Arthur Pena
August 10, 2018, 4:36pm
A Conversation: Eric Fischl
New American Paintings Contributer, Arthur Peña, speaks with Eric Fischl on the occaision of his survey exhibition, If Art Could Talk, at the Dallas Contemporary.
Rift/Raft, 2016, oil on linen, 98 x 220 inches
Arthur Peña: There are so many moves and nuances playing out on the surface of the paintings. The work has a constant restlessness in the how the paint is being pushed around.
Eric Fischl: I don't know if you have that as well. I'm assuming you do, I think all painters do, which is that I’m always wondering what's enough. What does it take to make it feel alive, make it feel real? How much detail do I need? Do I stick to some strict formula? Do I deviate? Do I whatever? I thought the older I got, the better at the craft I got, the more that question would go away, but it gets worse.
April 27, 2018, 1:47pm
A Celebration in Dallas: Nicole Eisenman at One Night Only
Quietly nestled in The Cedar’s neighborhood, just south of downtown Dallas, is a humble shotgun style historic home. Within the past few years this private residence has functioned as a flex space, an arts incubator of sorts, hosting private events with renowned outsider and folk artists and other community focused creatives. The house is operated and managed by a cohort of neighborhood designers and artists, one of which is conscientiously preserving the character of overlooked structures and houses in The Cedar’s, with this shotgun residence being a shining example of his efforts. - Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor
Photo by Kevin Todora courtesy of Anton Kern Gallery
March 05, 2018, 9:04am
A Conversation: Nina Chanel Abney
When I met Nina Chanel Abney on the occasion of her FOCUS show at The Modern in Fort Worth, she had just returned from South Africa where she spent three weeks. This much needed vacation was taken after her critically acclaimed duel solo shows opened at both Mary Boone Gallery and Jack Shainman in New York on the same night. Through her friendly smile, she mentions that she will be flying out to Paris in the morning for her show at Palais de Tokyo then flying back to open her solo show in her home town at the Chicago Cultural Center on what would end up being a very snowy day. About a week after our conversation, Abney was a recipient of a grant from the Tiffany Foundation. Needless to say, she has been busy. - Arthur Peña, Texas Contributor
Hobson's Choice, 2017, Acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 84 ¼" x 120 ¼", Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; Museum Purchase.
November 27, 2017, 10:07am
A Conversation: Katherine Bradford
There is a place, a safe place, a new place, somewhere other than where we are. A horizon, hazy like memories, colorful like wild dreams. Guided by a soft glow, carefree bodies drift afloat in an infinite ether. In the midst of cultural upheaval, Katherine Bradford steadily paints a path through a fantastical world, spared from the troubles of ours. On the occasion of her first solo museum show, and as part of the phenomenal series of FOCUS shows at The Modern in Fort Worth curated by Alison Hearst, Katherine and I had the chance to revisit with each other and have a conversation. - Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor
March 22, 2017, 9:39am
A Conversation: Stanley Whitney
Arthur Peña: We first met in 2011 while I was at RISD and what stuck with me from that meeting was a story of how your father wasn’t allowed in museums because they were still segregated. How I remember the rest of the story is you saying that when you did have your first museum show you wanted to make paintings big enough that they wouldn’t fit through the door and the museum would have to work to get them in. Did I remember that right?
Stanley Whitney: Well it’s true that my father couldn’t go in to the Philadelphia Museum. Jack Whitten calls those years the “American Apartheid.” I have lots of stories of paintings not fitting through doors but I don’t think it’s exactly those circumstances. Although, I might have mentioned something like that. It could have been related to a story from around 2006 when my dealer José Freire came to me and asked me to make the biggest work I could make to take to Basel to try and make things happen because he kept putting me in shows and no one was paying me any mind. So I made the biggest painting I could make in my studio, 96 x 96 in., and to get it out we had to cut it in half to get it through the door. We showed it on a big expensive wall and it didn’t sell.
FOCUS: Stanley Whitney at The Modern in Fort Worth, TX
March 14, 2017, 8:20am
A CONVERSATION: ROSS BLECKNER
This interview took place on the occasion of Bleckner’s solo show, “Find a peaceful place where you can make plans for the future” at the Dallas Contemporary.
(L to R) Dome, 2016, Oil on linen, 84 x 84 in. Ladder Painting, 2016, Oil on linen, 96 x33 in. Dome, 2016, Oil on linen, 120 x 78 in.
April 19, 2016, 8:26am
PAINTING PICKS FROM DALLAS ART FAIR
The 8th Dallas Art Fair wrapped up over the weekend and with it came an exceptional gathering of international galleries and artists. I’m not so interested in picking top booths, name dropping who was in town for the parties or lingering on the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program, which provides the Dallas Museum of Art with $50,000 to acquire work by artists exhibited at the fair. Rather I wanted to give some quick thoughts on a group of selected paintings that stood out from the crowd. Some selections are consistent with what is being seen on the coasts and beyond but there were surprises and discoveries to be had. – Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor
Tony Delap, Pender, 2016, linen, acrylic, aluminum, 13 x 13 in, Parrasch Heijnen Gallery
December 10, 2015, 12:31pm
A Conversation: Joyce Pensato
It seems Joyce Pensato needs no introduction. Her legendary personality and energetic paintings speak for themselves. In fact they scream for themselves. Much has been said in terms of what her absorption of popular culture may reflect. Updated Abstract Expressionism mutated by Warhol and technology? An aggressive reconciliation of our visually saturated world? Ominous portraits signifying a collapsing sense of the role of the image? Sure, but Pensato is quick to sidestep any prolonged reading of the work and simply acknowledge her love for all things Pop. In Pensato there is a sincere engagement with the characters and people that create our unified lexicon of references. This raw sincerity begs us to never turn away from her work as she transforms photographs and cartoon characters into forceful action. Pensato has also been known to show remnants of her studio within exhibitions. This residue which Pensato generously shares can be read as feverish and obsessive while strangely twisting her overwhelming energy into visually formidable objects. Mania made tangible. Pensato is chasing her mind through painting, the medium itself acting as the catalyst and gateway to bring all things into her loving gaze so she can squeeze tight, tighter, tighter until all is consumed by her unrelenting embrace. On the occasion of her current exhibition at the Fort Worth Modern, which presents a body of new photographs and large scale piece, we sat surrounded by Philip Guston paintings and had a conversation. - Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor
Texas Batman, 2015, Enamel on canvas. 100 x 160 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Petzel, New York.
July 16, 2015, 9:01am
We’ve got one question: DAVID SALLE
In David Salle’s solo museum show at the Dallas Contemporary, Salle owns his art world persona. His works playfully lure in the viewer only to smoothly transition into a seriousness that could only come from years of knowing the ropes (quite literally, in two paintings he has attached a velvet rope). The paintings are easy to enjoy and showcase Salle’s ability to carve out figures with subtle washes and delicate line while excavating Painting’s history. The images in the work are perfectly timed and slyly hilarious. – Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor
May 07, 2015, 8:47am
We’ve got one question: Michaël Borremans
Michaël Borremans US premiere of his survey show As sweet as it gets brings together 50 paintings, 40 drawings and 5 films from the last fifteen years. The show opened at the Dallas Museum of Art and was organized by Jeffrey Grove, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Special Projects & Research, who worked closely with Borremans to showcase this impressive body of work. The films in the show function to establish their importance to Borremans process of culling frames from moving images but the films also maintain an independence all of their own. The most effective film piece, The German, showcases an enclosed diorama which houses miniature figures standing in front of a stories tall (in terms of scale to the miniatures) screen that features a man’s face speaking.
The work expertly showcases Borremans imagination and most importantly his acute sense of scale that is also present in his drawings which exploit scale to depict grandiose ideas and scenes in a restrictive size.
Michaël Borremans | A Mae West Experience, 2002, Pencil, watercolor on paper, 6 13/32 x 8 in. (16.3 x 20.3 cm), Private Collection, Belgium, Courtesy Zeno X Gallery Antwerp © Photographer Felix Tirry ©Michaël Borremans
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