Aspects of a New Kind of Realism

Aspects of a New Kind of Realism is curated by Michael Klein, an artist’s agent and freelance consultant and curator for individuals, institutions and arts organizations. He is a highly regarded writer, curator, and program director and has been the executive director of the International Sculpture Center based in New Jersey and served as the first Curator for the Microsoft Art Collection based in Redmond, Washington between 1999 and 2005 directing art acquisitions, commissions, collection management in house exhibitions and an education program for the company’s 50,000 employees.

The curator believes realism continues to play a crucial part in painting today, but it is now augmented by an emphasis on the process with which the paintings are made. He feels that for many artists, including those in the group exhibition, there is a quite conscious choice of content that reflects more than just a still life or portrait; that their ambition is to “present through painting ideas that suggest and suppose and present painting as a means by which questions can be raised and observations made about and for a contemporary audience.”

David Bates who resides in Texas is a major American artist who has been associated with the Arthur Roger Gallery for many years. He is a master of color and mixes classical art reference with influences from Southern folk art paintings dealing with life in Texas and the Gulf region.

Richard Bosman was born in Madras, India and raised in Egypt and Australia. He currently lives in New York. He is particularly adept at translating the fluidity and physicalities of paint into highly expressive water, which is often part of his subject matter.

Squeak Carnwath is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. She paints in a distinctive style, often combining text and images in abstract fields of color and addressing sociopolitical and spiritual concerns.
Glenn Golderg lives in New York. His paintings of birds and flowers are bright accumulations of colorful pointillist dots.

John Hartman is a leading contemporary artist in Canada. Since the 1990s he has investigated the rhythm of the landscape in Newfoundland through painting and printmaking.

Kathryn Lynch is a New York artist who regularly creates paintings capturing life in the city in a personal expressive painterly style. Her most recent cityscapes are done with intense color. Lynch says, “I try to capture the noise, motion, and thrill of walking, thinking, looking and painting in New York.”

Thom Merrick who after living in New York and Europe for years chose in 2001 to move to an artistic community in the Mojave Desert in California. He possesses a vast knowledge of art history and works in different media – painting, sculpture and installation.

Joan Snyder is an American painter from New York. She has been described as a “confessional artist” with subjects ranging from politics, love, death and motherhood. Her colorful paintings often contain text and materials such as herbs, silk and metal objects.

Xiaoze Xie continues to evolve his formal and conceptual investigation of the newspaper stacks found in libraries in China and the United States. Despite the violent or political nature of some of his imagery, there is no overt attempt to relay a particular message; Xiaoze Xie is initially more concerned with the possibilities the stacks offer and with making strong visual statements.

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