Lucas Moran Fishing Net 2007 oil and spray paint on canvas 24" x 30"
Lucas Moran Summer Jam 2007 oil, spray paint and galkyd on canvas 62" x 84"
Lucas Moran Untitled 2007 oil, spray paint and galkyd on canvas 18" x 24"
Because of a lot of distractions, only some related to visits to galleries, I'm way behind on a lot of my self-assigned postings, and I've wanted to do at least a quick post about Lucas Moran's show at Buia, "From Here On Out", for several weeks now. The artist's small to medium-sized canvases exhibit a mix of tangled shapes and extravagant colors worked, and sometimes alarmingly distressed, in oil and spray paint, here and there including galkyd, and occasionally revealing traces of powdered sandstone.
These paintings broadcast equal elements of chaos and order and remain fundamentally non-pictorial even if they don't leave our imagination to wander totally unattended: Many include both subtle and conspicuous graffiti and pop art components - sometimes both - welcome interlopers which focus Moran's abstraction, dragging us into an exotic, alien world whose gritty seductiveness is intensified by the artist's ability to manipulate the mixed media with such wicked skill.
Lucas Moran Untitled 2007 oil, spray paint, sandstone and galkyd on canvas 62" x 50" [detail]
[full image]
More good stuff on Moran from Tom Moody.
[thumbnail image from the gallery]
Dear James.
While checking comments posted at my YouTube channel I noticed one subscriber who wrote that he’d checked your blog and was depressed to hear of the resistance you and others were receiving for attempting to photograph and document the art works.
You’re probably more sensitive to this than myself. I’ve been in the art game for over twenty-five years now, and what it comes down to is control and class. The galleries want to control the image of their artists and despite the inroads the on-line community has made in penetrating the art audience, there’s still an elitist notion that “stinkin little bloggers” or amateur critics just aren’t worth the trouble, and should be excluded. Let me tell you, if Jerry Saltz or any of a cadre of A level critics walked in with a camera everyone would be glad to let them shoot away.
At this point, I’m use to it, though people must be getting hip to the hidden camera trick as I’m being monitored more closely. I accept it a challenge, what have I got to lose? Look for a vid of some of my rejections. In the meantime, what you and Barry are doing is recording history, and whether the dealers know it or not this is an incredibly generous service you’re providing to them, their artists, and anyone who is interested in art,. Keep the faith, James Kalm
James,
You can bet that all the galleries that you mentioned are video taping every visitor that enters, and I doubt if they are worried about whether you mind being photographed or not, thanks JK
Um. How many ways can I say "Wow!" to the Lucas Moran? I think I've lost count. Thanks, man.
What wonderful paintings! Makes me wish I could get to NYC more often. Thanks for the posting James.
Love Summer jam. Great painting. Bought it. Bringing it back to Britland. Far better than Banksy's nonsense