jameskalmroughcut | Reggie Burrows Hodges at KARMA, Alastair Mackinven at REENA SPAULINGS, Hyegyeong Choi at SHELTER @jameskalmroughcut | Uploaded March 2021 | Updated October 2024, 5 hours ago.
James Kalm acknowledges that history (even art history) is an ever-flowing, undifferentiated continuum, and any segmenting, or periodizing is arbitrary and serves only the purpose of expediency (and history geeks). Yet, it should also be noted that when certain trends or sensibilities come to overwhelm sections of the field of production, they might be seen as indications of cultural paradigm shifts(?)
Over the last several years the return of quirky figurative painting has glutted the commercial gallery scene in New York, and replaced “Zombie Formalism” as the new “de rigueur” approach. As the legacy of painting has, since antiquity, been linked with the figurative, this shouldn’t be surprising, even in New York.
Reggie Burrows Hodges presents a series of works featuring figures, active and passive, carved out of black grounds with transparent blocks of color. While avoiding the personal details of the face, the identity of these human forms is implicated by their gestures. With “Dinrg [oeeey]” Alastair Mackinven is also exhibiting paintings focusing on the figure, but in his case, they seem inspired by Symbolist themes and a misty, atmospheric paint application that draws the mythic past mysteriously into the present/future. Finally, in the basement gallery at Shelter, Hyegyeong Choi is showing cartoony depictions of corpulent, mostly female figures, flaunting their abundance in neon colors, with some slabs of acrylic pigment accumulating to inches thick. A musical introduction is provided by KAS. This program was recorded March 7 and 13, 2021. #jameskalmreport #jameskalmroughcut #lorenmunk
James Kalm acknowledges that history (even art history) is an ever-flowing, undifferentiated continuum, and any segmenting, or periodizing is arbitrary and serves only the purpose of expediency (and history geeks). Yet, it should also be noted that when certain trends or sensibilities come to overwhelm sections of the field of production, they might be seen as indications of cultural paradigm shifts(?)
Over the last several years the return of quirky figurative painting has glutted the commercial gallery scene in New York, and replaced “Zombie Formalism” as the new “de rigueur” approach. As the legacy of painting has, since antiquity, been linked with the figurative, this shouldn’t be surprising, even in New York.
Reggie Burrows Hodges presents a series of works featuring figures, active and passive, carved out of black grounds with transparent blocks of color. While avoiding the personal details of the face, the identity of these human forms is implicated by their gestures. With “Dinrg [oeeey]” Alastair Mackinven is also exhibiting paintings focusing on the figure, but in his case, they seem inspired by Symbolist themes and a misty, atmospheric paint application that draws the mythic past mysteriously into the present/future. Finally, in the basement gallery at Shelter, Hyegyeong Choi is showing cartoony depictions of corpulent, mostly female figures, flaunting their abundance in neon colors, with some slabs of acrylic pigment accumulating to inches thick. A musical introduction is provided by KAS. This program was recorded March 7 and 13, 2021. #jameskalmreport #jameskalmroughcut #lorenmunk
