Sunday, April 28, 2013

Stanley Whitney—Other Colors I Forget

Other Colors I Forget, 2012. Oil on linen, 72" x 72". Courtesy the artist and Team Gallery.

Stanley Whitney has been painting since the 1960s, but — so — his work looks as fresh as anything today. Recent paintings are on view at Team Gallery (83 Grand Street through May 12) in a show titled Other Colors I Forget.

What is there to say to do justice to such gorgeous paintings? Sure, I could blather on about the emotional resonance of each unique color, the satisfying architecture, the vibrations between colors, the rogue drips and characteristics of the blended hues. But really, just look.

Songbird, 2012. Oil on linen, 48" x 48". Courtesy the artist and Team Gallery.
That said, in an interview with the Brooklyn Rail, some salient points emerged. He traces a path to his work through Newman and Judd. The architecture of the Egyptian pyramids and stacks of artifacts in an Etruscan museum in Volterra, Italy inspired his formal compositions. He paints from the top down. And, lucky for us, he's never satisfied—perhaps that's what drives him to make the next painting. 

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