Minnie Pwerle

Minnie Pwerle

Awelye

2005

Synthetic polymer on Belgian linen

Minnie Pwerle

Awelye Athwengerrp

2005

acrylic on linen

56 x 56 cm

Please enjoy these stunning paintings by the late Minnie Pwerle, an Australian Indigenous painter. I have a yellowing and tattered magazine image of one of her paintings on my studio wall and it inspires me every day. From a formalist point of view, Pwerle's treatment of surface is entirely contemporary; layers of pigment suggest the rippling effects of wind on sand or tidal waters through kelp.

Her distinctive style used linear brush-work based on the body painting used for important women's ceremonies in her native country of Atnwengerrp. She painted with a rich array of colours and her work contained a compelling visual and spiritual power.

All the stories she painted conveyed her deep connection with the land, and knowledge of the foods that it provides. (quoted from Wikipedea)

Jason Rosenberg

Painting meets collage with Jason Rosenberg. Enjoy!

Paul Corvers

120 x 100cm

oil on linen
Image: courtesy of the artist

I found this painter over at dripbook. Also, check out his website for more accurate images as this one doesn't seem to want to post properly. I love the simplicity of his work.

Ken Weathersby

163 (d & g)
2009
Acrylic & Graphite on Canvas over Panel, with Removed and Reversed Areas
32" x 41"

Two sided painting.

I am a hedonist when it comes to painting. You can probably tell by now that I love the meatiness of paint, the way it looks and reacts. Which is why I was surprised by my attraction to the seemingly 'paintless' works of Ken Weathersby. Go look. This guy pays serious respect to the history of painting. (Where a dialogue takes place in which we consider that painting has made a break from it's function as an illusion of reality to being a function in and of itself - that of being a set of forms on a flat surface with four sides; dare I say, an object, conceptual or otherwise, to hang on a wall.)

A while ago I made reference to the fantasy of getting in and behind brushwork -to wonder how the artist has technically made a painting. Is the average punter likely to do that with painting today? Certainly, whilst once offering technically proficient representations of other worlds to marvel at, I wonder if painting today gives us a lot to think about and look at - but rarely a surface in which we're meant to get beyond. With Ken Weathersby's paintings we can do all this and more. Literally his figure (the viewer?) is diving into the painting, giving new meaning to the figure/ground relationship.

In this work (and others on his website) one can enjoy the reversed side. I wonder. Is this a double wink aimed at consumerist sensibilities where surface image is supreme, and painting itself. A two for the price of one deal. The banality of plaid sits neatly against meticulously worked wood panels; as if the two could represent something from a family man's workshop in the 1950s. Homely, bland, safe - a message to consumer (surface) culture; perhaps a salve for art onlookers, weary of abstraction and it's many confusing conundrums. But have a little read of his blog. There's a lot going on in his head which I make no claims to understand. What I know is that I like Ken's questioning and his attempts to offer answers to the beautiful puzzle that is painting.

Ken's work reminds me of this artist, Steven Harvey who, also preoccupied with questions of how to push painting to another level, has produced some really interesting pieces.

Raquel Mazzina

"Blue Stroll" 50.5 x 61 cm - oil on canvas

Here's a painter who I came across just recently and wanted to devote a quick post too. These are really powerful and very beautiful. Slabs of paint seem to be literally driven across the canvas; no dainty dabs here. While layers of colour suggest the geomorphic structure of land there is an emotional quotient embedded in each buttery stroke of the the brush/palette knife. These paintings fairly heave and shimmer despite the thickness of paint. You can find more of Raquel Mazzina's work here.

"Chevron" 122 x 92 cm - oil on canvas

vittorio colaizzi

It's common knowledge in certain art worldy circles that a yellow painting never sells. I've been witness to these feverish whisperings. Yellow is just plain twee and won't match the decor. Shocking!

I can't disagree more. There's something about the colour yellow that always satisfies me when I paint. It pulls a picture together and activates the whole surface. I can be making mud pie then I add yellow and hey presto - a seductively satisfying balance with a certain zing materialises. Hmmm... a trite observation perhaps but, well, you know what I mean.

A painter that uses yellow with aplomb is Vittorio Colaizzi. Oh boy, how that yellow wave tingles my senses. I'm always returning to have a look at his work over on release form, a great painting blog .

Unlike the previous post these pictures are not always easy to digest. A refreshing quality in any painter, frankly. A painting, when easy on the eye, just bores the eye.

Let me explain.

On quick inspection the crisp shapes seem too easily placed. But then you notice a white space here, a scratchy unfinished brush mark there and suddenly bam! your eye begins to take in unusual and surprising placement of forms. Likewise the treatment of the painted surface, although not easily read in a jpeg, suggests a rigorousness only seen in intelligent painting.

There is a sense of paintings history here. Dare I mention 'formalistic concerns' without rousing the Greenburgian detractors humphing over there in the corner. But this is exactly what attracts me and VC fulfills the whole brief. Placing colour, juggling form, pushing paint, thick or scrappy. Decisions about when to stop doing all of these things - when to stop so that painting remains fresh, not a dead weight, is what he is master of.

Now, go look.

Leslie Baum

Unfortunately the artist has removed image link

Here's a Chicago based painter I'm absolutely drawn to and I can't stop thinking about the message behind her works. I first learned about her over at dear ada - a really sweet blog with a heart warming brief. Go check it out.

A sense of doom and imminent decay comes juxtaposed with gorgeous light washes and sumptuous cubes of candy colour, (is that a liquorice allsort popped on top?). I'm reminded of some primordial world - ancient ruins possibly - which, despite their rich and shiny structures, have slumped. Blood or a fierce hot sunset stains the white spaces. Prophetic perhaps? I won't be fooled by the surfaces of these paintings. They may be easy on the eye but here I detect a sinister barb. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work.