Freese has been mostly absent from this blog for a month and a half. I have three draft posts on various subjects that I never could complete due to personal commitments and an irascible series of new abstract paintings that I’m working on. The core of the three draft posts concerned:
(1) Jerry Saltz’s criticism of Lisa Yuskavage’s paintings. The article was for the most part fine, but he wrote a couple of items in his essay that I found delirious: “Those who say Yuskavage’s figurative skill makes her paintings good don’t grasp that if rendering figures realistically equals skill then the makers of nineteenth-century Victorian nudes and painters like Bouguereau would be the greatest artists of all time.” Am I the only one to see a problem with that statement? Rendering figures realistically does equal painting skill, there’s no exception to that fact. Perhaps I’m not understanding his use of the term “realistically”. Does he mean to say “figuratively” instead?
(2) Regina Hackett’s blog on Diana DeAugustine’s work at CalArts spurred me to contact Diana to discuss her work. I hope to have a transcript of some discussions we are having for a blog post in the next month or so.
(3) Jen Graves at SLOG details an upcoming exhibition at Seattle Art Museum, which I am planning on being upset about this summer. (It’s nice when you can plan your annoyances ahead of time.) It appears to be a good show for SAM, but undoubtedly will further the popular belief in the pluralist art world that painting is dead. Painting is out, and I’m a painter. (Edward Winkleman says identifying oneself as a painter today is like saying “I’m rooting for L’il Kim on Dancing With the Stars”.) Lovely…
Other items concerning Freese that have been transpiring below the radar involve some discussions with my favorite painter Patti Oleon about her work and hope to have a transcript of some of our discussions later in the month.
James Van Patten offered an interesting testimonial on his career and professional development in response to my MoFA post. If you haven’t seen James’s painting, I urge you to take a look. He’s a fantastic painter.
A quick thank you to Cafe Presse and The Lawrimore Project for their continuing series of Art Klatch discussions. Last Tuesday’s was great, and breakfast is always great at Presse. If I didn’t have a day job we all could have gone to my place nearby for some post-discussion libations.
Last, have you read the blog writing of Julie Steimetz this week at Art21? Her writing stands apart from most and is lively, clear and thoughtful. Her post this week on Art, Marxism and Capitalism was great, as have been all her posts this week. Freese recommends.
And now for your listening pleasure and to atone for my absence on-line, I offer the Jackie Davis cover of the Peggy Lee song “Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me)”.
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