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Benton, Pollock, and, um, Underwood
As I explored in previous posts (here, here, and here), I’m continuing my quest for compositional methods and ways of seeing that can give me a framework for my mostly intuitive working. Thomas Hart Benton and scholars discussing his work have dissected his use of vertical spirals, collage-like murals, and falling-into-your-lap figuration. Thomas Hart Benton,…
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Wonky-Scapes, a truncated history
I was prevented from hanging my upcoming exhibit Wednesday afternoon by construction issues, so I decided my spare time could be spent rummaging around in my brain, thinking about how I got to doing wonky plein air and studio city-scapes. The exhibit is Wonky PDX: City-Scapes by Yours Truly, showing at the Full Circle Gallery,…
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Thomas Hart Benton: Vertical Composition, Energy Fields, and Space through Size
Thomas Hart Benton seems to hold one or more of the keys to my attempts to consciously understand my own painting processes. Thomas Hart Benton, Boomtown, 1927 –1928* As I noted here and here, I am concerned to find that sweet spot, the riparian zone of visual art, where space becomes place, but is not…
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A Breakthrough — Murals, Collages, and My Art
“Murals are nothing more than Big Collages with a bit of history/story tossed in.” That’s what entered my brain this afternoon. That’s my insight for the day (week, month, year?). Hence, Thomas Hart Benton: Thomas Hart Benton, City Activities with Subway, 1930, from his mural at the New School for Social Research, now in the…
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Space and Place, the Tangle and the Wonkiness
juneunderwood.com 