Structure and Imagery

Installation view: John Hoyland Stain Paintings 1964 - 1966 at Pace Gallery. Photograph by Paul Behnke This review was originally written for  ABCRIT ,  and appeared there in October 2017. John Hoyland Stain Paintings 1964-1966 September 15 – October 21, 2017 PACE 32 East 57 th Street New York, NY 10022 John Hoyland Stain Paintings 1964-1966 is the first in-depth exhibition of the painter’s work in the United States in 25 years.  Hoyland’s work is rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic and this marks only the third time I have been able to see works by the artist “in the flesh”. The first being at Flowers Gallery (NY) in the group exhibition The Independent Eye: Contemporary British Art from the Collection of Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie which featured a small number of works by Hoyland dating from the early 1980s through the early 2000s. The second was the stunning Power Stations mini retrospective in 2015 at Damie...

Dana James Hollywood , 2017, ink, dye, oil, encaustic, pigment on canvas 72 x 60 inches. Dana James: Sometimes Seen Dreams October 18 - November 12, 2017 The Lodge Gallery 131 Chrystie Street New York, NY 10002   At first look Dana James ’s new work seems serenely atmospheric. But what appears quiet is quickly shown to be a seething, turbulent conduit to imagined memories, locations and lives unlike the artist’s own. James has previously explored her curiosity about others’ lives and their experiences of Americana, televisions, swimming pools and other trappings of suburbia. But, this new body of work casts off a bit from a more grounded reality to forge links to dreamier images that approach the silent longing and restless searching of the sublime. This mood is facilitated by the paint staining application used to cover the canvases.   The lyrical technique brings out an elegant immutability while James’s palette utilizes pale pinks and ...