Jonathan Griffin

Criticism and essays on art and culture

Month: January, 2013

David Ostrowski

Ltd Los Angeles

David-Ostrowski, F (Jung, Brutal, Gutausehend), 2012, acrylic, lacquer, adhesive foil and cotton on canvas, wood, 87 x 67.3 in (221 x 171 cm)

The day I visit David Ostrowski’s exhibition, it’s raining. The unusually inclement weather seems appropriate for these battered, defeated-looking paintings. I am reminded of the terrible storm that hit New York recently. Ostrowski’s work corresponds to images of Chelsea-gallery employees hauling drenched canvases out of waterlogged crates. Read the rest of this entry »

Dianna Molzan

molz

Every painting — every good painting, at least — is a problem. This problem can come in all shapes and sizes: a problem with the world, a problem with painting, a problem with one’s self. Whether it’s the curious vibrational effect of two colors in proximity to one another or the crisis of consumer capitalism, a painting embodies or responds to the impetus for its own creation. Not all paintings solve their problems; most don’t even come close. Many create more problems. That’s okay. Read the rest of this entry »