dayoutlast is a record of my direct engagement with mostly contemporary art, mostly Los Angelean.

As this blog has evolved since its 2010 inception, so has my perspective. What I once perceived as central within the investigation was what was central, literally, within the photographic frame that I shared here. While still an important consideration, such thinking has also given way to more peripheral considerations, ones also accompanied occasionally by text (written manifestation of thought) and the oscillations between them. What's missing here are larger unknowns surrounding issues of presentation and representation; the amount of time and space it actually takes to accomplish such first-hand observations; and the quandaries between documentation and interpretation.

Despite my attempt to communicate here with image and text what is essential in some respect about the artwork, neither representation should ever be considered a substitution for the primary viewing experience. Of course, occasionally there are exceptions.

Most of the time, these posts are merely remnants---residual fragments---from my last day out.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Heather Gwen Martin "Currents" @ LA Louver


Singular, 2017
oil on linen
35 x 27 1/2 inches







Slipstream, 2017
oil on linen
77 x 82 1/2 inches




Not quite floral in shape (though certainly in color), they seem to reference plastic peel more than anything. Certainly, a function of the process. Decals, adhesive. 




Holdup, 2017
oil on linen
35 x 27 1/2 inches




Cue, 2017
oil on linen
56 x 60 inches




Odd retro color feel. 70s. 

Restrained whip/drip. Slightest Pollock in a color field, though cut like a Matisse. 

Centripetal. Folds/Punctures suggesting depth yet not affording as much entirely. Held by simple abutments. Dry paint chips within the paint and therefore the paintings surface are odd concessions to otherwise exquisitely controlled and painted areas. 



Crest, 2017
oil on linen
77 x 82 1/2 inches

Toothpaste?

Elegant. Less organic Clyfford Still. 

Embryonic. Cadbury egg or possibly cappucino foam design. 

Pre Ab Ex references in terms of biomorphic qualities (Miro/Gorky) yet Post Ab Ex materiality. The call and response of the hermetic, formal, modernist practice and claim. 



Drop, 2017
oil on linen
60 x 56 inches



Torn between, I can't quite decide about these paintings, because they draw me in coloristiclaly (granting the shortcomings of iPhone reproductions on such color authenticity not to mention a gallery lighting system that falls short, especially for painting such as these) and also not sure about what they are as wholes or a whole body of work.  Void of most content, certainly subject, there is still enough differentiation to tempt an imagistic mental projection-type response for each canvas (or I suppose I should say linen, though it's clear why linen).  Perhaps this is where I struggle because, while such indistinct/in-between type areas are worthy of consideration, they may either be too delicate or not delicate enough.  So, they teeter on the verge of that wonderful area of art that borders on the decorative while not necessarily embracing itself as such. Fine lines to be sure.

Per usual, I like isolated areas within certain paintings. Note the detail shots of the pantings that I share as such. Color shifts. Scale shifts. Ambiguity becomes more promising and the wispy quality that I shy away from disappears, as they tend to acquire weight and gravity by such means and therefore substance even in their ephemeral qualities. Splendidly contrary to be sure.

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