Sarah K. Rich made my day yesterday when I sat down to read a bit of the recent Artforum. Unfortunately it sometimes takes someone’s death to trigger a critical response about recent trends and ideas that seem to be on the way towards canonization. In her obituary for Kenneth Noland, Ms. Rich starts with an assumption that she finds (happily) to be false about the preciousness of an art object once Mr. Noland has finished, as well as the energetic physical engagement towards his finished art object.

Let me cut to the cash here; The part of this article that impresses me – and gives me hope for future critics and curators is this:

“Now that we are several decades down the hill of popular culture, and we’ve all gotten a better idea of how frenzied and mind-numbing kitsch can be, the formalist advocacy of work that might give the viewing subject a place for the exercise of sustained and quiet attention doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Labels: Criticism, Death, New York, Painting, Washington DC

Douglas Witmer, whose work I've spoken of a few times on his blog, has a show opening tonight at Blank Space (511 25th Street) in Chelsea. I spent a few moments at the install with Douglas and the team at the gallery and before I wore out my welcome I snapped a few pictures of paintings still wrapped in plastic.

Even with that, it looks to be a good show. I'll be there tonight, hope I see you.

Labels: Chelsea, Galleries, New York, Painting

I have work on display at Susan Maasch Fine Art in Portland Maine. The show is titled,
Six Months Twelve Artists: Paintings.

This means a few things:
I'm going to Maine at some point
I'll be going to the L.L. Bean in Freeport
I'll be going to Reny's in Damariscotta
as well as the Twombly show at the Portland Museum.

A big thanks to Susan and the staff at Susan Maasch Fine Art.

Labels: Maine, Matthew Langley, Painting

Imagine my surprise to see my work included in your newest Tumbler - Lofty Aspirations. It's quite a nice thing to see your work along side others whom you (and I) hold in high regard. Thank you.

URL: here, here, here, and there.

Labels: Matthew Langley, Painting, Philadelphia, thank you

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting

Jeffrey Cortland Jones enterprise "No Future Projects" has a small show of Douglas Witmer's and my work on display. Details below:

No Future Projects
Dayton. Ohio
nofutureprojects.wordpress.com

NFP is a temporary and moveable project space and open by appointment only
For more information . cortland242 @ yahoo . com

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting

The 5 small artworks that make up this show have a presence and gravitas that holds the room. That's no small feat, because in this day of spectacle over quality and loud over quiet, these artworks have a earthy simplicity that belie number and size.

The surface of these paintings - worked - possibly overworked with light pushing through the center reveal themselves as quiet objects that insist on your attention. They carry themselves with a quiet grace and at the same time require the viewer to spend real time - by this I mean more than a cursory glance at the object. They demand almost a short relationship to pull the most out of the experience.

There is a small bit of writing by Robert Storr that was attached to the invite of the show, he mentions the opaque and implacable quality of the works of HF. I agree. The works carry with them a naturalist palette of deep ochres and umbers that bury themselves in the natural world while at the same time reach and achieve something far different.

Labels: Galleries, New York, Painting

For including me in her blog series on artists' influences. I could add a few hundred more names to the list but really that's like reading a end of the year list and no one does that, or do they? She was also kind enough to give a plug to my upcoming show with Heejo Kim at Blank Space in Chelsea.

Anyway, check it out, http://lisapressman.blogspot.com

Thanks again Lisa.

Labels: Chelsea, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting, thank you

Yes, I'm still away on Thanksgiving holiday, however that does not mean I've forgotten about you. These shows (all over the place...) point to exciting signs of life all over the country (and one is in England, which, let's face it, is practically in the US. - I joke.. I am a kidder).

Phillip Guston - Small Oils on Panel 1969 - 1973. Through 12/31 at McKee Gallery NYC.
I'm so impressed with the spirit and courage that Guston had when he made the change from his abstract paintings to these that I would probably have followed him anywhere...

3 X 3 - Painting by Imi Knoebel, Robert Mangold and Jason Martin, Sculpture by Richard Deacon, Joel Shapiro and Peter Shelton. 1/14 through 2/13 at L.A. Louver, Venice, California

Susan Rothenberg - Moving in Place. Through January 3 at MAM Fort Worth, Then Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe (1/22 - 5/16) then Miami Art Museum (10/15 - 1/9 2011)

Mark Tansey through January 23 at Gagosian London.
I think Tansey is way under-rated as a painter. I think that might start to change with his new gallery...

Labels: Galleries, Painting, Sculpture

This is the first 4 minutes or so of Brice Marden in conversation with Harry Cooper (curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Art). The afternoon was an interesting approach of BM talking about some of his favorites in the collection as well as about a few of his works from the collection as well as the many amazing works from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection.

Please note: This video is not the greatest thing you've ever seen as I shot this with the camera on my lap - however it is an interesting bit of conversation.

Labels: Brice Marden, Matthew Langley, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

I'm too lazy to re-write this so it's straight from the NGA's web site:

Brice Marden, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art

The Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series provides a forum for distinguished artists to discuss the genesis and evolution of their work in their own words. Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein–Spielvogel and the Honorable Carl Spielvogel generously endowed this series in 1997 to make such conversations available to the public.

Brice Marden on Art
November 22 at 2:00PM
East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Talk about lazy - bad spelling and the day was wrong... This has been corrected.

Labels: Brice Marden, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

So you were probably sitting around thinking to yourself - Hey! I wonder when Matt's going to have a show? Well have no fear this post will give you the basic info for the winter and early spring...

Touch Faith, Semantics Gallery, Cincinnati, OH,
Curated by Jeffrey Cortland Jones - November 7 - November 28, 2009

Matthew Langley / Heejo Kim, Blank Space, Chelsea, NY
January 14 - February 2nd

Labels: Chelsea, international, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting

I think this is going to be a great little show - how I got in I have no idea. Just the same Jeffrey Cortland Jones has found some really interesting artists for this show. Wish I could be there.

Touch Faith
Curated by Jeffrey Cortland Jones
Semantics Gallery
1107 Harrison Avenue
Cincinnati, OH, 45214
November 7-28, 2009
Opening: November 7, 7-11pm

Participating Artists:
Chris Ashley, Ron Buffington, Matthew Deleget, Hamlett Dobbins, Scott Grow, Harold Hollingsworth, Chris Jackson, J.T. Kirkland, Kim Krause, Matthew Langley, Lori Larusso, Rossana Martinez, Tim McFarlane, Matthew Miller-Novak, William Potter, Joe Saunders, Susan Scott, John Tallman, Douglas Witmer, Michael Wille, Paige Williams & Joel Whitaker

Matthew Langley, Lovers By Rote, 2009, Acrylic on Paper, 9 x 12 inches

Labels: Galleries, Ohio, Painting

Today and tomorrow will be my last articles for the foreseeable future on Dia:Beacon. Not that I won't be writing about it reasonably soon - oh I will. It's just that things do keep moving and I need to respect that.

This will come as a big shock to anyone who has read this blog before. The Ryman rooms in my opinion are remarkable. The rooms are just amazing - super active and really quiet all at the same time, in a way very similar to what used to be called ambient music (the Fripp/Eno variety). They have a quiet power that would not surprise you, or anyone familiar with Ryman's work, but the surprises in the paint and especially the sensitivity of the application of the paint was just phenomenal - almost shocking in it's sensitivity.

For those of you who think white is just white - take a look at these rooms. Every (white) painting shows a different depth and tone that is just not an accident. These are not a painted with a bunch of Titanium White to make them "cohesive". They are clearly an expression that has taken it's time to reflect and absorb what they are doing among each other.

Labels: 70's, 80's, Museums, New York, Painting

Jack Tworkov Against Extremes
UBS Gallery until October 27

Jason Andrew of Norte Maar has put together an interesting overview of Jack Tworkovs career, and I must say, I knew the work, but didn't know the work if you know what I mean. His later work seems to really be driven by his internal process to continue to create and at the same time it fully resonates with his earlier work.

Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Guggenheim for a program of readings from Mira Schor's well edited new publication Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov. Among the readers were Robert Mangold, Robert Moskowitz, and Mary Heilman. I resisted the impulse to go gush over a couple of my favorite artists of all time, instead I was amazed by the number of people from Bushwick who all made the journey north for the evening. Austin and Sharon seem to think the Tworkov/Schor book is the replacement for Robert Henri's book. They could very well be right.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

I stumbled over this on Jeffrey Collins blog. It's got a bit of age to it but is really sound and expands on the basic themes of Rymans work. It runs a bit long (almost an hour) but is well worth the time spent. What I enjoyed about this is that it's less conversation about parties and real estate and mostly honest to goodness focus on approaches and ideas.

A tip of the Hat to Jeffrey Collins for this one.

Robert Ryman
Untitled. 1965. Oil on linen, 11 1/4 x 11 1/8" (28.4 x 28.2 cm).
Fractional gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Susan Dory
the shape of the plan
september 11 - 26

Walker Contemporary
450 Harrison Avenue, Boston


Alex Paik
Playground Counterpoint
September 4th – 25th

Tiger Strikes Asteroid
319A North 11th Street, 4th Floor
Philadelphia


Jeffrey Cortland Jones
September 1 - October 31, 2009

Some Walls
Oakland, California

Labels: Galleries, Painting

I'm always interested in how people are presented in a gallery / museum setting. Even more so now that just handling some of the artworks for a staged photo could cause serious damage, not to mention serious social drama if the wrong - or should I say right people are involved.



Betty Parsons standing in a NYC gallery.
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: May 1960
Photographer: Eliot Elisofon




Leo Castelli in his NYC gallery.
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: 1960
Photographer: Eliot Elisofon

Labels: 50's, 60's, Galleries, New York, Painting

Conversations in Lyrical Abstraction: 1958 - 2009
Morris Louis, Alma Thomas, Howard Mehring Jeremy Blake, Leo Villareal.
September 17 - October 31, 2009

Conner Contemporary Art
1358-60 Florida Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20002

The line up for this show is great, and if I'm not mistaken this is the first time since maybe the late 50's - Early 60's that a Morris Louis will be in a DC commercial gallery.

Labels: DC Galleries, Painting

I've been completely remiss in getting this info to you in any kind of timely manner, for that I apologize. I have just had too much in my "little world" that needed attending to. Thanks for coming back to read the blog.



Douglas Witmer at the Painting Center.
I think by now you know I really like Douglas's work so I'm not going to spend too much time about surface, process nor Douglas's approach that essentially allows his paintings to sit in the world as what they are - paintings not representations of paintings or a desire for these objects to be something they are not. I find this approach really refreshing. It's also a good thing that these are engaging and memorable artworks.

Douglas says "I want to believe that the relationship of painting values inquiry over conclusion." I agree with this and believe that his works might just be doing this.

My two favorites from his show, Field + Stream, were Say So and Is and Isn't. Especially Is and Isn't with its field of deep blue that you can just sink into. The visual above is from the installation of both Say So and Is and Isn't.

This show closed the day after I saw it, sorry about that.



Don Voisine at McKenzie Fine Art
It seems like everyone is writing about this show, so I'm not going to present any groundbreaking ideas here - I just want to say what a soild and well executed show this is. The few moments I spent with the gallery staff showing me additional works was also time well spent.

Voisine gets far too much mileage with what appears on first glance to be a jazz like riff on Russian Constructivism, which is a really unfair thing to say as the longer you spend with the work the voices of others quickly fade into the background and you are left with an artist making smart works that go beyond the traditional geometric sphere of approaches that so many artists have - and he becomes a crafty painter pulling surprises out of very seemingly mundane things.

For further reading on this great show, check out Joanne Mattera's and Steven Alexanders blog's.



LANDSCAPE AS GRID, Lloyd Martin and Johnnie Winona Ross at Stephen Heller.
I entered this show with a set of expectations pre-built in I know both of these artists work very well and the leit motif of the show suited them perfectly. Johnnie Ross's work has parts of a landscape aesthetic this comes through in his titles and verbal dialog, however to call him a landscape painter doesn't quite work for me. Although the impulse is there but, only through the dialog of his work not so much in reading the work alone. Admittedly I see more of the post minimal painters in his work and tend to shy away from the landscape readings - although they are there, quietly in the background.



Lloyd Martin's work fits this perfectly, his gridded abstraction works with the rhythms of the urban environment and recalls some of the high points of early 1960's abstraction while staying away from looking dated and stale, the painterliness of his work is engaging and allows the viewer to stay with the work to find unexpected surprises inside the gridded picture plane.



Gordon Moore at Betty Cuningham.
Gordon Moore's work is new to me, however I was instantly taken with his paintings and paper works that mine an approach that is based not on reduction but of a restricted palette and approach. these paintings with the dissolving grid and neutral colors, have disparate parts that eventually relate to and reinforce the whole image. This connectedness seems to be the lynchpin that holds these artworks together. What becomes very apparent as you spend some time with the work is the expansive vocabulary that seems to come from the work. No matter how restricted that vocabulary may seem from a casual glance.

Highly recommended.

Labels: Galleries, Johnnie Winona Ross, New York, Painting, Paperworks

Many thanks to Andrew McCrarry and Adam Lister for all of his help in getting me into the show and being such a positive force.

Labels: Galleries, Painting, Sculpture, Washington DC

Interviewed Ted Larsen (photo above) for the blog later next week - What I didn't know about his work is the life change that took for him to move into his current direction. This should be really interesting. More about Ted's work is here.



Had a drink with Sharon Butler (photo above) of Two Coats of Paint, and talked about a bunch of stuff, Sharon is going to be joining us at 246 Editions - so that was exciting. I had a great time talking about the Guston's she had just seen at the NGA.

I believe it is time to clean my studio (or at least get the hockey sticks out), as this short video will no doubt show...

Labels: 246 Editions, Painting, Sculpture, Washington DC

Jeffry Cudlin has put together a thought provoking show built on a premise of Arts relationship with life as we live it. All of the artists have developed works that are built with objects and items that are in our day-to-day life experience.

My highlights of the show:
Anissa Mack, My Sister's Diary. Every week, new copies of redacted pages from the artist's sister's journal are posted onto this public bulletin board outside of the arts center. What I really like about this is the handwriting of the journal pages are different and the same all at the same time - it has an authenticity that is really engaging.

Mandy Burrow, creates tableau that are made and meant to be seen in her subjects' living spaces. The installations could be just about anything, but the artist claims a collaboration with the intended subject. I believe this, but miss what might be a certain unspoken eccentricity to the installations. They seem almost too in order. However they are rich in detail and pathos.

Christian Moeller, Mojo. A curious video of a theater spotlight follows random passer-bys' as the move through the beam. This is both amusing and weirdly big brother-ish. I feel it asks more questions than it answers and at the same time, the questions are barely whispered by the art - while only coming to the forefront upon further thought about the work.

All in all the show puts forth an idea of art not always thought about or seen. If fact I'm sure you could point at some of the "major art critics" of our time (and years gone by) and see their disdain for this sort of thinking. It's a curious place to visualize a group of art works from, and to be most successful, I think it requires viewers to think about the show afterwords and question a notion or two about what they expect from the art in our time.

Labels: Galleries, Painting, Paperworks, Photography, Sculpture, Washington DC

Upstairs in the Wyatt gallery at Arlington Arts Center, Matthew Best is showing a series of paintings that have a modern aesthetic as well as a naturalist approach. The paintings developed during a series of walks, show a highly original approach to representing nature without relying on a realist or impressionist approach - which have become "the industry standard" when investigating the natural world.

Best's approach really pays off in Ground Cherry (Thu Lu) I (see second image in video) a more spare approach to the shapes and planes of the image are offset by the open space in the bottom two-thirds of the image - adding to the drama and tension of the image. In a way these paintings play in the abstract/not abstract world - and that can be a dicey game to play. In this case even though the abstraction is prevalent, it is so clearly alluded to the representational side that the images show with a clarity of thought, not a murkiness of vision.

Supernature: New Paintings by Matthew Best is on view until April 4th, it is well worth seeing.

Please Note: You may notice a video is available of the Matthew Best show, I have recently purchased a small video recorder. It is my intention to show a short snippet of a show review. Hopefully it will allow the reader a way to see the installation and quality in a way that is different than just a jpeg or a series of words. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you feel this is a route worth pursuing.

Labels: Galleries, Painting, Washington DC

over the winter break I had a chance to stumble over the Art House Coop's (Atlanta) website. They were getting started with a little project called the Sketchbook Project. I thought what the hell - let's see what happens. Long story short I wasn't interested in submitting a proper sketchbook so I made something more akin to a book as art. Using my approach to paperworks as a starting point.



What I ended up with was a project where I scanned a bunch of paint samples and built a continuous artwork that accordions open. I'm actually really happy about the piece and along with my friend Tony Eckersley, we made a quick video. (above)


The Sketchbook Project is all over the eastern US for the next year - check out the Art House website for details.

Labels: Artland: USA, books, Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, working

Martin Bromirski Gallery 817, at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, Through March 6th. Artist talk on February 25th, from 11:30 AM, Room 815, Anderson Building, U of Arts, 333 South Broad

Lori Nix Abandoned: But Not Forgotten Miller Block Gallery, 38 Newbury Street, Boston. Through March 14th.

Labels: Boston, Galleries, Painting, Philadelphia, Photography

Douglas Witmer Joseph's Coat at The Philadelphia Cathedral (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Matthew Langley Simple, Difficult at The University of Baltimore (Baltimore, Maryland)

Jeffrey Cortland Jones Unchained II at Link Gallery (Dayton, Ohio)

That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate at Pharmaka (Los Angeles, California)

Please Note: There are a lot of artists and curators using album and song titles for shows as well as for individual artworks (I know I do) I call dibs on Double Nickels on the Dime for a future show or artwork.

Above: Matthew Langley, Basho, 2008, 9" x 18", Acrylic on paper

Labels: Baltimore, Los Angeles, Matthew Langley, Ohio, Painting, Philadelphia

Willem de Looper was a fairly unique figure in his time in Washington. A painter and high level curator, de Looper was accessible, friendly and genuine. These traits alone make him rare - the fact that our arts community was blessed with someone like him is even rarer.

Labels: DC Galleries, Death, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

Hiroshi Sugimoto - 7 days 7 nights at Gagosian
In what was probably the biggest surprise to me, this is probably the most intense and rewarding show currently up right now. In the past, I have never been the biggest fan of Sugimoto - he seemed a little easy, and the images seemed a bit boring - I really thought it was the case of the emperor's new clothes. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life.

Here's the easy part, it's a show of 14 photos. Upon entering the gallery you see seven photos in a line in a pristine white room. Everything is equally spaced it is literally like looking at one line of a calendar. The images are close to identical and frankly at this point I went in and studied the images, they reveal themselves slowly and force the viewer to spend some time with the image to get anything out of it. Then a guard led me into a totally black room, I took a corner and saw another line of seven. The night photos are shown in the black room are displayed almost the same way that Avedon showed the miners in the American West show here at the Corcoran in the early eighties, while the two shows have almost nothing in common they have almost everything in common. Eventually your eyes adjust and the images are popping off the wall. Its almost violent how much info your getting from the images. I started to notice that the images were revealing themselves in subtle ways I wasn't expecting, the blacks and grays are so close that when they finally show the differences between each other it is just amazing.

A question I had leaving the gallery was who is able to print these? I mean your talking about some serious tonal differences that I don't think anyone can calibrate these in a standard darkroom environment, the printing of these alone is masterwork, while the installation is genius. Combined it makes for a very special gallery experience.

I know very little of the official approach of the work, however, ideas of time, motion and stillness become the guideposts of the work in its entirety.

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Ligurian Sea, Saviore, 1993
Gelatin silver print
47 x 58 3/4 inches unframed (119.4 x 149.2 cm)
Ed. of 5



Imi Knoebel at Mary Boone
Have I ever said that the Mary Boone Gallery in Chelsea is like a church? It's just an amazing structure, that certain shows kind of get swallowed up in that great space. This is not one of them.

As a friend of Blinky Palermo, Knoebel currently has an exhibition up at Dia:Beacon of works of his from the late sixties that are dedicated to Palermo, however the new work being show at Boone is really interesting These continue to explore his interest in picture space, support and color. The presentation is just amazing and the images themselves quiet but demanding of your attention.

Imi Knoebel, installation view

Worth Noting: Andrew Moore currently has a pair of amazing photographs up at Yancey Richardson. Although not an exhibit the two images by themselves are very close. Currently hung is new work showing the decay of the american rust belt, the images are sublime and tinged with a warmth that is hard to dislike. These were up in the back area, I hope they are still there if you get a chance to go.

Andrew Moore is also the Producer/Director of Photography of one of my favorite art biographies How To Paint A Bunny, a feature about the life of Ray Johnson.



Jim Dine - Hot Dream (52 Books) at Pace
I know that Jim Dine has ben focusing on his poetry quite a little bit, and upon looking at the current show, I think it's the best thing he could ever have done. This show is like someone took his mind opened it up, dumped it on the floor and threw it all over the place. You have everything in this show it's all there, all over the place and it's all right. Those magnificent drawing of tools he did in the seventies are here, as are photos and sculptures of the recent "Pinocchio" works, as well as Santa Claus and every little bit of detritus floating around his brain. It is a brilliant and magnificent show. It's also messy and fucked up and even stronger because of it.

It's almost unbelievable as well, especially when you consider that it is showing at Pace, not a smaller, but larger risk taking type space.

The work on display means less to me than watching dine take over this space and change it to match the psychographic mood of what he does and possibly how he works. The show is fascinating and inspiring. I wonder if we might be moving into an era where only successful artists will be able to take these kind of risks in a commercial space - I want to see even bigger risks being taken with even bigger approaches getting even better results. This is not the show of an artist who is slowing down, but of an artist that is still looking with his eyes, heart, and mind - and then thinking about it to new and unexpected results.

Jim Dine, installation view



Peter Dayton - Black Boards, White Chicks, part II at Salon 94 Freemans
One complaint - what a pain in the ass to find this gallery. I had mapped it and still needed directions.

Other than that the show is a knockout. Peter Dayton has been on my hit list for the last few months and when I received word that this show would consist mostly of his amazing Black Stella paintings, well, I wanted to go. For those late to the party, here is what Dayton does; (in a nut shell) He plays the high culture/low culture game better than anyone I've ever seen. It's that simple.

The Black Stella paintings play with shared images of Frank Stella's "Black" paintings of the fifties through a filter of the california finish fetish movement of the sixties. Although these have one more layer attached - they look almost exactly like a Stacey Peralta Warp Tail Skateboard deck that was manufactured by Gordon & Smith in the late seventies/early eighties. I should know because every little hessian rocker type kid I knew had one - even me. In fact I had two because my first one got ran over by a car and was snapped in half.

Back to the work, earlier Dayton's that I've seen play with color field painting - usually early Kenneth Noland (his stripes before the targets and chevrons), but these, with the Frank Stella "logo" on the top of the board mimic every important signifier that the real boards had, while using the geometric approach that Stella used. The idea is just so well executed it is hard not to be thrilled with the work. It is a show that asks a little bit from the viewer but returns more than asked with a smart approach and pristine execution along with smart aleck humor thrown in for good measure.

Bonus Play: A great little story told to me in a gallery that day.
I was talking to a friend at a gallery about how bad the Diebenkorn show recently at the Phillips was - and we were bummed because we both really like his work but this was just student stuff that probably was best to be shown as a piece of two for guidance in a larger show as opposed to an entire show of immature works he did while pursuing his masters.

Here's the story I was told. It is similar, but kind of worse.

She was at a show and the curator pulls out this painting from a flat file, that even in the best of times is laced with every bad Aryan stereotype you can think of. it's a blond haired, blue eyed mother in traditional german garb (think sound of music here) with a daughter in front, same kind of features, etc. while in the background it's the alps on the cleanest day that there ever was. Both of the figures are staring up and out to the bright future only illustrated in images like that. She turns to the curator and says "what is this?" The curator without missing a beat says. "It's a Franz Kline".

Labels: Galleries, New York, Painting, Paperworks, Photography, Sculpture

I am thrilled to start out the new year with the announcement that I will be having a show of new artworks. Titled Simple, Difficult at the University of Baltimore School of Law in downtown Baltimore.

I'll give more details in the next couple of days, however if you are in Baltimore on February 18th, I'd love to see you there.

Labels: Matthew Langley, Painting, Paperworks

I've been thinking pretty much non-stop about the new Ellsworth Kelly print from Gemini G.E.L. (Blue, Gray, Green, Red) I kind of liked what I saw in print (Artforum, probably) before I went to Miami, but I was not expecting to see what I did at Gemini G.E.L. at ABMB. I find Kelly interesting, he is one of those artists that when you look back at say Picasso or Mattise - he goes Mattise (as do I). While possibly far too many go Picasso. It is an artwork that has just continued to resonate in my head and I am thinking of it constantly.

It seems to be in the spirit of an earlier piece Painting for a White Wall, 1952. I became aware of this artwork (Painting...) in the recent Blinky Palermo catalog from that amazing retrospective in Germany last year.



Blue, Gray, Green, Red is a real egalitarian piece - all colors are the same size, chroma, etc. but the presence of the piece is just a knockout, when you think of doing so much with so little - this is a landmark.

I've always liked Kelly, but I've never really been knocked out by him like this.

Programming Note: This is the last post of the year as I take time to enjoy the holidays. I hope you and your loved ones have a great holiday however you may choose to celebrate it.


Top: Ellsworth Kelly, Blue Gray Green Red,  2008, 4 color lithograph, 48 x 130 inches, Projected edition of 18

Lower: Ellsworth Kelly,Painting for a White Wall, 1952, Oil on canvas, five joined panels, 23 1/2 by 71 1/4 inches

Labels: Ellsworth Kelly, Painting

Douglas Witmer interview at "visual discrepancies"
Brent Hallard, in Tokyo, has just published a short interview with Douglas. Read it here.

JT Kirkland interview at PDX Art
Richard Schemmerer has a few words with JT here.

Richard Serra Reinstalled
After almost twenty years in storage, Slat by Richard Serra was reanchored on Monday in La Défense, a Parisian business district. The sculpture spent five years in a nearby Paris suburb, Puteaux, but vandalism and graffiti prompted that town’s mayor to remove it.

Labels: general notice, Painting, Philadelphia, Richard Serra, Sculpture, Washington DC

Good afternoon everyone. Douglas Witmer's Show Today is the Day opens at M55 Art in Long Island City this weekend. If you can get there you really should.

Douglas Witmer
Today is the Day | New Paintings
M55 Art, Long Island City, NYC
November 13 - December 7, 2008

Reception: Saturday, November 15, 6-8pm

M55 Art
44-02 23rd Street
Long Island City, NYC
Gallery Hours: Thurs-Sun 12-6pm

Labels: New York, Painting

I hope you'll join me Saturday November 8, from 4-6pm for an open/close reception event at Green Line Art Projects in Philadelphia.

It's a two for one kind of deal - my show is going down while John Tallmans' work is going up.

Here are the details from Douglas at Green Line...

Closing will be Matthew Langley's "Recent Paperworks" exhibition.  It's your last chance to see this DC artist's terrific geometric paintings.  Matthew will be there, too.  So stop by to meet him!  Opening will be "Contemporary Two-Dimensional Art Objects For Home or Office by John Tallman."  Tallman is a Philly-area native, now based in Chattanooga by way of Korea.  Tallman will exhibit a brand new series of colored resin coated paper pieces specifically created for this show.

Labels: Galleries, Painting, Paperworks, Philadelphia

In the Guardian today Jonathan Jones equates Jasper Johns' Flag painting with The Great American Novel. He very quickly touches base on a number of Meta-naratives that are imposed on the artwork since it's creation in 1954 or 1955. He argues that the flag paintings are a love or leave em' kind of thing.

Jones further asks you to Look closer - to experience the work in itself. Mentioning that the original has fragments of headlines and photographs clipped from newspapers, sunk beneath the soft waxen surface of the work. Clearly he is trying to connect a political resonance with current event with the flag artworks - and I think this is interesting and silly at the same time. However after setting up an argument that is somewhat interesting concept he never delivers. I would have loved for Jones to expand his thoughts on The Great American Novel as it relates to the flag paintings. this seems like an opportunity missed.

The Story is here

Labels: 50's, international, New York, Painting

I first became aware of Susan Dory's painting at the Aqua Art Fair a few years ago when Winston Wächter had a strong showing of her work there. Since then it has stayed with me in a way that many other painters work does not.

Dory's work focuses on the repetition of translucent forms, capsulated shapes and bold color. Dory’s technique, slowly reveals itself through time spent actually looking. Dory states: "I am fascinated by the psychology of color and how deeply personal it is. Color is clearly powerful and influential when experienced yet systematically indefinable, immeasurable in the way it is individually perceived"

Susan Dory: Equipoise runs through November 15.

A quick housekeeping note: I've been a bit behind lately on the blog - my apologies. I do have reasons all of which will shortly be explained, but please do understand that things are getting back to where they were.

Marcel, 2008, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 42 x 48 inches

Labels: New York, Painting

Invites are just starting to come out for Douglas Witmer's upcoming show at M55 Art in Long Island City. Douglas is the man behind the Green Line Art Projects as well as an artist I share quite a bit in common with in thought however methods and materials slightly differ. I've seen a number of the pieces (in various states) and believe that this will be a show worth seeing.

Douglas Witmer Today is the Day runs November 7 - December 13 at M55 Art.

Labels: New York, Painting

Just in case you were laboring under the delusion that wealthy collectors buy expensive contemporary art at auction, impelled by their unerring connoisseurship and in-depth art-historical knowledge, Amy Cappellazzo, quoted in Sarah Thornton's fascinating new book Seven Days in the Art World, will put you right.

According to the co-director of postwar and contemporary art at Christie's, cheerful colours are the thing: "Brown paintings don't sell as well as blue or red paintings." Then there's the medium: "Collectors get confused and concerned about things that plug in." Finally, size matters (doesn't it always): "Anything larger than the standard dimension of a Park Avenue elevator generally cuts out a certain sector of the market." This is confirmed by a collector, speaking anonymously to Thornton during a sale about Warhol's Mustard Race Riot: "It's a great historical piece, but it's not a very appealing colour and it's too large to hang easily in one's home."

Quoted wholesale from the Guardian

Labels: Europe, Painting

The Metropolitan Museum and The Museum of Modern Art have brought out a pair of shows that are at once low key and extreme in the approaches in use or via the work that is presented. I'm speaking specifically of Van Gogh and the Colors of Night and Giorgio Morandi, 1890 - 1964.

Lets start with the "easy" show first. Van Gogh and the Colors of Night seems at first blush to be a blockbuster for the fall season to set up a gift shop to make a ton of dollars and make everyone feel really inspired about the trouble that Van Gogh had in his life. Well, sorry to disappoint, but this is a show without a reference to alcoholism, insanity, his "friendship" with Gauguin, or even his ear. What? it is a small show maybe 30 pieces of art, 1/3rd of which are drawings, its a quiet intense and thematically tight show.

There is a thought that goes like; some people paint the same picture their whole life. While some people continue to search for new things at every turn. Then there is the exception that proves the rule. That exception is Giorgio Morandi. The met has put together a collection that will take repeated viewings to fully grasp the subtleties of this show of primarily the same basic approach and really the same image. If your love is Damien Hirst, this show is not for you.

In an age where I've started to feel that The Met and MoMA (MoMA more so) have started to give short thrift to the classic ideas of modern art versus the impact, glamor and curatorial punch of contemporary art it is stunning to me that these shows, as different as they are, are as powerful and complex as anything I've seen lately.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Shimon Attie at Jack Shainman Gallery
Who know that images of car racing could be so interesting? These are very different than the photos that Andreas Gursky exhibited last winter in that these eliminate the background, taking it to black. Frankly these images are a "Strobist" dream. (I'll get back to that in a moment) these images feel as if they are shot in context, but really upon further looking, they really are studio shots - even with the presence of a prop or two (jersey wall, gas container, etc.) All in all a tight little show - it even had a video presentation that was done the right way.

What the hell do I mean by a "Strobist" dream? There is a web site devoted to photography called Strobist that is devoted to highly effective uses of lighting and approaches to images using less gear with maximum results - these images struck me as something that an avid reader of that site would get jazzed by - in no way am I belittling the work, or the site

Untitled Video Still, Racing Clocks Run Slow: Archeology of a Racetrack, 2007



Andres Serrano at Yvon Lambert "Shit"
These are exactly what you might expect them to be - macro photography of shit. Highly glossy, oversized, stylized, polished and over-saturated. The gallery even smells a little bit like shit - although it probably was just the smell of fresh paint - but anything you smell in the gallery this month or so will trigger that kind of response. I'll have to admit the show as a whole seems kind of easy and for a series of images that are as well done as these are, and don't get me wrong - the scope and approaches of these images is really impressive - still the show was kind of a bore.

Shit (Bull Shit), 2008



Christian Marclay at Paula Cooper
Watching what CM does with the detritus of the recording industry and our relationship with popular music as well as the places where our relationship sits with popular music becomes more and more interesting to me every time I see his work. I have been following his work for quite a while and although this show uses re-occuring subject matter (cassette tapes) the approach is very different and a little bit unexpected. The new work is cyanotypes of multiple exposed opened cassettes, pulled out, dropped down and layered in a way that doesn't allow you to see the artists that have "donated" music to the work.

Highly recommended.

Memento (True Love), 2008


One thing to note: Exhibitions that are hung like high school science fair projects. I'm seeing this more and more in Chelsea as well as a few exhibits here in DC. I think it's sad. I get the idea that these are approaches and mechanics that intersect with some kind or real or imagined anthropological or process based approach, however it rarely is as powerful as I think the artist or gallerist would like. More and more it's a bit like the emperors new clothes.



Peter Dayton at Winston Watcher
Peter Dayton has this really great riff on color field work that plays with it's approach to decoration and california surf culture of the sixties. These are great images that gives the viewer both an intellectual kick and a goof at the same time. Susan Dory, who I've spoken of before was also showing - is continuing to produce great work.

Noland #13 "Surf Bunny Beach", 2008



Josef Koudelka: Prague 68 at the Aperture Foundation
I was not prepared for how much I liked this exhibition. Shot over a period of 7 days during the soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia by Josef Koudelka who would have to wait over 15 years to even put his name on the photos he would smuggle out of the country to show what was happening on the ground when no one could find out anything. This is an amazing show with one of the greatest back stories I've seen in quite a long time. This work has never been shown in it's entirety and is well worth waiting the 40 years it took to be able to show it. It is a powerful and urgent show, probably the best of the season.

Highly recommended.

Russian Tank in Prague, 1968

Labels: New York, Painting, Photography

Matthew Langley - Paperworks

Green Line Art Projects
3649 Lancaster Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Now - through November 7, 2008
Opening Reception September 12 from 6pm to 8pm

Indirect Enquiries, 2008, 9" x 9", Acrylic on paper

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Philadelphia

There is a nice little article about a damaged beyond repair Ad Reinhardt painting on display at the Guggenheim in Artinfo this week.

The show "Imageless" is on display in the museum Annex Level 7 through September.

I found this to be pretty interesting read, hope you do too.

Ad Reinhardt in his studio, New York, July 1966. Photo by John Loengard/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images



Reinhardt’s "Black Painting" (1960–66), photographed under ultraviolet light after laser cleaning at Art Innovation, Oldenzaal, the Netherlands. Photo by James Martin, Orion Analytical, LLC

Labels: 60's, New York, Painting

I found this rather interesting article about JWRs recent show (at James Kelly in Santa Fe) the other day. I have to say its a rather interesting take on a his exhibition. This passage in particular:

Too often artists rely on the sum of an exhibition to create the sense of a greater whole, even if the individual pieces fall flat. With Deep Creek Seeps, however, the desire is to get rid of the exhibition and focus on a singular work.

I can understand the approach the reviewer takes, especially in light of the few really powerful solo shows that have only had one work (in my mind the Eric Fischl show at Mary Boone in the early eighties comes to mind - among others). That said, its really quite a treat to read quality art criticism in a regional newspaper.

One last thing, I don't see the "Rothko-ness" in JWRs work - I don't see or feel the same approach to the spiritual or even the personal anxiety, just the opposite JWRs work seems calmer and more at ease with itself than Rothkos. Not that makes one better or worse, just different.

The whole article is here.


Johnnie Winona Ross, Dark Creek, 2008

Labels: Johnnie Winona Ross, Painting

I'm a big fan of Richard Diebenkorn, however to be fair, this show is a great disappointment.

In what amounts to a show of his artworks while earning his masters degree, the show falls flat. I think the problem could be that this work is clearly not mature - in fact it is fast, thin, and a little bit generic in its feel. RD was at the time of his New Mexico experience, painting in the style of the abstract expressionists - I should really clarify that - because of the diversity of images created by that group, Diebenkorn was mining a style that felt like deKooning with a touch of Robert Motherwell thrown in. As far as student work - that is all well and good, the problem arises in that the questions that the ABEX painters were addressing is completely absent in these works. They come across as a series of images of wanting to be taken seriously without providing enough firepower to support that approach.

I rarely do a bad review on this site - I think enough people are negative enough as it is - why add to it. However in this case, I had pumped this show up twice before seeing it and was so let down I felt that I owed at least some semblance of my truth to you the reader after actually seeing this show.

There was one thing I was really hoping to see after I realized the weakness's of the show. That is the sense of place that Diebenkorn has transfixed in his Ocean Park series, I was really hoping for that same kind of place in these paintings. Unfortunately that is not here. Lets hope that a show of his more mature work will be making the rounds soon - this is not the kind of show that does a reputation any good, especially the stellar reputation of an american master like Richard Diebenkorn.

Labels: Bad Review, Painting, Washington DC

I have recently sold my painting Poppies in the Field to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH). This is my first sale to a governmental agency.

DCCAH also owns work by artists such as: Lois Mailou Jones, John Dreyfus, James Wells, and Sam Gilliam. So I feel I'm in pretty good standing.

Labels: Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC

I've written a brief bit about this show before, naturally I assumed that the show was not traveling - I love being wrong, especially when I don't have to go very far to see the show.

Expect a real review early next week - but go ahead and see the show for if nothing else some new questions about a man whose work is so integrated with a city and how it started in a desert.

Richard Diebenkorn, Untitled (Albuquerque), 1952. Oil on canvas, 68 x 60 inches (174.6 x 152.4 cm). The Buck Collection, Laguna Beach, California. Copyright The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn.

Labels: 50's, Painting, Washington DC

Johnnie Winona Ross dropped me a note the other day to let me know of a new show of his work - this time at James Kelly Contemporary in Santa Fe. It also marks a new direction in JWR's art practice. By this I mean a horizontal rectilinear shape as opposed to a nearly square approach.

I will not be seeing this exhibition, however JWR is one of the more interesting artists I've stumbled across in the last few years. So if you get the chance, try not to miss it.

Deep Creek Seeps, 2008, Acrylic gypsum, titanium, zinc, various oxides, marble burnished on bleached linen, 48 x 72 inches

Labels: Johnnie Winona Ross, Painting

Robert Rauschenberg died.

I have a number of things to say, but I cant until tomorrow.

Robert Rauschenberg in 1953. Photo by Allan Grant, Life Magazine © Time Warner Inc/Robert Rauschenberg/VAGA, New York/DACS, London

Labels: Death, Painting, Photography, Sculpture

The other day I mentioned I has going to participate in AOM - last time was so good to me, I figured why not? I still feel that way. I have been thinking about what I would do - rehang some of the work from my DCAC show? or something different?

I think I'm going the different route.

I have recently been doing quite a few white on white pieces and think this might be a good place to present a very tightly focused group of my work. I'm pretty excited about this. I hope you can come by my booth (D7 on the 5th floor) and say hello.

One More Artomatic Note: the building is brand new and really nice. Last years show was on two floors and little bit cramped - this year its on something like 5 floors and feels like it will be very spacious. Hope you can make it.

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC

So enough with my trails and tribulations about the house/studio. Lets move on to some better news but, before I start, Sorry for being away for the last 10 days or so. I was just caught up in the finals of the regular season (Go Caps!) and spent too much time at the rink and in front of the TV.

Solo Show in Philadelphia this September
Doug Witmer has been kind enough to set up a casual showing of my paperworks at Green Line Projects. I'm thrilled to be having even a cafe show in another city by someone who I have admired from a distance. I'll talk more in the later months.

Collected by Ernst and Young
I recently had a painting purchased by Ernst & Young. Sunflower was featured in The Washington Post Sunday Source section when the show at DCAC was opening. For me it's the first sale of my work to a major corporation.

Art-O-Matic
AOM was so good to me last time that I just cant resist doing it agin this year. One of the things I really like about AOM is the ability to show a group of artworks as opposed to one of those shows with 50 works by 50 artists and no one remembers anything.

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Philadelphia, Washington DC

Thanks for sticking with me today while I continue talking about William Christenberry's current show at the Katzen Art Center at American University. I have been thinking about a discussion that arises with the idea of the grid and how it relates to WC's art in an era that could be defined as reductive - by this I mean the early seventies and into the very early eighties, the early stages of his mature artistic output.

I have always thought of the work as documentary in style and presentation - while I still find this to be true, I'm starting to think about the serial nature of the places that are photographed in Christenberry's work. Why for instance have I seen more that 10 different versions of The Palmist Building, The Green Warehouse, Sprott Church, and The Bar-B-Q Inn. Certainly these images could create a grid of changes to the location or even a timeline of the same, however could we now start to see that structure as a formal 3 dimensional grid that could represent; image of the location, deterioration of the location, year of the location, anthropological uses of the location. An x,y, and z axis if you will. This grid (or cube) could now start to also work in other disciplines - his drawings, paintings, and sculptures of the locations (or details thereof) of said subject combined.

There is a secondary question to this that needs to be asked as well - Is this an intention of the artist or is this something that has sprung from reading the output of his practice. Or is it a combination of both, in my mind, probably both. While this says nothing definitive of WC's work, it does raise a curious thought about art we (especially in the DC area) have grown very accustomed to.

Clearly this post is as much me thinking aloud as it is definitive theory - I have been kind of rolling the idea around for the last couple of days just to see where it might stick.

Labels: DC Galleries, Galleries, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Washington DC

Thank you JT Kirkland for the kind words on your blog, Thinking About Art.

Follow this link for the article.

By the way, Sunday is the last day. So get down there - I'll be around a little bit this weekend so say hello.

Labels: DC Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC

Thanks go out to Kriston Capps for his review of my show in the Washington City Paper today. You can even read it online here.

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC

A big thank you to Kelly Rand of DCist who reviewed my show for the DCist web site. Follow this link for the story.

Also I had a brief mention on the Washington Post Web site by the "Going Out Gurus" in the Got Plans? section of the website. I guess this is a transcript of a conversation held on Thursday, Jan 17, 2008. I'm mentioned in a question about 1/3 of the way down. Follow this link.

Labels: DC Galleries, Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting

I have it on good authority that he is going to DCAC tonight for my opening.

Hope to see you there.

Labels: DC Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC

You could have knocked me down with this one. The other day I received a call from the mysterious "B" Stanley at DCAC. He and I were talking about a couple of logistical things related to my show. He casually mentioned that "the Post" requested photos and didn't say much more. I of course was hoping for something to come from that - but was not expecting anything. So the color image of one of my paintings and a "Cant Miss" tag with it - pretty much has made my week. It has possibly added to my anxiety level a little bit as well - don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive - I'll name names at the end of the week.

(click on the image to see a larger, more readable size)

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, Painting, Washington DC