clark, TBC… ( at “Painting Now and [...]

Rachel Phillips: Animated Emotion

September 28, 2019

These paintings remind me of my passion for cartoons as a child. The emotions are so pure. A character is sad; they slump, utterly dejected, or cry a single tear (or an ocean). When mad, a red cloud of steam appears above their head. If scared they [...]

Artistic License at the Guggenheim Part: 2

August 14, 2019

(Isn’t this one of the most beautiful installations ever? I’ll get to it last.) Such an interesting show that I’ve decided to cover it in two parts. May I also suggest that you visit it now—even though it will be up until January? That way [...]

Artistic License at the Guggenheim Part: 1

August 14, 2019

A tip: Don’t elevator up and walk down. By walking up the ramp you start with each artist/curator’s stated modus operandi. Thinking about curating in this show and beyond it is the way to get deeply into the exhibition. Explicit in some [...]

The Whitney Biennial 2019: Is it Safe?

July 7, 2019

“…elegant but safe portrait of right now.” Andrew Russeth, Art News “…why is this year’s show so safe?” Nadja Savej, The Guardian “…missing a radical spirit” and “Some artists in the show [...]

Bel Fullana and the Rape of Isla Bonita

June 13, 2019

Does All inclusive look like a display of “playful sexual freedom” to you? This painting and the other two paintings in this essay are described that way in the gallery press release, which also employs forms of the words “ambiguity” and [...]

Bellinger Battles Elemental Forces, Sfraga Furthers Evolution

June 3, 2019

The two predominant modes of categorizing paintings are describing them as abstract or figurative, and pronouncing them to be more “realistic” if closer to a photographic image. Neither is of any use in considering Len Bellinger’s work (or [...]