Stay in the Loop
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free.
The case for matter-of-factness
Charles Newman oils at F.A.N. Gallery
This is a mixed bag of 41 mostly small-format oil paintings. Cityscapes predominate but there are landscapes, interiors and even a few examples of the still life genre. All share a family resemblance, in that they're vaguely impressionistic in tone. But they tend more toward the solidity of early Monet than the evanescence of Pissarro.
Atmospheric effects dominate only a few of these paintings (Living Room Window is a nice example), and detail tends to be sketchy. For instance, in Playground Behind Eastern State Penitentiary, the prison's massive wall is presented as a simple undifferentiated slab of grayish-brown.
My personal favorite in the show is Off the Appalachian Trail, a straightforward nature study. But I also found myself drawn to Night Table, a small interior that by most standards should be ignored. (It depicts a night light atop a night table with a portion of what is perhaps a clock radio lurking at the edges.) It has no business engaging anyone's attention, yet its simple hominess, its unadorned "I am what I am" quality ends up drawing you to it. It's a sneaky little devil.
The overall effect in this show is to present an unadorned image of what the artist sees. The matter-of-factness of it all becomes the point.
Now, I suppose it can be argued that matter-of-factness should not be the artist's stock-in-trade, that art should always be special. But not every artist can view the world through Edvard Munch's eyes, or share Pablo Picasso's grasp of structure. The artist's job is to capture what he sees as he sees it. Charles Newman's visual vocabulary may be plainspoken rather than erudite. But this is his story to be told in his own fashion. â—†
To read a response, click here.
Atmospheric effects dominate only a few of these paintings (Living Room Window is a nice example), and detail tends to be sketchy. For instance, in Playground Behind Eastern State Penitentiary, the prison's massive wall is presented as a simple undifferentiated slab of grayish-brown.
My personal favorite in the show is Off the Appalachian Trail, a straightforward nature study. But I also found myself drawn to Night Table, a small interior that by most standards should be ignored. (It depicts a night light atop a night table with a portion of what is perhaps a clock radio lurking at the edges.) It has no business engaging anyone's attention, yet its simple hominess, its unadorned "I am what I am" quality ends up drawing you to it. It's a sneaky little devil.
The overall effect in this show is to present an unadorned image of what the artist sees. The matter-of-factness of it all becomes the point.
Now, I suppose it can be argued that matter-of-factness should not be the artist's stock-in-trade, that art should always be special. But not every artist can view the world through Edvard Munch's eyes, or share Pablo Picasso's grasp of structure. The artist's job is to capture what he sees as he sees it. Charles Newman's visual vocabulary may be plainspoken rather than erudite. But this is his story to be told in his own fashion. â—†
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
“Charles Newman: Recent Paintings.†Through May 30, 2009 at F.A.N. Gallery, 221 Arch St. (215)922-5155 or www.fanartgallery.com.
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
