EssaysNEW YORK CITY ESSAY: Huang Rui Works Offer Glimpse of Afterlife of a Revolutionary Hero by Charles A. Riley II It seems like such a wishful anachronism to call an artist a “hero.” That kind of adulation—typically reserved for artists like...
ReviewsNEW YORK CITY ART REVIEW: From Delacroix, Elegance in the Eye of the Romantic Tempest by Charles A. Riley II “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...
ReviewsNORTH FORK ART REVIEW: Offbeat “Cheese Ball Challenge” in Southold Makes Art Lovers Smile, and Think by Charles A. Riley II 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...
ReviewsNEW YORK CITY ART REVIEW: High-Voltage Selection of Joan Mitchell Paintings at Cheim & Read by Charles A. Riley II For sheer, unbridled ecstasy in oil, nothing in Chelsea surpasses “Joan Mitchell: Paintings from the Middle of the Last Century,...
ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: A Rich Harvest Reaped from Ellsworth Kelly’s Visits to East End by Charles A. Riley II 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 ReviewsEast Hampton ART REVIEW: Hamptons Art History Celebrated through Legendary Abstract Expressionists by Charles A. Riley II Redemption was the reward the moment I crossed the threshold from the hubbub of East Hampton Village into the superb “Montauk...
ReviewsINTERNATIONAL ESSAY: Bettina WitteVeen’s Searing Poetics Mingled with Metamorphosis Continues in Berlin in “Whiteout” by Charles A. Riley II Resonance can seem like too much to ask of an art exhibition in these parlous times of so-called “Insta” critique. Because the...
ReviewsHAMPTONS Art Review: Fay Lansner Weaves Beauty from Charm of Color and Confident Line by Charles A. Riley II Long live the tradition of the figure in abstract painting! For a classic example, consider the seamless way that Fay Lansner...
Art ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: Sparks of Abstract Expressionism Illuminate Bertschmann Paintings by Charles A. Riley II A rapid glance at the flickering colors and fast black gestures of the labyrinthine Subway Series by the front window of the Quogue...
ART FAIRSNEW YORK CITY CRITIC’S VIEW: Aesthetics of Color Beckon at Frieze New York 2018 by Charles A. Riley II 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 ReviewsNEW YORK CITY ART REVIEW: Raymond Hendler Reveals a Happier Side of Abstract Expressionism by Charles A. Riley II Should an Abstract Expressionist be allowed to be happy? This is the intriguing question asked—and definitively answered—by...
Art ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: “Five and Forward” Reflects Beautiful Depth of Parrish Collection by Charles A. Riley II What makes a great regional museum? This question needled me after a recent, fantastically rewarding visit to the Parrish Art Museum...
Art ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: David Slivka’s Ink Paintings Channel New York School While Correlating to his Sculpture by Charles A. Riley II When considering sculpture, it is always helpful to have access to the artist’s drawings, which are so often the trail of...
NEWSNEW YORK CITY Leonardo da Vinci Sells for $450 Million, Breaking Auction Records by Charles A. Riley II 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...
ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: The Fearless Palette of Melinda Zox Gives Color a Voice by Charles A. Riley II In the artist’s statement for her exhilarating “Conversation in Color” exhibition of paintings and works on paper at the Quogue...
ART FAIRSNEW YORK CITY Critic’s View: Fine Art Print Fair Offers Masters of the Medium and New Works by Charles A. Riley II 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 ReviewsNORTH FORK ART REVIEW: Photography Using the Soft Power of Art to Thwart the Expected by Charles A. Riley II The smart and sassy “Perceptive Dimension” show featuring photographs by Carolyn Conrad and Scott Farrell at Alex Ferrone Gallery...
Art ReviewsHAMPTONS ART REVIEW: The Mystery and Magic of Photorealism at Parrish Art Museum by Charles A. Riley II The dazzling, at times even overwhelming “From Lens to Eye to Hand: Photorealism 1969 to Today” exhibition currently on view at...