With 2019 careening to a close, it's a great time to revisit the year. Hamptons Art Hub produced stories, reviews and news accounts that revealed art on view, artists of interest and the best cultural offerings to be had by an East End audience.
We've compiled the most popular stories in 2019 with readers and present them for your reading pleasure. All stories on the list were written and published in 2019. Enjoy the walk down Memory Lane!
15. ART REVIEW: Susan Vecsey Extends Color Field Tradition Through Paintings of Understated Complexity at Quogue Gallery
Approaching the Quogue Gallery, I was immediately drawn in by Susan Vecsey's painting, visible through the side entrance along Jessup Avenue in Quogue, NY. It was awash with warm, radiant color; a vast field of peachy orange. I had seen Vecsey's work before, in Chelsea at Berry Campbell gallery, and was intrigued with how it would look in this setting in The Hamptons.
Click here to continue reading the review by Franklin Hill Perrell.
.
"Untitled (Orange)" by Susan Vecsey, 2017. Oil on linen, 42 x 60 inches. Courtesy Quogue Gallery.
.
14. New Book Offers Revealing Look at Robert Huff, a Giant in South Florida Art
The battered dustpan hangs on a peg of its own. It's within easy reach for a tall man. A never-opened ball of string from Ace Hardware sits on a shelf with a tape measure, Minwax Tung Oil Finish, and other objects grouped by category. Jars of paint are lined up near cans of brushes and colored pencils.
This is the studio of widely-known Miami artist Robert Huff. It's the hands-on toolkit of a lifetime, now captured in photographs included in the new book, “Robert Huff: Cross Section.” The images show a space that seems waiting to host more creativity. That ball of string is ready to be unwrapped, those brushes and pencils poised to produce streams of color.
Click here to continue reading the story by Elisa Turner.
.
Robert Huff Studio 2014. Photo by Steven Brooke; page 207 of "Robert Huff: Cross Section." Courtesy Letter 16 Press.
.
13. Jane Dickson Works Yield Penetrating Portrait of Times Square That Was
A man lighting a cigarette stands in the red glow of the entrance to a peep show. Cops dart down a city street toward an unseen target. A scantily clad woman drags a stroller up a darkened subway staircase, the shadowed eyes of her chubby-cheeked, snow-suited baby holding the viewer’s gaze.
Each of the paintings in “All That Is Solid Melts Into Air,” by the artist Jane Dickson—at James Fuentes on the Lower East Side in New York through February 17, 2019—is a gritty, gripping story-in-progress set in 1980s Times Square. There are 10 works in total, nine of them large-scale, all displayed in a single white-walled gallery: nocturnal scenes illuminated by the lurid colors of neon signs and the glare of urban lights.
Click here to continue reading the story by Susan Hodara.
.
"Terminal Bar II" by Jane Dickson, 2017. Oil on linen, 66 x 73 inches. Courtesy James Fuentes Gallery.
.
12. Art News: Feminist Artist Leah Schrager Moves Performance into IRL from Instagram to Montauk
This weekend, self-sexualized conceptual artist Leah Schrager moves from Social Media screens into live in-person performance and image-making at the Montauk Beach House as part of a solo show presented at the hotel. A production of the digital age, Leah Schrager uses sexually provocative photographs of herself as base image which are then digitally altered or enhanced to "censor" while continuing to reveal. Art designed for IRL (In Real Life) are printed on photographic paper or aluminum with full repositories of images diseminated on multiple Instagram accounts.
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
"Not Your Mothers Porn (Eat Your Veggies)" by Leah Schrager. Courtesy of Roman Fine Art.
.
11. SOCIAL SCENE - OLA Opens Benefit Art Show at Southampton Cultural Center
The sky poured streams of water and caused new ponds to form on many Hamptons roads but that didn't stop a crowd from turning out on Friday night, April 26, 2019, to support OLA of Eastern Long Island at its Opening Reception for its Benefit Art Show "ROOTS."
“OLA of Eastern Long Island has been, under the leadership of Minerva Perez, a dynamic force for good in our community,” Eric Fischl wrote in an email. “She, like her organization, strive to give those people in our Latino and Hispanic community who are being singled out and mischaracterized as evil or stripped of their dignity have a place to go for help, security and guidance.”
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
Art show curators Amy Worth and Hector DeCordova with OLA Director Minerva Perez, center, at the Opening Reception of "ROOTS" at the Southampton Cultural Center. Photo: Pat Rogers.
.
10. Rick Friedman Launches New Art Fair
Rick Friedman is launching a new art fair. The former producer of Art Hamptons unveils his first art fair since selling his art fair empire in 2015 which included Art Hamptons and art fairs in Aspen, Palm Springs and Houston. Produced through the Hamptons Expo Group of Southampton, NY, Friedman sold the fairs in 2015 to Urban Expositions who presented Art Hamptons for one year and then closed it.
Since then, Friedman has produced design and jewelry fairs in The Hamptons but has stayed away from fine art. In April, this changes as Friedman returns to fine art and opens the Philadelphia Fine Art Fair.
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
Rick Friedman. Courtesy Philadelphia Fine Art Fair.
.
9. Jackson Pollock Drips Inspired Couture Unveiled at Paris Fashion Week
Japanese fashion designer Chitose Abe's Sacai label has created an apparel line using details from Jackson Pollock's paint-splattered studio floor in The Springs. The clothing designs were unveiled in Sacai's Fall 2019 Ready-to-Wear Collection and premiered in Paris earlier this month. The couture arose from a partnership with the Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center, announced the East Hampton museum. The new line includes coats and jackets accented by boots and a handbag.
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
Jackson Pollock paint splatters on the floor of his East Hampton studio inspired new fashion in Sacai's Fall 2019 Ready-to-Wear Collection unveiled in Paris. Photo by Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com. Courtesy Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center.
.
8. ART REVIEW: Nicolas Carone's Late Abstractions Give Clues to "What Matters"
“What Matters: The Late Paintings,” a selection of Nicolas Carone’s abstractions at Loretta Howard Gallery through August 1, 2019, demonstrates how an exhibition title can be more than a catchphrase and provide useful insight into an artist’s concerns. Visitors aware of Carone’s Abstract Expressionist credentials will likely begin to grasp the title’s significance upon realizing that each painting’s historic Ab Ex look is refuted—surprisingly so—by a completion date that is only a decade past.
Click here to continue reading the review by Peter Malone.
.
“War Games” by Nicolas Carone, 2008. Acrylic on tarpaulin, 48 x 60 inches. Signed recto lower right. Courtesy of Loretta Howard Gallery.
.
7. SOCIAL SCENE: "Highlight: The High Line" Draws a Crowd for Contemporary Abstract Show
For a Thursday night, it was a calm one among the galleries of Chelsea. One exception was the Opening Reception of "Highlight: The High Line" presented at the Project Space of Hollis Taggart on 27th Street. It was difficult to find a space to squeeze into the gallery much less maneuver around the packed space.
The effort—to connect with the curator, the artists as well as the art—was well worth it. Independent curator Paul Efstathiou brought together a diverse cross-section of contemporary abstraction that almost seems to be a survey of the type of work that makes up the genre. As is his way, there was a palpable personal touch to every detail in the show.
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
Curator Paul Efstathiou and Jennifer Etstathiou posing with friends at the opening reception of "Highlights: The High Line" at Hollis Taggart, May 9, 2019. Courtesy of the gallery.
.
6. FIRST PERSON - Led into the Midst: "Detours" and the North Fork Artist Scene
Some have said the North Fork's art community is currently as vibrant as Springs during the 1950s. Who knows whether another Jackson Pollock labors amongst us? As a painter now working on the North Fork, it's an exciting prospect to contemplate. It was an invitation to stop by the Greenport Harbor Brewery on a Wednesday night that led me into the midst of the area's artists.
Click here to continue reading the account by Franklin Hill Perrell.
.
"1463 Northville Turnpike" by Stephen Capozzoli, 2019. Photograph on aluminum, 24 x 26 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
.
5. ART REVIEW: Frank Lind Paintings Mine Emotional Promise of Where Sea Meets Shore
In keeping with the season’s breach of the indoor/outdoor threshold, the Kingsborough Art Museum (KAM) situated on the eastern tip of Coney Island and encircled by Sheepshead Bay, is presenting an exhibition of 23 canvases reflecting painter Frank Lind’s fascination with Long Island’s shoreline. A devotee of the ocean’s edge; his painting examines a familiar subject from a uniquely multifarious perspective.
Click here to continue reading the review by Peter Malone.
.
"Discobolus" by Frank Lind, 1997. Oil on canvas, 80 x 60 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
.
4. 10 Stand Out Booths at Spring/Break Art Show 2019
Spring/Break Art Show 2019 was a fun edition filled with surprises. Held for the first year at United Nations Plaza, booths were arranged in two distinct sections with exhibitors taking over office spaces. Curator's exhibiting in this year's theme were tasked to present a booth with the theme "Fact and Fiction."
There was plenty of interesting art to see and noteworthy booths that fully developed the theme. Following are 10 booths that were particularly enjoyable and stood out for the creative curating or the art itself.
Click here to continue reading the story by Joanna Gmuender.
.
"E.N.D.O." Real Estate Brokers: You're in Good Hands" by Phaan Howng, 2019. Installation. Curated by Betsy Ross. Photo by Joanna Gmuender.
.
3. ART REVIEW: The Pure Vision of Frank Wimberley
From the moment I walked into the solo show "Frank Wimberley" at Berry Campbell in Chelsea, I became thoroughly engaged with Wimberley's textural paintings. The works convey an exhilarating sense of freedom as well as a consistent vision: one major painting after another, evidencing some of the most original and varied paint handling I've seen.
On view through July 3, 2019, "Frank Wimberley" is a near survey and presents 20 paintings that roam across the decades (including recent works). Now 92 years old, Wimberley proves that he is still vibrant and active as an artist. He evolved as a pure painter, largely eschewing overt socio-political themes in his work and became exemplary of American abstraction's mainstream; an expressionist responding to free association and guided solely by his own taste and intuition.
Click here to continue reading the review by Franklin Hill Perrell.
.
"Stopping By" by Frank Wimberley, 2000. Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 inches. Courtesy Berry Campbell.
.
2. ART REVIEW: "Adolph Gottlieb: Classic Paintings" at Pace Offer "Burst" Paintings in their Glory
For anyone who is captivated by Adolph Gottlieb's "Burst" paintings, "Adolph Gottlieb: Classic Paintings" affords the opportunity to see prime examples at Pace Gallery's Chelsea location at 510 West 25th Street. The exhibition allows visitors to witness the way the artist moves from horizontal to vertical formats and the subtle, or not so subtle, permutations accruing to his final style. This is a focused show revealing Gottlieb's paintings in the later part of his life by featuring the "Bursts" series in several modes and the "Imaginary Landscapes" series, which led up to them.
Click here to continue reading the review by Franklin Hill Perrell.
.
"Three Discs on Chrome Ground" by Adolph Gottlieb, 1969. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 inches (121.9 cm by 182.9 cm). No 70647. ©Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation / Licensed by ARS, NY, NY. Courtesy Pace Gallery
.
1. Tanger Outlets Exhibits Costumes from Hollywood's Golden Age
Tanger Outlets in Riverhead is presenting the traveling Gene London’s "Golden Age of Hollywood Costume Exhibit." The exhibition explores the changing face of fashion as interpreted by films, directors, stars and costume designers in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Costumes exhibited include those worn by Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and many others.
Click here to continue reading the story by Pat Rogers.
.
Costume from Gene London’s "Golden Age of Hollywood Costume Exhibition." Courtesy Tanger Outlets Riverhead.
.
___________________________
Copyright 2019 Hamptons Art Hub LLC. All rights reserved.