Category: Culture

John Blee Jewel Return 1982 acrylic on canvas 48″ x 33″

I met our friend John Blee soon after I had moved to New York in 1985. I knew him first as a brilliant mind and an engaging conversationalist. I quickly found out that he was a painter and was relieved, and delighted, to learn that I really liked his work. It might not be too much of a stretch to attribute much of my ensuing engagement with the New York art world to our friendship in the 80s. John moved to D.C. years ago, much to my sorrow, but we never lost touch.
At the time we first knew each other he shared an incredibly vast unfinished loft with several truly tonic friends in what was just beginning to be referred to as “DUMBO” It faced Manhattan, and its windows overlooking what I used to call the “electricity factory,” where a transformer would occasionally act up, lighting the night sky. Of course it made me think of the paintings.
John is still in Washington, but he’s having a show this weekend in DUMBO, in the gorgeous apartment (with incredible views) of Norma Jean Markus. It’s a return of sorts to the neighborhood which gave birth to so many beautiful canvases, even if the neighborhood itself has changed dramatically. For one thing, a visitor from Manhattan will no longer be the only one on the street after the end of the day shift.
Event Details:

Reception: Sat., March 12, 4 – 7 pm and Sun., March 13, 1 – 4 pm
Location: 70 Washington Street #12G, DUMBO, Brooklyn
To visit by appointment: Contact Norma Jean Markus at 917.446.7234

As Barry writes on Bloggy, many visitors to our apartment have admired the two paintings we have of John’s. The larger one was actually one of the first works of art I had bought for the apartment. In Brooklyn this weekend you can see a range of his work from the 1980s to the present.
Related blog post: Art Wrap.
Below is an essay by writer and art critic David Matlock on John’s work.

John Blee in DUMBO
As the 100th anniversary of Kandinsky’ s breakthrough approaches, it is fair to ask: what
has been achieved? Are abstract paintings today repeating what has already been said–
and with each repetition, fading in strength? Or do they have something new to say, both
from a technical standpoint and in terms of meaning?
At the beginning, abstraction exploded. Kandinsky himself tried to consolidate a more
controlled language and connoisseurs still argue about his degree of success. When the
Abstract Expressionists adopted the language on a larger scale, canvases exploded again
in shamanic frenzy. Success was hit or miss, all too dependent on possession.
John Blee’ s first mature paintings, dating from the early 1970s, were also shamanic,
painted on the floor, and dependent on force and a possessed dancing. In a career of 40
years, the man has achieved total control over paint and, more importantly, now owns
his meditative inscape. He owns the land that earlier painters had to burst into by force.
His paintings are deliberate acts of self-intoxication. (It is worth noting, that although he
came of age in the 1960s, he has always disdained the use of recreational drugs.) The
Hindu and Buddhist art he experienced as a child and adolescent in India were formative;
as was the medieval sculpture in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora; and the work of Indian
modernists in the National Museum. Blee responds to Asian art as an insider–someone
who was shaped by the culture before he received his American inheritance.
The paintings on display are easy to enjoy but difficult to understand. From a technical
standpoint, the rendering of space is unique. There is nothing arbitrary or ” atmospheric”
about the backgrounds–they are architectonic–that is, they create a definite space in
which ” painterly event” unfolds. It is easy to take pleasure in the paint–casual admirers
often remark, ” What a painterly painter! What a colorist!” without suspecting the hidden
narrative. I strongly suspect the hieratic ” Sphinx” (2009) is one of Blee’ s dogs, posing
nobly on the grass–the humorous title a reference to the difficulty of knowing what the
animal is really thinking. These paintings are truthful because they begin from within
and encompass the outside world in an ecstatic veil of paint. Earlier abstract painters
discovered a new continent; John Blee is traveling inland and is providing a faithful
record of what he finds.
John Blee studied with Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Moskowitz, and Robert Motherwell.
His paintings have been shown in Paris, Moscow, Boston, Washington DC, and New
York City (including the Andre Emmerich Gallery). His work is in the Museum of
Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum.
He currently living in Washington DC.
– David Matlock

Reproducing the subtleties of a painting is always a challenge, one which can never be met fully, but I hope John won’t be too unhappy with shot at this wonderful painting. I photographed it with an available (overhead) light while it was hanging on the wall of the Brooklyn apartment where it can be seen this weekend. It also appears here on the artist’s own site, more evenly lit, but on a smaller scale.

I tried resisting the lure, and I almost didn’t go to The Armory Show this year. So I think I was feeling a little grumpy in the first hour or so at the preview last night (it didn’t help that Barry had once again refused to make the trek with me).
My personal best experiences with the West Side piers will almost certainly remain history, as they involved embarking and debarking from great ocean liners – or just “cruising,” while today the most they can offer are trade shows.
I hate the getting to and the coming from when it comes to the the Armory Shows on these piers, and even being there is a strain. It’s a desert over there: Nowhere else in New York do I feel I have to bring supplies with along me or I might starve or die of thirst. It’s worse than the Chelsea gallery “neighborhood,” and that’s saying something. Because of the lines and the logistics, those piers are always barren of refreshments, even when the organizers claim to have made food and drink available. I couldn’t even find a water fountain last night. Four hours in I was saved, just in time, by Pommery, thanks to a friendly dealer.
My enthusiasm for some of the art which hundreds of handlers had arrayed on the far West Side above the Hudson gradually picked up after the first hour or so. I ended up seeing some good work, and I had a great time, but the big reward, for me, came when I arrived at the CANADA stall. I always look forward to visiting the gallery – and visiting with the art keepers themselves – but last night, in the midst of so much intensive marketing up and down those long aisles, their space felt more than ever like an oasis of sweetness and light.
Of course Katherine Bernhardt‘s gorgeous thick Moroccan carpets helped, but they probably wouldn’t actually have been necessary to establish the ambience that was drawing visitors so easily. I think I was there for almost an hour.
The image at the top includes, from the left, lower portions of paintings by Michael Williams, Xylor Jane, and Katherine Bernhardt. The work hanging on those warm umber walls can be expected to change throughout the show.

Stephen, Jessica, and friends

When I first saw this terrific image by Kristianna Smith I thought, “the only thing missing here is the cute puppy.” In fact however both the photo and this post are all about the books. IDIOM, which we describe as our online magazine of artistic and cultural practice, has just launched a book section, IDIOMbooks.
We’re very excited about it, not least because of our confidence in the folks you see conferring above. Stephen Squibb is the overall editor of IDIOM and Jessica Loudis will be editing IDIOMbooks.
We’re also announcing the appointment of Kristianna as Staff Photographer (Yay!), the redesign of IDIOM itself, and a lot of goodies in the form of new articles in both sections of the site.

[image by Kristianna Smith]

David Teniers the Younger Duke Leopold Wilhelm in his [own] gallery in Brussels (ca. 1651)

We’ve been through this thing before, and it doesn’t go down easier the second time: Another Greek tycoon has rented (at no charge) the museum of which he is a trustee, in order to showcase his expensive art hoard.
Fifteen months ago I was the first to complain about the New Museum’s judgment and ethics when it announced that it would be hosting “Skin Fruit”, a show of work owned by Dakis Joannou.
I don’t think I’m the first to complain this time*, since the news was reported by New York Times’ Carol Vogel (once again the messenger, as she was for NuMU’s plans) a week ago. That article reports the basic facts, that in the coming spring the Guggenheim Bilbao will be hosting “The Luminous Interval”, a show of work owned by Dimitris Daskalopoulos, Unlike the article she wrote in 2009, this one asks questions, or rather it appears that the museum itself anticipated questions, defending its decision and arranging for their friendly big-deal collector to be available for a statement.
I’m not satisfied with the answers. While there may be no law against it, the ethical problems are obvious: installing a private collection exhibition in a public museum is just wrong, unless ownership of the work has already been transferred to the museum.
Museum directors should know this.
I know I may sound like a scold, but when it comes to the art world I really don’t normally go out of my way to look for things to criticize. My experience of the last year or so has saddened me however, as I watch our museums making some very bad decisions. I’d rather be looking at art, or listening to or watching a performance, but it seems to me that museums are “acting up” (and not in the good way) a lot these days.
Maybe it’s because of the ubiquity and curiousity of the internet that so many ethical missteps are being exposed within institutions we really cherish. Perhaps we’re just more impatient with custom or superciliousness then we once were. It’s even possible we’ve given up believing we can influence government behavior and so look to our own neighborhoods, our own family. Whatever it is, it’s not easy to ignore these institutional failings, or the cant which tries to disguise them.
We have the right to expect better of the people who guard our heritage and our sacred spaces. Philip Kennicott, in his excellent Washington Post commentary on “Hide/Seek”, published yesterday, describes the extraordinary importance of the museum to people who do not worship in a church, temple, mosque, or forest:

“The museum has become a quasi-sacred space, with rules as complicated and inviolate as any church liturgy. People who don’t find the meaning of their existence in churches are often passionate about museums, where a set of fundamental values – openness, fearlessness, truthfulness – are celebrated with all the historical trappings.

ADDENDUM: Whoa! ARTINFO had the story two months ago. I’m sorry I missed both their scoop, and their complaint about how the Guggenheim stonewalled them:

When preparing the original scoop, “IN THE AIR” [an ARTINFO blog] contacted the Guggenheim for comment, which the museum declined to provide – relegating the news to “rumor” status despite multiple well-placed sources confirming the story, and the now-evident accuracy of its substance.

[image from Wikipedia]