ESSAY: Huang Rui Works Offer Glimpse of Afterlife of a Revolutionary Hero
It seems like such a wishful anachronism to call an artist a “hero.” That kind of adulation—typically reserved for artists like...
Posts by Charles A. Riley II
ART REVIEW: From Delacroix, Elegance in the Eye of the Romantic Tempest
“I want a hero: an uncommon want,/When every year and month sends forth a new one.”
These opening lines of Lord Byron’s epic...
ART REVIEW: Offbeat “Cheese Ball Challenge” in Southold Makes Art Lovers Smile, and Think
As a museum director and itinerant art critic, I hit openings all too often. The old joke about Andy Warhol being ready to go to any...
ART REVIEW: High-Voltage Selection of Joan Mitchell Paintings at Cheim & Read
For sheer, unbridled ecstasy in oil, nothing in Chelsea surpasses “Joan Mitchell: Paintings from the Middle of the Last Century,...
ART REVIEW: A Rich Harvest Reaped from Ellsworth Kelly’s Visits to East End
When artist Ellsworth Kelly drove out to the East End for the first time in 1960, he was escaping the city in pursuit of a little...
ART REVIEW: Hamptons Art History Celebrated through Legendary Abstract Expressionists
Redemption was the reward the moment I crossed the threshold from the hubbub of East Hampton Village into the superb “Montauk...
ESSAY: Bettina WitteVeen’s Searing Poetics Mingled with Metamorphosis Continues in Berlin in “Whiteout”
Resonance can seem like too much to ask of an art exhibition in these parlous times of so-called “Insta” critique. Because the...
Art Review: Fay Lansner Weaves Beauty from Charm of Color and Confident Line
Long live the tradition of the figure in abstract painting! For a classic example, consider the seamless way that Fay Lansner...
ART REVIEW: Sparks of Abstract Expressionism Illuminate Bertschmann Paintings
A rapid glance at the flickering colors and fast black gestures of the labyrinthine Subway Series by the front window of the Quogue...
CRITIC’S VIEW: Aesthetics of Color Beckon at Frieze New York 2018
The temperature soared above 90 degrees for the annual press preview on May 3 for the 2018 Frieze New York art fair on Randall’s...
ART REVIEW: Raymond Hendler Reveals a Happier Side of Abstract Expressionism
Should an Abstract Expressionist be allowed to be happy? This is the intriguing question asked—and definitively answered—by...
ART REVIEW: “Five and Forward” Reflects Beautiful Depth of Parrish Collection
What makes a great regional museum? This question needled me after a recent, fantastically rewarding visit to the Parrish Art Museum...
ART REVIEW: David Slivka’s Ink Paintings Channel New York School While Correlating to his Sculpture
When considering sculpture, it is always helpful to have access to the artist’s drawings, which are so often the trail of...
Leonardo da Vinci Sells for $450 Million, Breaking Auction Records
Even after all the preview excitement, and the hour-long wait on line to see “the last da Vinci” (because it really is the last...
ART REVIEW: The Fearless Palette of Melinda Zox Gives Color a Voice
In the artist’s statement for her exhilarating “Conversation in Color” exhibition of paintings and works on paper at the Quogue...
Critic’s View: Fine Art Print Fair Offers Masters of the Medium and New Works
For the 26th installment of the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair, at the cavernous Javits Center, a notably selective group of 81 dealers has...
ART REVIEW: Photography Using the Soft Power of Art to Thwart the Expected
The smart and sassy “Perceptive Dimension” show featuring photographs by Carolyn Conrad and Scott Farrell at Alex Ferrone Gallery...
ART REVIEW: The Mystery and Magic of Photorealism at Parrish Art Museum
The dazzling, at times even overwhelming “From Lens to Eye to Hand: Photorealism 1969 to Today” exhibition currently on view at...