Hello followers! With
the new season upon us, we are reinvigorated and are re-encouraged to record
our thoughts and adventures!
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| Stanley Lewis, Westport, 2010-2014, oil on canvas 21.25 by 35.25 inches |
Stanley Lewis at Betty Cunningham Gallery
Betty Cunningham Gallery has moved to the LES so we had
quite the adventure taking the subway down and navigating new territory. The space was absolutely outstanding and
beautiful.
“You have
to learn what abstraction is in order to understand what painting is.” ~ Stanley Lewis
“Abstraction” is an
interesting thought to ruminate while viewing the show. This thought has been with me for the last
couple of days, slowly digesting and coloring the lens through which I view
painting. Abstracting is a perfect word
to describe the liberty Lewis takes with paint application while still
maintaining picture integrity. This is
no small feat. It is as if the landscape
that Lewis observes is merely a convenience for the opportunity to apply paint
and build texture.
Most, but not all of the paintings in the show were thick
with paint, celebrating paint for the sake of paint. We loved the beautiful texture that followed
the heavy paint application that made the work incredibly rich and interesting
to view up close, but also that the images became startlingly photorealistic
from afar.
The drawings were stunning. Lewis’s line quality was precise and confident
without being finicky or belabored. I
love that line is such an important element in his work. I enjoyed how many ways he could manipulate
paint to form hard and soft lines, but also let his painting surface choice
dictate compositionally pleasing linear edges.
In every instance, the addition of a new panel to the piece creates an
opportunity for visual play.
For more information go to:
http://www.bettycuninghamgallery.com/current_exhibition.aspx
