BeatRice Mandelman octobeR 15 – novembeR 13, 2010 Selected works from the 1960s
ISBN 978-0-9827872-3-6 Price $20.00
1960 s to the mid 1970 s: Cover detaiL,
the poetics and problematics of white
from left to right:
Excerpt from Beatrice Mandelman: Taos Modernist, University of New Mexico Press, 1995. Birds (Green and Black #1402), c. 1960s, Collage with gouache and pencil on canvas, 23 1/2" x 16"
Robert Hobbs, The Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art, VCU and Visiting Professor, Yale University. © The Mandelman-Ribak Foundation. about the period. It's not a soft feminine
Circles (Formerly No. 12)
In this decade Bea Mandelman oscillated
(60-p04), c. 1960s, Casein on
between art as social critique and as a sanc-
period. The fiestas are over. The celebrants
tuary from current difficulties. At the begin-
have gone home. It is time to face reality.
masonite, 48" x 24"
ning and the end of the decade she was Published on the occasion of
making collages that related to the specific
Obviously, she was reacting against her
October 15 - November 13, 2010,
problems of first race relations and then the
own works of c. 1959—1960 and was creat-
curated by Gary Snyder.
war in Vietnam. In these works Mandelman's
ing pieces that she believed to be in sync
old social realist attitudes reemerged.
with the changing temper of the times. But
"Collage best represents my concern for the
in 1967 Mandelman is quoted as saying "that
stresses and the shifting, transitory nature of
the 'calm' of the geometric forms is her reac-
human experience," the artist has reflected.
tion against the hostile and disturbing cur-
"Art can be a powerful mirror of the quali-
rents that she finds in the world.” Her vacil-
ties of life." In the early sixties she also made
lation between these two attitudes may be
a few assemblages of found objects that
explained in part by a desire to leave mean-
may have been inspired by the Museum of
ing open-ended and to trust the unconscious
Modern Art exhibition entitled The Art of
to be her guide [...]. In 1977, she explained,
Assemblage. She considers her assemblages
"My art is planted in reality....by allowing my
as social statements, and even made the fol-
inner being to be free.” The idea that art is a
lowing observations about them: "Without
form of unconscious or intuitive communica-
the exhibition, "1960s Revisited,"
© 2010 David Richard Contemporary
the social statement there is not art. If there's
tion is a legacy that Bea inherited from the
any truth, it's in the artist's reaction to man's
Abstract Expressionists. Like them she has
reaction to the social situation at any par-
had problems knowing when a work is fin-
ticular moment."
ished. [...] Mandelman has stated, "The painting tells me when it’s got it. Most of my work
In the intervening years between her two
is unfinished."
series of collages, Mandelman created sev-
GalleRy DirectoRs
eral series of constructivist works that she
Although Mandelman's collages are intended
herself has regarded as either social com-
to be challenging political works of art as
ment or an escape into the radiance of beau-
Why Choose Murder, Civil Rights and Vietnam
tiful and satisfying forms. For example, in an
attest, these pieces also participate in the
undated typescript, Mandelman wrote:
artist's proclaimed goal to articulate nega-
David Eichholtz & Richard Barger
tive space. Knowing that she was employing The work IS hard-edged because the world is
abstract forms that could easily become mere
130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284
hard-edged now. The artist answers the time,
decoration, Bea avoided obvious designs.
www.DavidRichardContemporary.com | info@DavidRichardContemporary.com
projects, and makes an emotional statement
"I don't want to impose patterns," the artist
DETAIl: Birds (Green and Black #1402), c. 1960s, Collage with gouache and pencil on canvas, 23 1/2" x 16"
While a preference for white develops natu-
which both the artist and the audience are
rally from Mandelman's work of the late
left holding the bag. As Mandelman herself
1950s, her use of it in the 1960s is consistent
recognized, forms can assume contradic-
with the new emphasis on areas of unprimed
tory meanings in abstract art. [...] "I have a
and unpainted canvas in the Color Field
constant dialogue between opposites.”
painting of Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Kenneth Noland and in the reductive aes-
Poised on ambiguity, Mandelman's works
thetic that became known as Minimalism.
at times rest on watersheds of difference. Meanings trail in different directions, bifurcat-
In many of Bea Mandelman's works the power
ing content into polar opposites, making one
of white in conjunction with a limited palette
a mockery of the other, or at the very least an
is integral to the completed piece. Beginning
inverse mirror. Too often we expect Modernist
in the 1960s she often reduces her palette to
art to resolve contradictions and offer solu-
primary colors used in conjunction with black
tions that can be described in a discursive
and white. Recalling the discipline of many
fashion. But what these works of art do best
painters who were members of the American
is to keep the contradictions in suspension
Abstract Artists association established in
and allow viewers the opportunity to view
New York City in 1936 who held Mondrian's art
them aesthetically. Meaning in Modernist art
in high regard, Mandelman's rigor implies an
is not subject to straightforward ratiocination
interest in retrieving and expanding aspects
as in philosophy, but is a poetic construction
of this vanguard current that she had ignored
of possibilities that can easily devolve into
two decades earlier. The limitations of color
seeming contradictions of slipping signifiers.
were also a way to analogize her affinities
Not just propaganda, this art manifests or
with ancient, tribal, and folk art while remain-
symbolizes a range of feelings and is not sim-
ing modern. In addition, these brilliant colors
ply a vehicle of persuasion.
reflect major changes in tribal and folk art, later noted in her informal journal. "I want my
qualities of presence and absence elicited by
which has been intensified in the twentieth
Art may be most effective as a political tool
painting to have not pattern but order and
a blank canvas have intrigued Mandelman for
century through the use of aniline dyes and
when it allows us to come to terms with the
structure underneath—not on top—not what
several decades, beginning with her paintings
commercial paints. [...]
ideological construction of reality. Since ideol-
you see—hidden, covered—but felt." She has
and collages of the early 1960s. The artist
related that the two artists, in her opinion,
has noted, "I try to paint silence that speaks."
To the question "Why does the artist choose
tions according to the needs and attitudes of
who most clearly understand the power and
At another time she asked herself the rhe-
to imply meanings through abstraction rather
specific groups and since artists may be mar-
subtlety of negative space are José de Ribera
torical question, "Are my paintings poems
than depict them directly?" Mandelman has
ginal to their public, ample opportunities exist
and Henri Matisse.
with absent words?" Similar to Matisse,
responded enigmatically, "White memories
for both subtle and blatant contradictions
Mandelman recognized that the power of the
...The painting should be more like a dream,
between the ideologies of artists and their
Working with negative space required con-
blank canvas needed to be respected and if
disquieting and concealing....I don't preach at
public. In Mandelman's art this rift is mani-
trapuntal thinking. The background with
possible enhanced through the creative act.
the observer."
fested formally in terms of her use of white to
which an artist begins in this kind of art is nei-
Matisse stated early in his career, "If upon a
ther neutral nor a void. Rather it is an already
white canvas I jot down some sensations of
But since Modernism has often been con-
ing presence/absence and space/wall. The
established presence that must be considered
blue, of green, of red—every new brush stroke
ceived as an unforgiving style, the radical
polarities are indicative of unresolved ten-
in relation to the colors and lines, which punc-
diminishes the importance of the preceding
amputation of form from narrative mean-
sions in modern society—tensions which are
ture, divide, and transform it into an entirely
ones." [...]
ings often causes the act of interpretation
exacerbated in Mandelman's work because of
to assume the features of a snipe hunt in
her desire to belong to the fashionable realm
different kind of surface. The contradictory
ogies are special ways of masking contradic-
bridge a number of binary oppositions includ-
3
DETAIl: Morning (70-SUN05), c. 1960s Acrylic on canvas, 32" x 40"
4
of the international vanguard in which the
from Arroyo Hondo. White can be a symbol
major formalist critic of the 1950s and early
of the primordial, which is reenacted in art by
1960s Clement Greenberg was champion-
the awesome and immutable canvas or sheet
ing Color Field painting for its way of forg-
of paper facing an artist before her first mark
ing an inextricable bond between painting
is made. [...] Mandelman equates white with
and support (such as canvas or linen) and for
the mystery of the unknown, which might be
permitting this support an eloquent role in
the yet uncreated force of the universe or its
the completed work. At the same time that
ultimate end.
she wished to keep abreast of changes in the art world, Mandelman wanted to remain true
After initiating the discourse on the poetics
to her early liberal upbringing and need to
and problematics of white in her works of
regard humanity as an extended family. These
the early 1960s, Mandelman began in 1964 to
contradictions in her art function as artistic
investigate the formal problem of replacing a
koans—contradictions that allow viewers to
clearly articulated background with oscillating
come to terms with the contradictory nature
planes of color. She undertakes this problem
of reality.
in such works as Blue Moon, which appears on first inspection to be colored forms placed
Although it is impossible to assign a spe-
against a white background, but on pro-
cific iconographic meaning to the drips in
longed examination reveals subtle overlap-
Mandelman's paintings or to the color white
ping shapes that shift between foreground
in her art, one can defend their high import
and background. [...] Given Mandelman's
by pointing to the fact that the Modernist
interest in both form and political content,
style is an elevated discourse even if a mys-
one might hazard an idealist interpretation to
Occasionally during this period, Mandelman
collages. An excellent example is Vietnam, a
terious and at times confounding one. While
the effect that the lack of a definite ground
undertakes a critique of other artists' work.
descendent of the elegant abstracted post-
Modernists originally intended to distill a host
affirms a new sense of doubt pervading the
An example of this vying with tradition is
ers undertaken by several Russian artists who
of associations into an essence that could
country in the 1960s when old values and
her Black Cross, which reconstitutes George
had exceedingly high expectations for the
be understood in the then supposed univer-
attitudes were beginning to be seriously
O'Keeffe's paintings of crosses by placing
intellectual curiosity and openness to change
sal languages of color and form and found
questioned. But the formal characteristics of
one in a rigorously geometric format. While
of an unimpeded proletariat. Unlike Russian
instead that their works were open to a host
these works do not necessarily convey such
Mandelman's painting might appear to reject
Constructivists who thought their work
of interpretations, the serious and committed
a political content. More to the point is the
the religious overtones of O'Keeffe's art, it in
would be as suitable for posters as for paint-
tone of this style indicates its significance,
manner in which Mandelman's work partici-
fact serves as a Rosetta stone for her inter-
ing, Mandelman's work does not become an
even if that import cannot be channeled into
pates in the ideology of progress that in the
ests in New Mexican religious art, the auster-
effective forum for political persuasion. [...]
one unequivocal meaning. […]
1960s affected even the arts, an ideology that
ity of the landscape, and the intensity of the
assumed the glamour, the element of sur-
light in the Southwest. More than most of her
Rather than turning art into propaganda,
In Mandelman's work the poetics of white
prise, and the planned obsolescence of high
abstract paintings, this work underscores the
Mandelman transforms the raw material of
depend upon its plethora of references. White
fashion. [...] Even though they might take on
way that Mandelman has abstracted from
life into art. The result is a collage that is more
might be associated with clouds, light, snow,
the spirited quest for novelty and change of
nature rather than rejected it. Even in such
satisfactory as art than information because
purity, the canvas itself, the void, with begin-
fashion, Mandelman's works do not promote
a seemingly nonobjective piece as Birds, the
the reference to current events have become
nings and with endings—meaning death—
the values of industry: their assertively hand-
artist indicates a desire to perpetuate a dia-
highly aestheticized. Vietnam indicates a
with mysterious signs painted on rock walls
painted edges reinforce the artist's connec-
logue with nature.
major problem for political art, which can
centuries ago, with the background of many
tions with handmade objects.
become a means for dignifying conflicts and
Native American pots and Hispanic santos,
In addition to nature, memories of Russian Con-
and with the flesh color of the Christ figures
structivist utopianism pervade Mandelman's
aggrandizing war rather than undermining it.
6
Arrangement #2 (60-COL07),
Collage No. 9 (60-PR17),
c. 1960s, Collage with cut paper,
c. 1960s, Mixed media collage
pencil drawing, sand and gouache
on mat board, 15 7/8" x 19 5/8"
on mat board, 19 3/4" x 15 3/4"
7
Birds (Green and Black
Homage to Homer (60-PR12),
#1402), c. 1960s, Collage with
c. 1960s, Acrylic with mixed media
gouache and pencil on canvas,
collage on masonite, 48" x 35 1/2"
23 1/2" x 16"
Circles (Formerly No. 12)
Morning (70-SUN05), c. 1960s,
(60-p04), c. 1960s, Casein on
Acrylic on canvas, 32" x 40"
masonite, 48" x 24"
Space Series VI (60-SP 1-09),
Space Series #39, (60-SP 5-18),
c. 1960s, Collage on cardboard,
c. 1960s, Collage and acrylic on mat
24" x 17 7/8"
board, 19 5/8" x 15 5/8"
8
9
Space Series #20 (60-SP 1-01),
Space Series #62 (60-SP 3-27),
c. 1960s, Mixed media with collage
c. 1960s, Gouache on paper mounted
on matboard, 19 3/4" x 15 3/4"
on illustration board, 16" x 11 3/4"
Space Series #35 (60-SP 5-10),
Space Series #64 (60-SP 3-30),
c. 1960s, Collage and acrylic on mat
c. 1960s, Acrylic, collage on mat
board, 15 5/8" x 19 5/8"
board, 13 1/2" x 13"
Space Series #79 (60-SP 5-15),
Untitled (60-P44), c. 1960s,
c. 1960s, Collage and acrylic on mat
Acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4" x 31 1/2"
board, 19 5/8" x 19 5/8" 10
11
Space Series #84 (60-SP 1-16),
Untitled (60-COL 3-05),
c. 1960s, Acrylic on cardboard,
c. 1960s, Acrylic and collage on
19 7/8" x 15 7/8"
canvas paper, 11 7/8" x 15 7/8"
Space Series #99 (60-SP 1-05),
Untitled (60-COL 3-08), c. 1960s,
c. 1960s, Mixed media with sand and
Acrylic and collage on canvas paper,
collage on mat board, 19 3/4" x 15 3/4"
19 7/8" x 16"
Untitled (60-SP 1-12),
Untitled (60-SP 4-36),
c. 1960s, Collage on cardboard,
c. 1960s, Collage and acrylic
19 7/8" x 15 7/8"
on paper, 9 1/2" x 11 3/4"
12
13
Untitled (60-SP 1-13),
Untitled (60-G 2-15), c. 1960s,
c. 1960s, Collage on cardboard,
Gouache on paper, 27 1/2" x 39 1/2"
15 7/8" x 19 7/8"
Untitled (60-SP 1-18),
Untitled (60-COL 3-04),
c. 1960s, Collage on mat board,
c. 1960s, Ink and collage on canvas
19 7/8" x 15 7/8"
paper, 19 7/8" x 16"
Untitled (Eye to Eye) (60-COL 1-01), c. 1960s, Mixed media with collage on paper, 14
12 1/2" x 17"
beatRice Mandelman octobeR 15 – novembeR 13, 2010 Selected works from the 1960s
Untitled (Freaks) (60-COL 1-05), c. 1960s, Mixed media collage on paper, 19 7/16" x 12 3/16"
White No. 1 (60-PR15), c. 1960s, Acrylic with mixed media collage on paper, 11" x 9"
GalleRy DirectoRs David Eichholtz & Richard Barger
130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284 www.DavidRichardContemporary.com | info@DavidRichardContemporary.com
Albert Stadler Untitled (#111), c. 1962, Acrylic on canvas, 42 3/8" x 32 3/8"
Leon Berkowitz
16
1
Ilya Bolotowsky Hilton Brown Lawrence Calcagno Roy Colmer Howard Daum Gene Davis Thomas Downing Mario Garcia John Goodyear Cleve Gray Albert Stadler Untitled (#121), c. 1965, Acrylic on canvas, 62 1/2" x 63 1/4"
Hisao Hanafusa James Hilleary Paul Huxley Ward Jackson Raymond Jonson Matsumi Kanemitsu Minoru Kawabata Lyman Kipp Masatoyo Kishi James Kuo Beatrice Mandelman Howard Mehring Rakuko Naito
Sidney Wolfson Untitled (SWP10), 1969, Oil on canvas, Signed verso “SW 68-69”, 57 1/4" x 43 1/2"
Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi Betty Parsons Leon Polk-Smith Paul Reed
Provenance: The Artist Private Collection, Florida
Ralph Rosenborg Vivian Springford Albert Stadler Sidney Wolfson
GalleRy DirectoRs David Eichholtz & Richard Barger
130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284 www.DavidRichardContemporary.com | info@DavidRichardContemporary.com
A Summer Day, 1969, Oil
on canvas, Signed verso, 50" x 40"
American Landscape:
Untitled (ParUnt22), 1961, Oil
Ralph Rosenborg
Betty Parsons
on canvas, S.D. L. L., 32" x 42"
14
Oil on canvas, 51" x 62"
on canvas, Signed, dated and titled
Basin Street (VS25), 1963,
Constellation K, 1969, Acyrlic
Vivian Springford
Leon Polk-Smith
15
on verso, 47 1/2" x 23 1/2"
1978, Acrylic on canvas, Signed,
74 1/8" x 57"
expansionist series (VSF596),
#25C, 1964, Acrylic on canvas,
Vivian Springford
Paul Reed
dated and titled on verso, 60" x 54" Provenance: East Hampton Gallery, New York Ramon Osuna, Washington, DC Exhibited: 1965, Paul Reed, East Hampton Gallery Literature: Judd, Donald. "In the Galleries," Arts Magazine 39, no. 4 (January 1965), p. 65. Judd, Donald. Complete Writings: 1959-1975. New York University Press, New York, p. 160.
on canvas, 76 1/2" x 77 1/2"
Oil on canvas, 51" x 76"
Untitled, c. 1963, Magna
Untitled, 1959 – 1963,
Howard Mehring
Masatoyo Kishi
12
13
dated on verso, 68" x 68"
60" x 30"
1964, Oil on canvas, Signed and
on canvas, Signed lower left,
Untitled (Black and White),
Growth #1, 1969, Acrylic
Rakuko Naito
James Kuo
Provenance: Gary Snyder Fine Art, NY Exhibited: Eastern Essence: Abstraction by Asian American Artists, 19501970, Gary Snyder Fine Art, NY, March 16 - May 4, 2002.
Signed on verso “E. Okoshi”, 45" x 35"
48" x 24"
Signed lower right “Eugenia Okoshi”,
masonite, Signed lower right,
Untitled, c. 1968, Oil on canvas,
Circles, c. 1960s, Casein on
Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi
Beatrice Mandelman
13 1/2" x 10 3/4"
84" x 84"
Untitled, 1961, Ink on paper,
Untitled, 1968, Acrylic on canvas,
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Paul Huxley
10
Provenance:
11
Gary Snyder Fine Art, NY Exhibited: Eastern Essence: Abstraction by Asian American Artists, 19501970, Gary Snyder Fine Art, NY, March 16 - May 4, 2002.
canvas, Signed lower left, 64" x 44"
1964, Oil on canvas, Signed, dated
Yellow Slow, 1965, Acrylic on
Reversal, Interchange VII,
Minoru Kawabata
Ward Jackson
and titled on verso, 34" x 34" Provenance: Provenance:
Betty Parsons Gallery, NY
Estate of the Artist Exhibited: New American Abstraction 19601975, Gary Snyder Project Space, November 8 - December 20 2008.
Yellow), 1967, Painted wood,
Signed verso, 39 3/4" x 29 3/4"
Untitled (Green &
Polymer #9, 1965, Polymer on panel,
Lyman Kipp
Raymond Jonson
4 3/4" x 10" x 4 3/4"
Signed, dated, and titled on verso,
Acrylic on canvas, 56" x 45"
Perne #22, 1978, Acrylic on canvas,
Untitled, c. 1970s,
Cleve Gray
Thomas Downing
56" x 64"
8
48" x 60"
Oil on canvas, 59 1/2" x 59"
Yellow I, 1966, Canvas and tubing,
Barn Series, c. 1960,
Hisao Hanafusa
Mario Garcia
9
Exhibited: The Noyes Museum, Oceanville, New Jersey. Mario Garcia: Red Barn Series, September 18 – December 13, 1987.
dated, and titled on verso, 64" x 64"
Mounted strips of acrylic, 24" x 24"
#113, 1969, Acrylic on canvas, Signed,
Monet's Garden, c. 1966,
James Hilleary
John Goodyear
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist
6
Oil on canvas, 40" x 42"
oil on canvas, 82" x 120" (overall)
Composition #194, c. 1960,
Sunbands V, 1969, Acrylic and
Howard Daum
Lawrence Calcagno
7
Provenance: Brooklyn Museum of Art
Acrylic on canvas, 90" x 87 1/2"
Signed, dated and numbered
Red, Blue, and Gold, 1960,
#43, 1973, Acrylic on canvas,
Thomas Downing
Roy Colmer
4" x 120"
75" x 50"
#156, 1971, Acrylic on canvas,
#41, c. 1969, Acrylic on canvas,
Gene Davis
Roy Colmer
on verso, 75 1/2" x 60" Literature: Houston, Joe. 2007, Optic Nerve, Perceptual Art of the 1960s. Merrell Publishers Limited, New York. p. 68.
4
1960s what it was.
vibrant black and white composition falls
American art. After all, they, too, made the
ism of Japanese Gutai, while Rakuko Naito's
own merits already belong in the annals of
field painting and the theatrical gestural-
worth a look on their own merits, and on their
Kishi’s work bespeaks both American color
full paragraphs in future histories. But all are
in 1965. Sumiye Okoshi’s and Masatoyo
few of these figures, in fact, are destined for
work even once he’d moved to Los Angeles
artistic, and all the more human, for that. A
fully abandoning the gesturality of his earlier
dictions and disjunctures, but is all the more
hard edge and color field painting, never
discourse, to be sure, that bristles with contra-
sionist scene—evolved a style that bestrode
together, comprise a rich, varied discourse—a
had fully integrated into the abstract expres-
supporting characters who, separately and
over earlier than most of his countrymen and
even bit players in a pageant of highlights, but
Matsumi (“Mike”) Kanemitsu—who had come
history of their time. They are not extras, nor
painting with an almost gestural lyricism.
ones collected here lend fullness to the art
while Minoru Kawabata practiced hard edge
unfashionable practices, artists such as the
ity that was neither minimalist nor gestural,
fiercely independent minds and poignantly
ticed abstract expressionism with an auster-
their idiosyncrasies and anachronisms, their
home. Taro Yamamoto, for instance, prac-
mere winners than it is of mere objects, and in
tive ways, bringing notable accents from
But art history, finally, is no more a history of
dencies but re-interpreted them in distinc-
had to in the public opinion of their own time.
in New York at this time reflected local ten-
in our collective memory the same way they
of Zen)—the Japanese artists who worked
ists in the 1960s must unfairly swim upstream
corresponded (in, for example, the influence
artists who were not Pop artists or minimal-
ists—leanings and mindsets that strongly
displacement—and, likewise, those American
cal mindset(s) of New York’s late modern-
of attention—for more than just their exotic
native cultural leanings and the philosophi-
that poor Florentine miniaturist are all worthy
tion, gravitated to New York. Reflecting both
Schmalzigaug? But Schmalzigaug, Sironi, and
tion, already Americanized by the occupa-
Mario Sironi or the Belgian Futurist Jules
Afterwards, however, Japan’s new genera-
has not. Who now thinks of the Italian Cubist
Before the war, that would have been Paris.
nerism while one practicing that style in Sienna
pelled to go to the source of their inspiration.
overshadowed by Michelangelo’s early man-
of the overseas avant garde, they felt com-
late-15th century Florence has been entirely
experimental scene of their own. Enamored
practicing International-Style miniaturism in
tation, Japanese artists had developed an
specific times, so that, for instance, a painter
decade of their country’s defeat and devas-
locate specific tendencies in specific places at
aspects of the New York art scene. Within a
ously. Even so, the exigencies of art history
prised a profound presence in and among all
activity, art is likely to be practiced quite vari-
lands. The Japanese influx, in particular, com-
ors, as it were, and in great centers of artistic
had achieved artistic maturity in their native
Art always comes in all shapes and all col-
even taking American citizenship, once they
Leon Berkowitz Cathedral No. 13, 1968, Oil on canvas, 90" x 72" Exhibited:
5
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Recent Paintings by Leon Berkowitz, February 22 - March 23, 1969. Gary Snyder/Project Space, NY, Leon Berkowitz: Cathedral Paintings, March 6 - May 2, 2009.
Ilya Bolotowsky Untitled (column), 1963, Oil on wood, Signed and dated near bottom, 35 1/2" x 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" Provenance: B.C. Holand Gallery, Chicago, IL Osuna Lennon, GP, Washington, DC Exhibited: New American Abstraction 19601975, Gary Snyder Project Space, November 8 - December 20, 2008.
Hilton Brown Homage to the Immaculates, 1965, Acrylic on canvas, Signed and titled on verso, 50" x 60"
squarely under the Op art rubric and Hisao Hanafusa’s elegant object-painting evinces, but does not truly partake of, the first blush of minimalism.
DETAIL: Roy Colmer #43, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, Signed, dated and numbered on verso, 75 1/2" x 60"
of sculpture and vice versa.
put the Washington Color School on the
Kipp, the geometric style made painting out
influential art critic, Clement Greenberg, to
see in Bolotowsky’s work and that of Lyman
took the advocacy of the country’s most
strategies a step further. Interestingly, as we
work did appear there late in the 1950s. It
and Roy Colmer took their compositional
our nation’s capital, at least one such net-
3
map, but his support of Morris Louis and
color areas, the de-emphasis on texture, the
imalist form.
effects of color field painting—the saturated
luminous color and fluid or rigid proto-min-
Betty Parsons engaged the techniques and
pike with their balanced negotiations of
Stadler, and the redoubtable artist-gallerist
were also able to attract attention up the
individuals such as Vivien Springford, Albert
Berkowitz, Hilton Brown, and James Hilleary
circle around him, more independent-minded
and other Washington painters such as Leon
maintained tight control over the color-field
Modern Art that made waves in New York;
to the “new going thing(s).” While Greenberg
vey mounted at the Washington Gallery of
original styles with various levels of response
Paul Reed, and Howard Mehring in a sur-
obstinate, and mutable by turns, refining their
together with Gene Davis, Thomas Downing,
eclipse, but its practitioners proved durable,
In 1965 Greenberg brought Louis and Noland
a hallmark of abstract expressionism, was in
to the broader recognition of that “school.”
The gestural approach to abstract painting,
Kenneth Noland in particular proved crucial
mutable contours—in more painterly man-
abstract expressionist experimentation—in
awareness of the emerging “hard-edge” ten-
or even microscopic life. The echoes of pre-
ric shapes and compositions betrayed their
implying the presence of figure, landscape,
expressionism. But their reliance on geomet-
ilarly near representation, their compositions
a—the—logical evolution out of abstract
(arguably) Beatrice Mandelman hovered sim-
Greenberg who saw such an approach as
Ralph Rosenborg, Lawrence Calcagno, and
and visual field endeared them to those like
ners. Other painters such as Mario Garcia,
The Washington painters’ emphasis on color
such as Leon Polk Smith, Ward Jackson,
ing positions at universities around the coun-
Jonson were now joined by younger talents
success and/or enduring obscurity.
committed to an academic framework, tak-
returned home after a few years of fleeting
locales and those less successful, or more
homies in the New York ferment, and often
Hamptons, Woodstock, and other ex-urban
ties with their hometowns, spoke up for their
years, the successful ones gravitating to the
those best and brightest maintained close
begun to move out of New York in previous
their best and their brightest to New York,
The abstract expressionists themselves had
Chicago, and New Orleans were likely to lose
to participate in the contemporary discourse.
fident; even though places like Los Angeles,
rather than actual residency, was what it took
beyond New York grew louder and more con-
one’s accomplishments in New York, but that,
of native art activity in other urban centers
tivated. It was certainly necessary to expose
as well as cultural inspiration. And the buzz
nation’s (and now the world’s) art capital cul-
tivate their ideas in atmospheres of natural
to maintain the sophisticated concerns the
generations of avant gardists seeking to cul-
It wasn’t even necessary to work in New York
despite and because of the unique nature of
England—were re-discovered by whole new
vital network of artists to emerge, but, both
Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, upper New
Washington may seem an unlikely place for a
try. Several outlying regions—northern New
dency (a tendency Greenberg tacitly supported), and in fact defined most of them as geometricists. Certain of them even became identified with “op art,” the highly hyped post-Pop phenomenon that zeroed in on perceptual dynamics within a geometric frame-
particular the “Indian Space Painting” that sought a fusion of geometric and organic form—lingered in the work of Howard Daum, while “orthodox” abstract expressionism endured in the work of such artists as the Chinese-born James Kuo.
work. By the mid-1960s such opticality had helped geometry reassert itself forcefully as a credible and available formal language. Older artists devoted to constructivism such as Ilya Bolotowsky and (in New Mexico) Raymond
Sidney Wolfson, and Paul Huxley in rendering clearly and precisely defined shapes on canvas, while op artists such as John Goodyear
The ranks of geometric artists, op artists, color field painters, gestural painters, and artists of all kinds in New York were broadened considerably by influxes of foreign artists who brought their own methods and experiences with them. Of course, many of these émigrés were coming over as students or recent graduates; but just as many settled in New York for extended periods,
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ISBN 978-0-9827872-3-6 Price $20.00
the 1960 s: otheR TrajectoRies Cover detail, from top to bottom: Rakuko Naito Untitled (Black and White), 1964, Oil on canvas, 68" x 68" James Hilleary #113, 1969, Acrylic on canvas, 64" x 64" Thomas Downing Untitled, 1962, Acrylic on canvas, 84 1/2" x 86 1/2"
Leon Berkowitz
by Peter Frank
Ilya Bolotowsky
a decade of hard-edge and gestural abstrac-
Mario Garcia
decade of Pop Art and Minimalism was also
Thomas Downing
half of it. In American art, for instance, the
Gene Davis
supposedly characterized the 1970s. Well,
learning that we don’t really know the
Howard Daum
comprising that era’s art. Artistic “pluralism”
of rapid and continuous change, but we’re
Roy Colmer
vast range of expression and investigation
know these fabled years constitute a decade
Lawrence Calcagno
understood—actually, felt—by examining the
The ‘60s aren’t what they used to be. We
Hilton Brown
John Goodyear Cleve Gray
Roy Colmer #43, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 75 1/2" x 60" Albert Stadler Untitled (#121), c. 1965, Acrylic on canvas, 62 1/2" x 63 1/4"
Published on the occasion of the exhibition, "1960s Revisited," October 15 - November 13, 2010, curated by Gary Snyder. © 2010 David Richard Contemporary
Hisao Hanafusa James Hilleary Paul Huxley Ward Jackson
the singular was already translating into the plural the decade before.
expressionism, the dominant mode of post-
pre-eminence also saw the emergence—and
vey implicitly examines the legacy of abstract
of many kinds. The decade of New York’s
By focusing on abstract approaches, this sur-
tion, painterly figuration, and eccentricities
expressionist practices drive the work of a
American males hosted a plethora of women
the 1960s practically spent. We see abstract
out America. A decade dominated by white
war American painting that had limped into
re-emergence—of other art centers through-
over America in the 1960s, and in doing so,
Lyman Kipp
rejected by still other artists who wanted
movements burst on the scene. Art took
Minoru Kawabata
but still new and distinctive; and be overtly
power, feminism, and other civil and social
Matsumi Kanemitsu
hands of others into something recognizable
ists from other countries—long before Black
Raymond Jonson
number of these painters; translate in the
artists, artists of other ethnicities, and art-
Masatoyo Kishi
rode off in every direction.
to examine very different aesthetics, and at least a few cases had been examining them for quite a few years. Indeed, several of the
James Kuo
so much of what got buried was and remains
Sidney Wolfson
religion, their raison d’être; in the ‘60s they
heyday. More’s the pity—not simply because
Albert Stadler
their belief system, their philosophy and their
dencies have been paid little heed since their
Vivian Springford
even their enemies to be doing it. Art was
as phenomena in their own right, these ten-
Ralph Rosenborg
to what they were doing but to the need for
now lauded as heroes of American art, but
Paul Reed
all were active, engaged, committed not just
serve as frameworks for specific painters
Leon Polk-Smith
selves re-emerging almost in triumph. But
even contemporary art; at best, they might
put out to pasture, while others found them-
note in most standard histories of modern or
them found themselves adrift, seemingly
developments has rated much above a foot-
nuation of abstract expressionism, some of
United States during the 1960s. None of these
going back to the 1930s; with the superan-
in art—that is, among artists—working in the
artists here were veterans of artistic disputes
This exhibition looks at several developments
Beatrice Mandelman Howard Mehring Rakuko Naito Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi Betty Parsons
found the audience suddenly growing much
ous decade), and now they could reasonably
transition from modernism to post-modern-
expressionism had engendered in the previ-
of art at a time of dynamic fluctuation. The
David Eichholtz & Richard Barger
part to the romance and controversy abstract
but because it gives body to the context
larger and more curious (thanks in such great
so engaging and attractive in its own right,
GalleRy DirectoRs
ity of that transition can be so much better
www.DavidRichardContemporary.com | info@DavidRichardContemporary.com
hope, no matter how radical their ideas or
ism began in the 1960s, and the complex-
130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284
practices, to catch someone’s ear—and eye.
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October 15 – November 13, 2010 Curated by Gary Snyder