Lynne Cooke

Gorgeously quiet in color and composition, Agnes Martin’s paintings have a distinctive grace that sets them apart from those of the Abstract Expressionists of her day and the Minimalist artists she inspired. Martin attributed her grid-based works to metaphysical motivations, lending a serene complexity to her oeuvre that has defied any easy categorization. Perhaps for this reason, critical and scholarly analysis of her paintings has been scarce—until now. This important new anthology show more brings together the most current scholarship on Martin’s paintings by twelve multidisciplinary essayists who consider various aspects of the artist’s four-decade career. show less

Shortly before his death in 1977, German painter Blinky Palermo created his most significant cycle of paintings, dedicating it "to the people of nyc." The work consists of 15 parts, composed from 40 painted aluminum panels arranged in combinations of cadmium red, cadmium yellow and black. Recalling Piet Mondrian's late series New York City (1941-42), and works by such American artists as Robert Ryman and Brice Marden, To the People of New York City (1976) is distinguished by its prescribed show more hanging and pacing, and its rhythmically changing formats, which also bring to mind the Jazz performances that Palermo sought out during his time in New York, where he had maintained a studio from 1973 to 1975. This handsome edition discusses To the People of New York City--today in the collection of New York's Dia Art Foundation--within this context and alongside works by his former teacher Joseph Beuys, and his long-time friends and colleagues Imi Knoebel and Gerhard Richter, among others. show less

This catalogue is published on the occasion of the exhibition, 12 March - 28 August 2011, of Francis Alys: Fabiola, organised by Schaulager at Haus zum Kirschgarten, an extravagant Basel museum of domestic life. For the exhibition, Francis Alys, born 1959 in Belgium, has installed his collection of over 370 amateur paintings and images of Saint Fabiola, found in flea markets and antique shops. The portraits are astonishingly similar, a wealth of copies all based on the same original painting show more from 1885 by the French realist Jean-Jacques Henner. They have been embedded in rooms which epitomize the living environment of the 19th-century, protestant haut-bourgeoisie. In this location, the swarm of Fabiola images represents a subversive yet subtle intervention in the museum's structure and play on the atmosphere the historic rooms seek to bring to life. The large-format photo-spread includes views of the exhibition at Haus zum Kirschgarten, providing a visual tour. Essays by the exhibition's curator, Lynne Cooke (New York/Madrid) and Dario Gamboni (Geneva), a renowned expert on Francis Alys' work, describe the nature of the installation at Haus zum Kirschgarten and discuss Alys' creative strategy. The catalogue also includes a comprehensive bibliography. show less

Love her work — “coolly” conceptual while being intriguing, sensorially stimulating and affectively provocative. The prints were of high quality, so a good, enjoyable read.