If you’ve been following me on social media, last week I posted on Facebook about a wonderful tribute from The New Yorker to Françoise Gilot on the occasion of the re-issue of her book, Life with Picasso. Gilot was the fifth woman to subject herself to a long liaison with the monkey-faced master (and some, like Dora Maar and Jacqueline Roque, did not survive, taking their own lives after losing him). She went on to a fulfilling career of her own, as an artist, and a happy marriage to Dr. Jonas Salk, who discovered a successful vaccine for polio. She is now 97 years old.
I never met her, but we had a few spirited exchanges when I was working on an article for ARTnews about Picasso’s 1921 painting Three Women at the Spring. This was one of those canvases in his monumental classicizing style, showing three female figures with blunt profiles and chunky bodies in vaguely Grecian garb. The assignment, handed out about 20 years ago, asked a number of contributing editors to solicit an “expert” to comment on what was going on in a series of five or six paintings by different artists. I first called on the brilliant art historian Leo Steinberg, who had written extensively about Picasso. “My dear Ms. Landi,” he responded via email. “I am an old man, nearing the end of my career, and I really don’t have time for this sort of frippery.” (Or words to that effect.)
So then someone suggested I turn to Gilot. I must have gotten hold of her through a gallery in California and wrote to ask if she’d like to analyze the painting in 500 or so words. She responded that she knew the work well and had some ideas about its meaning and iconography. But, she admonished, she would not allow us to rework her prose, and if we did, she would have to retract her contribution. I had bad feelings about this but consented anyway. (Professor Steinberg, for a piece about the dubious Michelangelo sculpture “discovered” by another art historian in the French cultural attaché on Fifth Avenue, insisted that if the magazine tinkered with his prose, it would have to donate $1000 to his favorite charity. We were warned away from so much as inserting a comma and ran his report with nary a word changed.)
Gilot offered up what seemed an astute and insightful analysis of the painting, identifying the women as stand-ins for Picasso’s sisters and mother (an owl perched in the upper right represented the artist himself), but, alas, it was about 750 words long, and then editor-in-chief Milton Esterow insisted it would have to be cut. I worked on a careful edit and sent it to Gilot. When I later spoke to her on the phone, it was “absolument non” delivered in what I recall as rapid-fire but charmingly accented English that put me in my place in no time flat.
And so I had to find someone else to comment on Three Women and I believe it was the deft and obliging John Richardson, author of the multi-volume biography of Picasso, who supplied an exegesis. (If this story is out there online, I have no idea how to find it.)
When I later recounted my interactions with Gilot to an art-historian friend, a Titian scholar who discovered that the Venus of Urbino is probably masturbating, she asked if I’d saved her response. Stupidly, I realized I must have trashed it or lost it from my hard disk after one too many computer replacements. It was her turn to offer a rebuke: “This is a piece of art history. Students of Picasso will want this on the record in generations to come.”
As the French say, tant pis. You can't keep everyone happy.
Modigliani, Picasso, and critic André Salmon, ca. 1921
Every writer loves a good rant now and then, and art critics are certainly no exception. Last week Jerry Saltz apparently went ballistic on the state of American museums, a diatribe that drew about 1500 responses (I had this secondhand from Google news, since I unfriended and unfollowed Saltz years ago—the coyly obnoxious, or obnoxiously coy, posts finally turned me off for good). Last week, in correspondence with V21 member Mark Sheinkman (whose studio will be on the homepage very soon), I was reminded of art-world impresario Rob Storr’s take-down of a number of contemporary critics in an interview with Brainard Carey a few years back. Among others, he dissed Jerry Saltz (“the class clown”), Roberta Smith (“self-important”), and Peter Schjeldahl (“burned out”). It’s an entertaining and enlightening exchange about criticism and art education (Storr was for several years dean of the Yale graduate program), which you can find here in transcript, or seek out the podcast online.
I’ve done a fair amount of ranting myself (what’s the point of having your own website if you can’t unload now and then?) Here are a few of my personal faves:
But you might want to wait for the weather to cool down before subjecting yourself to any more hot air.
Enough about me!
Here’s what members are up to right now….
Millicent Young has a sculpture in the group show “Earthly Delights” at the Re Institute in Millerton, NY, through August 24, The curatorial hook here is that all works are placed directly on the gallery floor. Says Young: "This piece belongs to a cycle called ‘Vehicles,’ consisting of five works inspired by the availability of material (a 200-year-old hickory tree that came down on my land) and my meditations on the invention of the wheel, the domestication of animals, and where it has led us."
Millicent Young, Vehicle with 8 Vertebrae (2011), hickory, cedar, ironwood, horse hair, clay, 39 b 144 by 18 inches.
Arlene Rush and Camille Eskell are both part of “Crashing the Party: Breaking the Boundaries of Sculpture and Installation Art,” curated by Barbara O’Brien, at the Plaxall Gallery in Long Island City, NY (through August 25). The show, says Eskell, “presents a wide range of interpretations of and responses to the idea and ideals of gender equity, and political, social, physical, and conceptual ideas.” One of her works is from a series called “The Fez as Storyteller” and explores “the cultural and psychological impact of social and religious systems," she adds. "The title adjoins two phrases angrily expressed by my father to his daughters. The adorned fez, with a central image of two unsmiling costumed sisters, sits atop embellished legs that slide into pointed Middle Eastern slippers; seemingly transfixed, they are ‘served up’ on a traditional brass tray perched on a base recalling a Moroccan table.” Says Rush of her two works in the show: "Hope for World Peace and America 2018 are both part of the series ‘Current Affairs.' The works respond to events that have occurred both pre- and the post the 2016 presidential election. America 2018 directly speaks of the mourning for a country we once knew and the feelings of injustice and loss of liberty created by the office of the presidency and its administration. Hope for World Peace reflects on social justice and the integrity of our current politics. As an artist and citizen contemplating the state of our country, I find it critical to map these moments in history.”
Camille Eskell, Don’t Stand There (2018), mixed media, 48 inches high, 18 inches diameter
Arlene Rush, Hope for World Peace (2018-2019), museum board, archival paper, resin, acrylic and wax, 22.5 by 47 by 38 inches
Through August 24, Brian Shields has a solo at Michael Warren Contemporary in Denver, CO. “Shields’ work is deeply rooted in the landscape, paying homage to history and yet remaining deeply identifiable as his own,” says the catalogue for the show. "Brian’s emotive gestures layer with rhythmic mark-making to convey fantastical narratives. His deft use of color captures each shared moment in place and time; true for all of his work, this is especially evident in the monumental series ‘Four Seasons.’”
Brian Shields, Calypso’s Cave (2019), mixed media on canvas, 60 by 60 inches
Dara Mark is part of summer group shows at Gebert Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM, and at Friesen Gallery in Sun Valley, ID. As of August 2, she writes, “the Lady Minimalists Tea Society will present a group show of our work. The Lady Minimalists are six Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM, artists who have been meeting and showing together since 2011. This show represents a big step forward for us in terms of exposure to a wider audience. We have been planning and organizing for months! Besides the exhibit itself, one project is an inter-active installation of ceramic teacups, which, instead of tea leaves, will contain quotes from famous artists, to be read by participants." At the Tulsa/Hardesty Center in Tulsa, OK, through September 22. Below, an installation shot of Mark’s work from the Friesen Gallery.
“From my first romantic realization that I wanted to be an artist, my life path has been set on a single course. In a career spanning more than forty years, this path continues to evolve in response to my personal landscapes,” writes Debra Van Tuinen. “These literal and metaphorical landscapes, my desire to create, and the skills I have diligently honed along the way, have combined to shape every aspect of my life, especially my art.” Her most recent series, “Light Revealed,” she adds “is the organic evolution of my previous work into a new flowing form. In these pieces, I have opened up my relationship with paint and canvas, allowing myself a greater freedom to explore the movement and the sensual aspects of my work.” She will be showing her paintings at Space Gallery in Denver, CO, through August 17.
Debra Van Tuinen, Ribbons of Water (2019), acrylic and oil on canvas, 60 by 48 inches
David S. Rubin—writer, curator, and artist—has a new project at the Bradbury Art Museum, part of the Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. The show, called “A Notational Guide to the Universe,” features 30 paintings from 2015-18 by Cuban-American artist David “LEBO” Le Batard. “LEBO describes his work as postmodern cartoon expressionism, using color and line to tell a story and, convey emotion,” says the press release for the show. Adds Rubin, “LEBO considers space and time to be nonlinear and infinite. In his visions of the universe, which he calls the ‘divine matrix,’ cartoon characters coexist with ancient symbols, words and numbers, references from distant cultures harmoniously comingle, and logical distinctions between past, present, or future are obliterated.” At the Bradbury Museum through September 20, the exhibition will travel to El Museo Latino, Omaha, NE; Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA; Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center, Nashville,TN; and the Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
David “LEBO” Le Batard, Journey of the Hero (2017), crayon on canvas, 60 by 60 inches
“Westside Exposure,” a show of works by members of the Whitney Museum’s staff, is at the Westbeth Gallery, 55 Bethune Street, New York, NY, through August 15. “From its origins in Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Greenwich Village studio in 1914 to its relocation to the Meatpacking District in 2015, the Whitney Museum of American Art has always sought to support living artists at critical moments in their careers,” says the gallery’s website. “Many of the Museum’s staff members, who make the Museum’s exhibitions, programs, publications, and day-to-day operations possible, are artists themselves. For the fourth time in its history, the Whitney’s Staff Art Show will be held in a public space, offering staff an opportunity to share their work and deepen connections with one another as well as a wider audience. This year’s exhibition will include the work of over ninety artists, presenting a wide range of mediums and content and reflecting the diversity of thought and artistic practice among the Whitney’s staff.” Thanks to William Norton, aka “Norton,” for bringing this to my attention! He says his entry in the show is designed to be reminiscent of a Japanese scroll or obi: “I’ve etched the historical photograph of the Hiroshima bombing and Japanese abstracted cloud forms into this piece.”
William Norton, Divine Wind (2018-19), hand-etched Plexiglass with shadows and reflections mounted on wood, 102 by 21.5 by 3.5 inches
Carlos Ramirez’s latest show “At Dusk” will be at Pryor Fine Art in Atlanta, GA, through August 23. “This body of work was inspired by my neighborhood walks at dusk. As the light of the day weakens and begins to soften, so do the colors in the world around me,” he writes. “Wandering about with no agenda, I stop to take in a neighbor's garden or just stand awed under a colossal oak tree. At this time of day everything takes on a certain elegance, the colors become muted, softer and the world feels gentler. It is this feeling that led me to develop this group of paintings.”
Carlos Ramirez, The Striped Cabana (2019), oil on canvas, 54 by 54 inches Linda Vi Vona is exhibiting many of her assemblages and collages from 1974 to 2019 at the Moon and Dove Gallery in Corrales, NM (through the end of August). “Tatters #1 is one demonstration from her latest series that was inspired by and utilized vintage quilt pieces and original prints on fabric and paper,” says the press for the show. “This wall work is a synthesis of hand-printed and sewn pieces with basic lineage and colors of Bauhaus and Constructivist sensibilities and color.”
Linda Vi Vona, Tatters #1 (2018), Oil-painted, stamped, hand- and machine-sewn cotton on backing, 17 by 17 by 3 inches Through September 1, Judy Gelles will be showing photos from her “Fourth Grade Project” at the Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia, PA. For the ongoing series, Gelles interviewed and photographed more than 300 fourth-grade students from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds in China, India, South Korea, England, St. Lucia, Israel, Italy, South Africa, Nicaragua, and multiple areas of the United States. She asked all of the students the same three questions: Who do you live with? What do you wish for? What do you worry about? The undertaking comprises videos, installations, and an affecting series of photographs that shows the students, captured from behind, with the text of their responses. Philadelphia fourth graders who posed for photos will be part of the show.
Judy Gelles, Nicaragua Fourth Grader (2016), banner size, 72 by 46 inches, fine art prints, 25 by 20 inches
In Memoriam: As I have mentioned on social media, my dear friend Gendron Jensen died of bone cancer last week after a valiant seven-month struggle. You can read about his unusual background and remarkable drawings here, but I’d like to add a few words about what an extraordinary character he was—a lively raconteur with a ready laugh, a committed and thoughtful artist, and a generous man in all ways. He and his wife, Christine Taylor Patton, who is also engaged with the art of drawing, enjoyed an ongoing love affair that lasted more than thirty years. Here is one of my favorites among his drawings—not the animal bones he usually preferred as subjects, but an oversized pheasant egg (check out the dimensions below).
Gendron Jensen, pheasantake (1969), graphite on paper, 6 by 5 feet.
The image at the top of the newsletter is of Gendron as a young man. Wish I’d met him first!
And that wraps it up for now.
New and recent members: I am totally out of stamina and steam at the moment. I will get to you by the end of August. My apologies for the delay.
When you notify me about shows and prizes and other accolades for the newsletter, I will shortly be sending out a form to use (I get a little crazy backtracking through correspondence), but in the interim, along with a jpg of the work (600-800 pixels for Mailchimp) labeled with your name, please give me dimensions, title, size, and medium. Along with a couple of sentences about the show or your evolution as an artist or the work itself….Thank you!
