Abstraction Now
October 5, 2024 - February 25, 2025
About the Exhibition
I’ve been long drawn to abstract art, in its many forms throughout the world and times, and in its western manifestations for a shorter while. Through my gallery work and study, I’m more and more aware of the plenitude of variations that abstract artists are exploring in their current work.
I asked George Hofmann and Willie Marlowe, artists with whom I’ve been collaborating for at least two decades, to give me their thoughts about where they presently see abstraction in American art and in their work. Hofmann and Marlowe are artists who produce paintings I admire and whose thinking I take seriously.
It’s a happy task to share recent work from them, online, as well as their essays below on abstraction.
Laudelina Martinez, Curator
Samantha Kelley, Productions and Curatorial Assistant
Melissa Thompson, Curatorial Research
George Hofmann
While I draw on a lot of visuals, I am also a part of long experience in art. More and more I simplify my work, paring down...
War
2022
Acrylic on linen, mounted
35 x 45"
$5000
Red Figure
2022 - 2024
Watercolor and acrylic on Arches paper
11.5 x 15"
$750
Dance
2024
Watercolor and acrylic on Arches paper
11.5 x 15"
$750
Converge
2024
Watercolor and acrylic on Arches paper
11 x 15"
$750
After a Drawing by Verrocchio
2020 -2021
Acrylic on linen
60 x 48"
$7000
7.24.21
2021
Watercolor and pen paper
12 x 9"
$750
2021, 5
2021
Watercolor on Arches paper
12 x 9"
$750
Ascent
2024
Watercolor and pencil on Arches paper
16 x 20"
$850
7.22.21
2021
Watercolor and pencil on Fabriano paper
14 x 11"
$750
Signal
2022
Acrylic on linen, mounted
20 x 25"
$3500
Sketch of Light
2020
Watercolor and pencil on paper
16 x 12"
$850
Odyssey
2024
Acrylic on Fabriano paper
22.5 x 30"
$850
Little Study 4
2024
Watercolor and acrylic on Strathmore paper
11 x 14"
$750
Air in Air
2021 - 2023
Acrylic and pencil on linen, mounted
48 x 60"
$7000
Fulcrum 2
2024
Acrylic, pencil, and marker on Arches paper
13.5 x 17.5"
$750
Flow
2024
Acrylic and marker on Fabriano paper
22 x 30"
$750
Early
2021
Watercolor and pencil on Arches paper
12 x 19"
$750
Only Connect (After E.M. Foster)
2024
Acrylic and pencil on linen
32 x 42"
$5000
Emotional Progress 5
2020
Watercolor and pen on paper
12 x 9"
$750
Study After Cezanne, 2
2023
Watercolor, pencil, and acrylic on Arches paper
23 x 31"
$850
8.1.21
2021
Watercolor and pencil on Arches paper
12 x 9"
$750
Verrocchio Redux
2020 - 2021
Acrylic on linen
48 x 43"
$5000
Willie Marlowe
I always considered myself an abstract painter, finding paint itself to be an expressive element, whether using multiple layers of translucent veils of glazes or viscus impasto, abstraction could tell the whole story for me...
Kite #4
2018
Acrylic on paper
12.75 x 14.25"
$500
Kite #5
2017
Acrylic on paper
16.5 x 7.5"
$350
Kite #6
2017
Acrylic on paper
17.75 x 11.75"
$650
Kite #7
2020
Acrylic on paper
16.5 x 7.5"
$350
Kite #12
2018
Acrylic on paper
16.5 x 7.5"
$450
Kite #14
2016
Acrylic on paper
19.5 x 8.25"
$600
Kite #16
2018
Acrylic on paper
17.25 x 11.25"
$450
Small Tondo #11
2012
Acrylic on paper
12cm
$400
Small Tondo #10
2012
Acrylic on paper
12cm
$400
Small Tondo #12
2012
Acrylic on paper
12cm
$400
Winter Sunspot
2017
Acrylic on paper
6 x 6"
$700
Asemic Writing
2012
Acrylic on paper
11 x 7"
$650
About the Artists
George Hofmann trained at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico as well as Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Nuremberg, Germany. He later spent time teaching at several institutes including Pratt Institute, Yale University, and Hunter College. Hofmann's work is also part of many important collections among abstract expressionist circles.
Artist's Essay
The influences of various movements of 20th century art, like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism and others, are coming together now in painting and sculpture. The greatly increased visibility of contemporary work from all over the world that draws on heritage ideas and imagery is another part of the scene. All artists draw on the visual wherever it appears and these influences are everywhere, so media plays a role too.
A lot of contemporary abstract painting is vibrant and large, in sculpture it tends to installation; in both, the inclusion of media like video and film are very much in evidence. This often results in work that is ambitious and encompassing. But there is also work that pares down, that simplifies, that aims for essence. This work often tends toward the symbolic; it is more enigmatic, and sometimes obscure, as it reflects the private vision of the maker, which can be difficult to share in imagery.
While I draw on a lot of visuals, I am also a part of long experience in art. More and more I am simplifying my work, paring down; I am fascinated by the symbolic: like prehistoric rock art; the remote: like the Australian Aboriginal painters, and the historic: like early medieval sculpture. But I am especially drawn to the early Renaissance paintings like Duccio, Fra Angelico and others, and the work of Piero della Francesca. Feeling conveyed is my yardstick.
(2024)
Willie Marlowe is visual artist who was born in North Carolina but has been a long-time resident of New York. She has an active exhibition schedule internationally and nationally. Marlowe is Professor Emerita at the Sage Colleges, where she was Chair of the Art Department.
Artist's Essay
In a bit of revisionist art history, the Swedish painter and mystic, Hilma af Klint, was discovered to have been secretly painting monumentally scaled abstractions as early as 1906.Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich have been credited as the originators of abstract art.The earliest abstraction, by Kandinsky, was painted around 1911. The New York School painters of the 1940’s and 50’s launched Abstract Expressionism, Action Painting, and Color Field Painting.This rich experimental background opened a path for divergent directions.These new ways of art making provided a springboard for painters to venture out into geometric abstraction, lyrical abstraction, process painting and limitless variations of individual invention and expression.
With these roots, and the great changes that have happened since, contemporary abstraction has found even more varied ways to evolve. Space travel, technology, the internet, instantaneous global communication, computer graphics, and the speed with which all happens makes a difference in an artist’s perception. Awareness of the state of the planet, the environment and climate change can affect an artist's work as well. As the beginning of Abstract painting was of its time, so is current abstraction.
Some of the Contemporary abstract paintings I have seen recently are personalized, contain elements of collage with autobiographical information, or include pages from a journal. Other mixed media works incorporate technology; some paintings are wired for sound, others may have neon or blinking LED lights. All this is to give the viewer a more sensory audio, visual, and expansive experience. Other paintings merge with sculpture. A conceptual contemporary painting may exist only to convey an idea, with the elements of composition, design, and color secondary. Museums and galleries are showing more multi-cultural art. It is good to see contemporary paintings with a global perspective. To balance the technological focus, some painters still feel compelled to make intimate, introspective works.
I always considered myself an abstract painter, finding paint itself to be an expressive element, whether using multiple layers of translucent veils of glazes or viscus impasto, abstraction could tell the whole story for me. An energetic, brushstroke can hold a universe of expression. As an experimental artist who does not want to deny myself any possibilities, I have also worked with recognizable elements, and included asemic writing and visual poetry, often using a geometric matrix in the form of a ziggurat. From personal observation, I feel there is a strong connection between cave painting and lyrical abstraction. As artists, we have all of art history from which to draw.
(2024)
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