#Mentored Studies W23 08 Three Artists Plus Two More

[theoriesanddocuments]

Rashid Johnson (American b. 1977). Teresa shared an image of a work from Johnson’s Bruise Painting series, so I thought it might be interesting to track the development of this particular motif--the “Anxious Men”--in his recent work. The black soap listed as one of the materials in the first image has its origins in West Africa. The artist has been using it for several years--along with shea butter, oyster shells, and surfaces burnt with branding irons--for its potential metaphorical content. The anxious faces appear to be bearing witness to traumatic events--perhaps the multiple crises facing our society.

Untitled Anxious Audience 2018. Black soap and wax on ceramic tiles, 73 x 94 1/4 inches. Source.

The Broken Five 2019. Ceramic, mirrored glass, spray paint, wood, brass, oil stick, black soap, and wax; 97 1/4 x 84 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Anxious Red Painting December 18th 2020. Oil on linen, 72 x 96 inches. Source.

Untitled Anxious Red Drawing 2020. Oil on cotton rag, 38 1/4 x 50 inches. Source.

Bruise Painting “All of Me” 2021. Oil on linen, 96 x 121 3/4 inches. Source.

Bruise Painting “All of Me” 2021 (detail). Oil on linen, 96 x 121 3/4 inches. Source.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Julia Fish (American b. 1950). Fish’s work was included alongside of that of Miyoko Ito in a 2021 exhibition titled Both And, which was held at the Chicago location of Tiger Strikes Asteroid. Similar to Ito’s work in its calm understatement, I thought these paintings might find a few admirers among the members of our group.

Frost 1992. Oil on canvas, 28 x 27 inches. Source.

Garden #38 1994. Ink on printed paper, 14 x 9 1/2 inches. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Brick Mirror 1997. Oil on canvas, 22 x 19 inches. Source.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Mark Bradford (American b. 1961). I recently learned of this series of paintings, which are based on a group of French tapestries owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Bradford’s process involves layering images--often print images and found, printed text material--and then scraping, digging, and sometimes blasting (with a pressure washer) through the layers. The result is rich with surface incident. I’ve paired two of the paintings with the original tapestries they were based on, so you can see the commonalities. Bradford hung these canvases un-stretched, possibly to reinforce their connection to the hanging tapestries.

The Hunt of the Unicorn series installed in Agora exhibition, November 2021-July 2022, Serralves Foundation, Porto, Portugal. Source.

The Unicorn Rests in a Garden 2020. Mixed media on canvas, 144 x 110 inches. Source.

French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven). The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (from the Unicorn Tapestries) 1495-1505. Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts; 145 x 99 inches. The Met Cloisters, New York.

The Unicorn Purifies Water 2020. Mixed media on canvas, 144 x 158 inches. Source.

French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven). The Unicorn Purifies Water (from the Unicorn Tapestries) 1495-1505. Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts; 145 x 149 inches. The Met Cloisters, New York. 

[theoriesanddocuments]

Miyoko Ito (American 1918-1983). Beth introduced me to this artist’s lovely paintings. Ito was associated with the Chicago Imagists--a very loosely affiliated group of artists that included Roger Brown, Christina Ramberg, and Ed Paschke. Seen in that context, Ito’s work stands apart in that it doesn’t contain narrative or the human figure. Her mysterious compositions, and understated use of color, seem to have inspired a new generation of admirers, as there have been a number of recent exhibitions of this work. 

The fourth painting seen here, left unfinished at the time of her death, provides a glimpse of her process. She appears to have designed the composition directly on the canvas, in charcoal, and we can see evidence of erasure and reconsideration. The other closeup image, a detail of Tanima or Claude M. Nutt from 1974, shows how she left the thin drawn charcoal lines uncovered and visible between her shapes. Fringes of green and red paint peeking out alongside the charcoal suggest she may have changed the color palette as she worked.

Heart of Hearts, Basking 1973. Oil on canvas, 44 x 32 inches. Source.

1948 1978. Oil on canvas, 22 x 30 inches. Source.

Tanima or Claude M. Nutt 1974. Oil on canvas, 46 3/8 x 33 inches. Source.

Detail of Tanima or Claude M. Nutt 1974. Oil on canvas, 46 3/8 x 33 inches. Source.

Untitled (unfinished) 1983. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 46 5/8 x 42 inches. Source.

Detail of Untitled (unfinished) 1983. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 46 5/8 x 42 inches. Source.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Brittney Leeanne Williams (American b. 1990). Williams is another artist whose paintings were shown alongside Miyoko Ito’s in the Both And show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid. These works contain elements of figuration and the landscape, most easily perceived in the third image. They also remind me of modern tantric painting, particularly work by Biren De (Indian 1926-2011).

Arch 7 2020. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, 12 x 9 inches. Source.

The Swing of an Embrace 2021. Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Source.

Reach 1 2021. Pastel, acrylic, gouache, and watercolor on paper; 22 x 30 inches. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. Source.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Mark Bradford (American b. 1961) talks about his materials and describes the process he used to make Pickett’s Charge 2017-18, a monumental installation work currently on long-term display at the Hirschhorn in Washington, D.C. 

Like The Unicorn Tapestries, Pickett’s Charge is based on an older artwork: The Battle of Gettysburg, a cyclorama painting by French artist Paul Philippoteaux (1846-1923). Stephanie, who saw this work in person last year, kindly shared some closeup images of one of the parts. You can see more on the Hirschhorn website, here.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Mark Bradford (American b. 1961). Constitution IV 2013. Mixed media on canvas, 132 x 120 inches. Source.

I thought T.--who shares with this artist an interest in distressed, heavily-worked surfaces--might also appreciate his occasional use of difficult-to-read text.