Sonia Delaunay

When I think of the artworks of Sonia Delaunay I can almost believe that I had been delivered to an alternate universe where household art and museum art actually co-exist, having equal relevance, rather than separated into exclusive camps. As a painter of the modern life Delaunay was mesmerized by the effects of incandescent lighting, especially the electric spheres or miniature suns that lit the trendy Parisian venues she often visited like the Bal Bullier dance hall, and Magic City. the electric lights became abstracted interior circles, dividing white light into its component colors, rather like a crude version of Chevreul’s color wheels, where complementary colors opposed one another.

Nothing is regular in her exploration; rather it is instinctive and even haphazard except for her use of simultaneous color contrasts which was meant to mimic the musicality of the spoken word and as a result we get simultaneity in pieces but never in the whole. She was however, acutely aware of limits to the simultaneous and she delighted in making paintings that were impossible to take in one sitting. This daydream painting of virtual music can never really control the content of a mind in turmoil, though it is surely influenced by it.

My Garage is where I Find Peace

Pat Passlof

Pat Passlof was born in Brunswick Georgia in 1928, she idolized and studied with Willem de Kooning at the infamous Black Mountain College. Later, she took his advice and relocated to New York City, beginning a painter’s life. In Manhattan, Passlof continued to get painting lessons from de Kooning and became familiar with the characters infesting the 10th Street artists’ community. With these connections Passlof met the painter Milton Resnick, who she later wed. Resnick then introduced the youthful Passlof to the painting theory of Hans Hofmann, whose ideas, gathered in The Search for the Real influenced an entire generation of painters. The New York art scene of the early 50’s was rife with conflict, power, and personality. And it seems the Passlof was for a time caught in the tsunami, producing lean and ambitious, although somewhat derivative art.

Ionian (1956)

In an example of this early youthful work, Ionian, the upper right corner diminishes into a blue expanse, but this perception is quickly degraded by some form of object, laid flat by a pattern, that appears to enter the space from afar but spins the traditional perspective by bringing any reading to a stop as it is gouged by a thick black line. This line causes a sudden sharp change in the interpretation of the space by pulling the yellow and red striped object into the inner space and hammering it flat. De Kooning often created similar obstructions when he used collage to disrupt any fluid spatial view. something akin to a tabletop rises from the bottom of the canvas into the center of the image plane. This gives the viewer something stable to hold onto before the left side dissolves into a field of spotted, wild brush strokes that seem combine with and float above the virtual table. The rough strokes dissolve on the right into one of the two honest uninterpreted portions within in the work. The thick, white smear, in the lower right combines with crumpled and stained edges whose grimy greens and yellows holding the paintings corner one second and seem to slide under its phantom neighbor the next. The second subjective element locks into the surfaces far corner at the bottom right of the top left quadrant. This white form is surrounded and given heft by thick dark outlines. The shape itself, the paint layers, and the black, white and gray color palette would feel comfortable in one of de Kooning’s black and white paintings from the late 40’s. All of these parts; inside and out, natural and imaginary, pattern and undiluted expanse, all come together to shake a simple interpretation of space or to combine that reading with plastic interests to blast the viewer from a state of peace.

Sutbury 2  (1957)

Some paintings push the observer harder and deeper into the pool of abstraction. Sutbury 2 (1957) is a beautiful plane crash of a painting. But even the dappled and dirty grays that border the work on both sides before shooting into the middle contain enough deft to separate form and distance to create enough surface and emptiness in what would otherwise be a train wreck. On areas the surface paint is scraped away so the underbelly becomes an object. While in others object and weight are pulled apart when an upper layer is painted over a surface so carefully that the foundation becomes a structure and an integral part of the artwork. Rapidly applied strokes add to the urgency of the piece, as does the artist’s signature quickly scribbled across the bottom. These final elements borrow heavily from de Kooning, while the color combinations can be found in the important abstractions of Alfred Leslie.

Portrait and a Dream

Portrait and a Dream  (1953) by Jackson Pollock

notable works by Jackson Pollock

"I don’t paint nature, I am nature" is only a few rungs up the art historical ladder from ‘It’s art because I say it is’ and only a few more rungs down from ‘Pollock Sucks!'. But what if we get away from of art-speak cliches? We are used to those over repetitive narratives of brave creativity leading to the isolating bubble of celebrity, crippling self doubt and full-blown self destruction. 

But there are far more delicate contradictions that forever bounce round this black echo chamber of art history and bounce off ever diminishing barriers. On one hand we have this notion of Pollock providing something akin to Greenberg’s vision of a truly modern painting that has finally abandoned all literary, unnecessary content inherited from European modernism. On the other, we have this notion of visual art as primarily a record of a thing in time, becoming the factual membrane and documentation of a performance and movement. But this gives us a method to extract more difficult and demanding aspect of Pollock’s art, lying under this chaos of myth.

And so it appears that Portrait and a Dream, 1953, is a final self-reflexive musing on the opposing yet rotten center of Pollock’s later art. The left hand tangle has been likened to a woman during child birth, a nocturnal orgasm, and a mother decapitating children. The fat, bruised and mangled face on the right takes a long look back at failures. Like us, it can only see the hypnotic dancing tumble of lines as they untangle, erupt, and bleed their way across the image. They simultaneously belie some kind of ecstatic sensation of a dark nightmare mixed with ecstasy, but then it all dissipates back into the canvas,  that unforgiving fabric of the canvas.

Hyper-Realism, The Worship of a False Idol

Until the mid 19th Century by and large artists strove to create painting that represented reality as closely as possible. Great efforts were put into hiding brushstrokes and getting lighting and spatial elements to appear real. Towards the end of the 18th Century two important developments came into play; commercial paints in vibrant colors and the new technology of photography. These development shaped the direction of art away from realism.

Once photography arrived many artist began to realize that capturing reality as closely as possible and hiding any evidence of brush strokes was a pointless venture. Since they could only hope to approach the accuracy of an actual photograph why even bother. Instead the daring artist drifted in the other direction and sought to create an unreal representation of the everyday day world that could never be photographed. The brushstrokes themselves became a form of artistic expression and were intentionally coarse, distinctive, and out front. Lighting and spatial perception were subjective which opened up whole new ways of engaging the viewer.

Around the time photography came into use the chemistry of paint also made huge advances. Before this paints were often mixed by the artist themselves using techniques and material recipes that had been passed from one artist the other and often held in secrecy. These home brewed paints often lacked vibrancy which over-all meant that even though the artist was striving to match reality the results were often muted and dull. Once new types of paints created on an industrial scale came on the scene they allowed for striking color vibrancy. This allowed a more accurate depiction of reality but surprisingly this new vibrancy had a bigger impact in moving art into new non-real frontiers. colors were used as a form of expression and exaggerated and substituted in striking ways.

The en devour to create accurate realism in paintings did not go away however. The new colorful paints and the obvious competition of photography allowed many painter to get get recognized for their real world accuracy, Often these artist implemented romantic scenic elements that captivated wealthy art patrons but which ultimately received poor critical review do to the sometimes tacky appearance. Meanwhile the practitioners of the non-reality art camp pushed further outward and developed art that was purely abstract. The man on the street often disdained this new art but many including art intellectuals appreciated this new direction.

Today there has been a renewed interest in Realism. Practitioners have pushed the boundary of technique to the point were some paintings are indistinguishable from photographs. Often time the tools of choice for this Hyper-Realism is a digital tablet combined with computer software. This allows the artist to zoom in for detailed work, undo mistakes, and to run sophisticated filters. A surprising number of people are enthralled with Hyper-Realism and the skill it takes to pull it off, but this is really an appreciation of the process rather than of the end result. Many critics wonder why spend countless hours creating something that could have just been done with a camera? There are of course practical benefits of such skills in creating alternate realities in film CGI, computer gaming and the photoshopping of existing images. As far as value in collectible fine art goes Hyper-Realism will always remain of limited worth. Since it doesn't really expand expressive creativity it lacks many of the qualities of Fine Art. For the most part this current fad really just represents the worship of an impressive stunt, like a daredevil jumping a canyon, but the end result has does really added to human culture.

Seated Figure

Seated Figure  (1939) by Willem de Kooning

notable works by Willem de Kooning

Born in the Netherlands, into an abusive and destitute family, the young Willem de Kooning shows an exceptional knack for art. At the age of 12 he is hired to work in the renowned decorating company Gidding & Son where he is trained in the arts of  mural painting, stained glass and other commercial art specialties. He then studied at the competitive Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques From 1917 to 1921. The school eventually took his name as their own to recognize it's most famous student. In 1920, he dropped out, left his employer. and relocated to Amsterdam, where he thought he had a reasonable chances of becoming a self sufficient artist. After failing at this dream and close to starvation he returns to his hometown of Rotterdam, continues his education, and lands a job as a sign painter, although he still dreams of becoming a successful recognized painter

In 1926 de Kooning left Europe and arranged for hidden illegal passage on the cargo ship SS Shelley destined for America. The trip is hard, lurking in the hot, dark spaces of the engine room. After docking in Virginia, he is secreted onto a small ship headed for Boston, from there he makes his way to New York. In the final leg of the journey he takes a ferry from Manhattan to Hoboken, where he takes a bed at the Dutch Seaman's Home. The  residential house is a safe haven for Dutch sailors and gives de Kooning time to recuperate. Unable to speak English, he becomes a house painter which he thoroughly enjoys as an chance to hone his painting skills. 

Study for Portrait

Study for Portrait (1971) by Francis Bacon

notable works by Francis Bacon

Bacon’s romantic involvement with George Dyer, the focus of many of his artworks, was volatile and its eventual outcome tragic. Just a couple days before the first showing of the 1971 Francis Bacon Retrospective in Paris , Dyer died from an alcohol overdose in the bathroom of a Parisian  hotel. Bacon produced portraits of Dyer with feverish regularity even after Dyer's death. Most famously, Triptych (May 1973) documents the painful events of  his death. 

They'll Make a Comeback

In the 70's we were told that everyone was going to wear jumpsuits in the future so you might as well get yours now. Man, I wish I hadn't bought into the hype.

The Belted Sweater

So, you've got the right facial hair, you've got a cool fedora, and you've got the required "ironic" vintage clothes from prior fashion eras, but you still can't get into the best hipster bars. Well, Iv'e got the answer to your dilemma, something guaranteed to get you to the front of the line... the Belted Sweater. 

The stuff was gold in the early 70's before the leisure suit took hold, no disco would turn you away. Wearing one of these striking pieces today will put you far out in front of the other hipsters, so powerful it should probably be illegal. You need to act fast though because fashion is fickle. You can thank me later.

Schizoid Man

Schizoid Man by Barry Godber (1946–1970)

artwork at Catmota.com

Album  art for the record In the Court of the Crimson King by the rock group King Crimson. It was created by Barry Godber, a software engineer, shortly before he passed away from a heart attack in 1970, only a week after the album went on sale. This is the only artwork he is known for, and is now owned by the group's guitarist Robert Fripp after he rescued it from the record company's lobby where it was getting damaged by direct sunlight.