Promoting figurative artists dedicated to THE NUDE with an artist registry, online exhibitions, articles, videos and more.
“I’m trying to see if it’s possible to hold onto that moment of perception, or have several moments coexist… Like looking at a memory. ” This quote from Jenny Saville encapsulates perfectly what she seems to be striving for in her work, and it resonates intensely. The sheer immensity in size of her canvases […]
Alonsa Guevara – Espiritu At Anna Zorina Gallery, NYC Upon entering the gallery there is a palpable sense of lushness. A cacophony of colors and the smell of ripened fruit compete for influence on our senses. Tall canvases line the wall containing gorgeous life size paintings of young women, silently holding our gaze, and covered […]
Interview with Bo Bartlett PPOW Gallery Bo Bartlett: Paintings of Home by Scott Goodwillie December, 2010 In his recent exhibition at PPOW Gallery in New York, Bo Bartlett offered some stunning compositions which rely on childhood memories or the place of his dreams. Born in Columbus, Georgia, he depicts a world of stillness and intimacy which […]
The idea that an artist hires others to create their works is not a new phenomenon. Some think the practice began with Warhol because he was so blatant about the use of assistants to create mass-produced works. But even with masters such as Rubens and Raphael, the use of assistants to produce artworks is an old practice. Whatever […]
Artist Statement: In my works I am often dealing with myth as subject matter. I have since an early age been influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell. For me, myth does not stop with our cultural archives, but can evolve new meanings with sufficient imagination. Specifically compelling to me are the temple carvings of […]
I remember standing electrified with awe in Florence years ago taking in a sculpture titled Laocoon by 16th century artist Baccio Bandinelli. It was my first encounter with his work and I wondered why I hadn’t read about him in my art history class before. Working on an enormous scale seemed to fit the monumentality of […]
Artist and Editor Scott Goodwillie has been producing wild, intense dream-like paintings for decades. He’s even had a museum show. His recent solo show at TAZZA Gallery was a visual treat, and held several of his major works. We attended the opening, and will give you a closer look at some of these paintings. We […]
Aleah Chapin Flowers Gallery Archived Review (2013) I am always on the hunt for The Nude when I explore the galleries in NYC each week. Over the years, you’ll find there’s a lot of great painters who’s work can look the same: clean technique, academic training, perhaps adhering to a popular genre. But walking into the […]
Bernardo Torrens: Paintings of Melania & Jesi Bernarducci Meisel Gallery July, 2012 For those who follow Madrid-based hyper realist artist Bernardo Torrens, there is a familiarity with his stable of regular models. In this show at Bernaducci Meisel Gallery, we are offered a new group of masterfully executed paintings focusing primarily on two new subjects: […]
Tricia Cline Ricco Maresca Gallery Previous Review (2012) It’s always interesting to see husband and wife artists whose works profoundly reflect on each other. Such is the case with Tricia Cline and Toc Fetch who not only share the same underlying philosophical underpinnings but could almost be the combined effort of one artist. The main […]
Claudio Bravo: 1936 – 2011 Archive: 2011 As I opened the New York Times recently, I had the sad surprise to read about the death of Chilean artist Claudio Bravo. At only 74 years old, he succumbed to complications of epilepsy while living in his adopted country of Morocco. Claudio Bravo was a master ‘hyper […]
Zachari Logan: The Stick Man Daniel Cooney Gallery Oct 27 – Nov 26, 2011 The number of times you’ll hear an artist claim that his or her works are autobiographical can be numbing in their frequency. In the drawings of Zachari Logan, this aspect of “Self” is acutely manifest and integral not only to the […]
Edgar Degas at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Oct 9, 2011 – Feb 5, 2012 The imagery that first comes to mind when you hear the name Degas is familiar to everyone of course. Ballerinas, ballerinas and of course young ballerinas – most of whom are disturbingly pubescent. It’s refreshing then that the Museum […]
Kim Joon: Fragments Sundaram Tagore Gallery October, 2010 There is definitely something of the “Wow factor” when you walk through the gallery doors and encounter these large scale computer generated (CAD) works. Korean artist Kim Joon delivers striking imagery, beautifully detailed with patterns borrowed from tattoo culture to high culture porcelain china, such as Villeroy […]
The Women of the Sylvia Sleigh Collection @ Rowan University Rowan University Art Gallery August 29–October 1, 2011 With a hurricane and floodwaters slashing the State of New Jersey, it’s good to see a flood of a different and most enjoyable kind lining the gallery walls of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. Currently the university […]
Nakha Chitra is not exactly a common term in the art world, with its roots in ancient Sanskrit, Nakha meaning fingernail, Chitra means art, and Nakhachitrakar means fingernail artist. Not as simple as embossing, this is a rare Indian art form in which there is a reverse process happening, not only with the image being […]
(Republished for your enjoyment) With the Middle East in turmoil again – this time with Social Media fueled explosion called the Arab Spring – we hold our breaths and hope for a new openness in governance and hopefully social attitudes within the Arab world. Enter the art/literary magazine JASAD, which launched in 2008. The launch […]
Art Students League: Drawing Lessons The Art Students League has always had a special place in my heart. It is a drawer’s paradise. Since its creation in 1875, the Art Students League’s faculty and students have been contributors to the New York art scene. While this wonderful exhibition we saw last October is now in […]
Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick Museum Tour Archive: 2011 Had I been exposed to the Lego creations of Nathan Sawaya as a boy I may have had inspiration to a higher artistic calling than to create Lego towns which my friends and I subsequently destroyed in our playing of war games in my […]
David LaChapelle: American Jesus Paul Kasmin Gallery Sometimes it’s OK to bite the hand that feeds. Sometimes that hand has a masochist’s soul and will reward you greatly if you just dig in! David La Chapelle is one such pit bull now making waves in the contemporary art world with his current body of large […]
Lucien Freud At The Metropolitan Museum of Art With the passing of Lucian Freud on July 20th, 2011 at the age of 89, a chapter in the figurative arts was closed. To honor his achievements, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is hosting a small but spectacular exhibit of 17 paintings, along […]
Cesar Santos; Syncretism Eleanor Ettinger Gallery October, 2011 For the Artist, working with the visual pun can be a risky venture. In the masterful hands of Cesar Santos, the appropriation of iconographic images from art history goes far beyond the initial pun and makes for a feast of color and composition. Santos has adopted the […]
Bettina Rheims: Girls Night In Edwynn Houk Gallery, September 16th – November 6th , 2010 OK, so who hasn’t she photographed yet? From pop stars to fashion models, and in 1995 a commissioned portrait of Jacques Chirac, this internationally known French photographer has established herself as one of Europe’s most critically acclaimed artists. Her background […]
John Currin at Gagosian Gallery, November, 2010 Fragonnard and Bronzino walk into a 60’s style house party where pills are served along with beverages. Fragonnard grabs the Viagra and Bronzino takes the acid – and any offspring of an ensuing tryst would undoubtably have to be John Currin. The current exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in New York […]