Structure and Imagery

Eraser is a new Curating Contemporary quarterly published by painter and curator, Brian Edmonds.  Curating Contempoary was begun in 2012 with the goal of connecting artists, curators, and likeminded people. Since its inception, curatingcontemporary.com has hosted over 50 shows and the work of hundreds of artists.   From the Press Release: "Starting this month I will publish a Curating Contemporary quarterly titled ERASER. The quarterly will feature the work of 6 artists, interviews conducted by artists and curators, and poetry.  Volume 1, features work by Susan Carr, Sabine Tress, Melanie Parke, Valerie Brennan, Mandy Lyn Ford, and Ellen Siebers;  with interviews by Christina Renfer Vogel, Catherine Haggarty, Brianna Bass, Dana-Marie Lemmer, Jodi Hays, and Amelia Briggs; poem by Alexis Christakes. The book is available through  Blurb ." - Brian Edmonds

Valerie Brennan is a painter currently based in Nicosia, Cyprus.  In addition to painting vibrant, complex and painterly works, Brennan also edits the popular painters' blog Studio Critical - providing insight into the working methods of contemporary painters in an interview format. She is represented by Apocalypse Gallery in Cyprus and Curating Contemporary Projects: an online platform. Brennan's most recent one person exhibit, in the New York area, was No Chance of Rain at Giampietro Gallery in New haven, CT. She recently participated in Julie Torres' group exhibition, What I Like About You , held in conjunction with Bushwick Open Studios 2013. In this post we follow the development of her 2013 piece Not Yet Titled .   (detail)   (detail)   (detail)  Not Yet Titled , 2013, oil and spray paint on panel, 100x120cm. Valerie Brennan in her studio in Madrid, 2012 To view more of Valerie Brennan's work...

Serene in Strength , 2012, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in. Please check out the online exhibition I curated of  Dale McNeil 's  new work on Curating Contemporary,  a website run by Brian Edmonds and dedicated to hosting artist-curated exhibitions on a rotating monthly basis.  View the exhibition here . Below is my essay on McNeil's work: Resplendent Rubble Paul Behnke Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. KJV, Exodus, 20.4 Abstraction, at its core, stems from an unease with the physical world and the way it is portrayed. An extreme asceticism lies at its heart. It is dissatisfied with the false idols of representation. Certain abstract painters are more conscious of this origin.  They may endeavor to shed trappings and to strip from their art all that is unnecessary- all that i...

Last October I was able to visit, painter, Dale McNeil's studio in Memphis, TN. This photo blog presents studio views and unfinished work that  McNeil was preparing for his upcoming online exhibition @ Brian Edmond's Curating Contemporary website. A line from the artist's statement: I use my paintings as a record of ideas easily forgotten and often misunderstood. I keep my tools for recording simple and often they are imperfect. Paint is not a perfect record, paint is not perfect, paint is evidence of life. A quote jotted in the artist's sketchbook: "…the simple imitation impulse to enter into disputation with nature as, on the other hand, the utilization of natural forces (which is, after all, also a disputation with nature) has to do with the higher psychic impulse to create gods for oneself." (Worringer "Abstraction and Empathy" p12) Dale McNeil in h...