Review
Painting in Earnest: The 10th Northwest Biennial
Written by Andrew Katz Katz
Highly interdisciplinary across the 29 artists included, TAM Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art Rock Hushka notes political and economic paralysis as a unifying theme within the show. Rejecting the traditionally “high art” affiliations of the medium, the small group of painters included in the survey contribute strong ideas and convictions to the overarching reflections on paralysis, frequently elevating humble subject matter to monumental representations through bold uses of scale and highly detailed technique.
Portland artist Kirk Lybecker positions abandoned gas stations front-and-center in his oil and acrylic works, detailing the fading paint, dented walls and boarded windows of these buildings that once alluded to the promise of the American automobile. In contrast to the shiny portrayals of the same vernacular structures famously captured by by Ed Ruscha during a more optimistic era, Lybecker’s gas stations replace saturated figures and a Pop sensibility with muted tones and a photo-realist approach more suited for the realities of a post-recession mindset. This gas station lacks the drama of being on fire, but devoid of any humans or even gas pumps, it appears to have been captured by the artist the moment it became forgotten.
The rolling hills of Kelly Neidig’s Monoculture diptych exude a more wistful outlook. The pair portrays Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley as seen through the windows of a moving car. In contrast to Lybecker’s narrative, the car is present and traveling; however, the car’s destination is another question. Although Monoculture presents seemingly ordinary landscape, closer viewing reveals a distinct tension between the hazy cloudscape and the hard, defined lines comprising the green fields. The top and the bottom of the work inhabit two separate spaces, implying an absence of reality; this superficially perfect imagery is a mere mirage, constructing the promise of a desirable place that does not exist.
Susie Lee’s Still Lives series applies painting-based approaches to her portraits of Washington Care Center residents, members of a demographic often forgotten or ignored by many Americans. Yet, the portraits are not paintings, but rather video works approximately 30 min. in length. Inspired by Francisco Goya’s Black Paintings, the artist’s final series that articulates the unfavorable aspects of humanity through allegorical scenes, the painterly details of Lee’s works underscore the video portraits’ ability to engage the onlooker. Two Men Gazing appropriates Goya’s Two Old Men, replacing the original central figure with a woman standing poised, an ominous hand resting on her shoulder. Beyond this overt reference to Goya, the work incorporates the language of Renaissance and Romantic painted portraiture, from the heavily textured robe evocative of Albrecht Dürer’s cascading locks in his Self-Portrait, to the chiaroscuro of 17th and 18thcentury Italian paintings.
The power of Lee’s work resides in her subjects, who appear dignified and wise when captured with the respect afforded to painted portrait subjects. Living in a time of delayed retirement and unreliable savings accounts, the realities of aging remain at the forefront of our collective consciousness. Although there is a honest bleakness communicated by Lee and many of the other artists featured in the Northwest Biennial, the show’s direct engagement with issues of the present moment reveals the relevancies of the included works, demonstrating that biennials can, in fact, create impactful dialogue without the empty drama. The 10th Northwest Biennial is on view at the Tacoma Art Museum through May 20, 2012. --- Erin Langner is a writer based in Seattle and is Assistant Program Manager, Education and Public Programs at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
A
Written by
Andrew Katz Katz
More stories
View all
THE MAGAZINE
Explore our magazine to discover exceptional artists
Call for Artists
Submit your work for consideration
New American Paintings is a juried exhibition-in-print and digital, presenting the work of 40 emerging artists in each issue.
Your gateway to new art
Discover tomorrow's art stars, today
PRINT + EARLY ACCESS DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION
$179/YEAR
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION
$99/YEAR OR $10/MONTH
Each issue of New American Paintings features forty artists selected through our juried competitions—presented in a beautifully curated, full-color publication. Subscribers receive six issues per year, plus exclusive online access to current and past editions. Are you a collector? Consider our premium subscription and receive our museum-quality printed publication + access to each new digital issue two weeks before its general release.