Thanks again, Mr. Kelly
Monday, July 28th, 2008On view at Greene Naftali is a wonderful new painting by Ellsworth Kelly titled Green Relief. It’s in line with much of Kelly’s ouevre being both bold and graphic while questioning the modes of painting. I have always thought of Kelly as the master-painter of the late New York School, or Post-Painterly Abstraction, or Late High-Modernism. His pictures, specificaly this one, always seem pertinent. Kelly, perhaps the oldest artist on view in this group exhibition centered around painting’s longevity, imparts a message of balance to show that toils and follies with gestural brushwork and conceptual trickery. The large green shape sits atop a shock of white canvas. There is a gentle hint of space. But it is largely about the limitations of painting as a media. Once again, masterful Ellsworth presents a calm and sobering view of a media that will never die. Thankfully, the audience is astutely attentive.
I must apologize for my poor writing schedule these past few weeks. Rest assured that the summer is a slow time for all things art related with the vast majority of the clientele on vacation. And so, in the coming months, be expecting a steady stream of art thinking. I will be closer to and more involved with the art world as it enters into its first season amidst recession. It will be noteworthy. So there will be notes. Thanks.