THE B&W PROJECT / NYC

May 1, 2016

"The Black and White Project" is an ongoing exploration that started as a curatorial post on the L&L blog. In 2014 it was expanded into an exhibition at the L&L Gallery. An accompanying publication includes works by 100 artists from around the world was added specifically for the London Sluice Art fair. A print edition with works by 6 artists, printed by Atelier Tchikebe, was added to the project last year. This will be the fifth exhibition of the Black & White Project, this time at Transmitter, with around 60 artists from around the world.

Alain Biltereyst, Andrew Seto, Armelle De Sainte Marie, Béatrice Beha, Ben Alper, Benjamin Gardner, Brian Cypher, Brian Edmonds, Brynn Higgins-stirrup, Catherine Haggarty, Christine Mahoney, Claire Colin-Collin, Daniel G. Hill, David Rhodes, Didier Petit, Don Voisine, DotsToLines, Emily Noelle Lambert, Eve Aschheim, Espen Erichsen, Gabriele Herzog, Gary Petersen, Guy Yanai, Heidi Pollard, Ian White Williams, Izabela Kowalczyk, Jasper van der Graaf, Jeremie Delhome, Jérémy Laffon, Joris Brantuas, Justine Frischmann, Katherine Bradford, Karl Bielik, Ky Anderson, Lael Marshall, Laura Charlton, Leeza Doreian, Lina Jabbour, Lydia Rump, Matthew Deleget, Marion Piper, Mandy Lyn Ford, Marie-Claude Bugeaud, Mark Sengbusch , Meg Lipke, Michael Voss, Michel Barjol, Niall De Buitléar, Oriane Stender, Paul Pagk, Patrice Pantin,Pete Schulte, Peter Shear, Rieko Koga, Richard van der Aa, Ruri Yi, Robert Otto Epstein, Rosaire Appel, Tilman Hoepfl, Ward Schumaker, Yoav Efrati.

More info about the b&w project is here

Espen Ericksen

What are you grateful for? by Catherine Hagartty

April 15, 2016

Lately I've been talking to my friend Catherine, about how lucky we are to be doing what we do, and so together we decided to set on a journey to find out what other painters feel grateful for, here goes:

Being a painter, what are you grateful for ?

Katherine Bradford

1. Never having to get dressed up

2. An intense, immersive kind of life

3. The chance to look at interesting things all the time. My horror of being thrown in prison is mainly that I’d have nothing to look at...but maybe after awhile I’d adjust and form a new aesthetic.

Eleanna Anagnos, Brooklyn, N.Y.

"I’m grateful that coloring outside the lines is my job; that embracing my weirdo self is encouraged; for the privilege of learning from and being inspired by creative, thoughtful idiosyncratic humans; for existing in a place of wonderment and finding the magic in the everyday; for living in this stimulating, crazy, diverse city, that I call home; for community and the privilege of being a part of a very special art collective, the love and support I’ve received for being me and doing what I do ~ the privilege of choosing the path less chosen, off-roading, so to speak, there are more obstacles but it's WAY more fun!"

Paul Gagner, Brooklyn, N.Y.

"This will sounds strange, but I'm grateful for my anxieties. The reason being, is that I believe that my anxiety prods me to work harder and to keep tweaking a painting until it's reached an ideal state of "compelling awkwardness." It's also that same awkwardness that can be it's own kind of anxiety.

I'm also grateful for time. While I'm not the slowest painter that I know, I'm also not always the fastest. Sometimes a painting comes really easy. You don't have to think about it and it just flows out of you. Other times, it feels the painting is sabotaging you ever step of the way. Time is a crucial component to making a painting. I spend a good deal of time looking and thinking. I'll write down everything that's running through my mind: what the painting is trying to say, my expectations of the painting, any associations, my frustrations with it and life, etc. It can get ugly. But it can also be profound and "time" is the crucial ingredient.

Finally, the most important thing to be grateful for is an audience. While my paintings are very therapeutic for me, they would be meaningless without someone to share it with. For that, I'm especially grateful for my wife, Maureen, who is my favorite critic. She's very supportive, but always honest and insightful. If a painting doesn't cut the mustard with her, I'll rework it until it does. Also, a larger audience is important too, but I often feel like I'm making paintings for her and it's so satisfying when she likes them. That's the best feeling."

Eleanor Ray

1. The community of passionate people that comes together around art, including painters and gallerists and writers — people who have committed to this very specific field of interest and are finding their own ways to be immersed in it. I love that painting culture connects people so strongly around the world and locally. I see that kind of shared vocabulary of interests as open and expansive rather than insular. It opens up possibilities.

2. The availability of such a rich history in painting. Paintings that are communicating across centuries.

3. Less pressure to be tidy or have great clothes. Painters should get a free pass there, right?

Joshua Bienko

"I don't know that I am. I mean, sometimes, certainly, I am grateful to be a painter, but the question is nonetheless difficult. It feels more like a disease sometimes that you can never be rid of. You can sometimes hide the symptoms, but not for long. I don't mean to be dismissive or overly artsy, but you know, sometimes folks might say, 'Hey, you should make a big painting,' or 'Have you ever thought about painting on panel?' It's difficult to respond. I don't know that I consciously make all of those decisions. Like I wish maybe I had more control over the process of making a big painting or a small painting or a drawing or a rap video. I don't know that I have that control. I feel like a hunting dog that catches a whiff of something and then pursues it. Sometimes when you go a-hunting, you don't come home with a bunting (re. The Black Rider). Sometimes you do. You find out afterward. So, for painting and drawing (which should be thought of a prolegomenon) and curating and any other mode of thinking, I think I appreciate the hunt, or the pursuit or what Lacan might call, the "drive."

I like the way that this relates painting to life. You can not ever love fully, you do not ever spiritually 'arrive,' you never score an 18 on the golf course, and you never make the painting perfect. You never play enough with your children, you never prepare enough for your job and you never exercise, practice or devote your self enough. But you can get close. It's the 210yd 5 iron from the fairway that gets you back on the course. It's a moment with Cobalt Yellow Lake and Chromatic Black that make you feel like you've gotten a glimpse. It's a drawing that comes so much from you, that it appears foreign to you at first glance.

These are the things I appreciate about being an artist, in as much as I am a painter as such.'

Benjamin Pritchard

"I am grateful that as a confused alienated youth, I stumbled across a medium that exists in time like a small plane; that functions like a perch to look out into the heavens, like a map that unfolds and extends into space, and that opens up below into a deep well that extends far down into the depths.

David Humphrey

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to immerse in the visual as if it were a hallucination, for the ability to conjure images that connect to the known world as much as to the unknown and to make objects that have a capacity to look back at me with feelings or knowledge I don’t possess."

Helen O'Leary

1. Freedom & equality: I found painting early, with tar brushes from my father’s boat building on the white washed walls on the farm. I painted what I knew into the lime whiting, which we used both as color and disinfectant. It grounded me, even as a young girl. I wanted to paint myself out of a society that seemed to diminish me based on class and gender.

2. Family & the community of people both local and global: The crime and punishment of that time for me was sexuality and adventure, and leaving the strict prosthesis of rules and customs behind. I had a real love of the land, of the things that our people had made, of songs that were sung and objects that were constructed out of need and tradition. I knew our land, every stone and ditch, by heart and yet, I knew I would leave it.

3. Solitude: I can be alone when i paint, in the most internal and meaningful way. It is the thing that wakes me up in the morning- and I see the world clearly through its lens. its a language that is deeply personal that for me communicates above and beyond other languages.

Jennifer Coats

"I'm grateful to be able to sit in my studio alone for hours on end trying to make flat things breathe via puddles of colored goo via repetitive hand movements.

I'm grateful to be able to contemplate the ancient past and pretend I'm part cave person while painting. Painting is a portal to the past and the future. It encourages you to contact aliens and think about spiral galaxies in other parts of the cosmos. It encourages you to shrink down to the size of an tiny speck and engage in quantum shenanigans.

I'm grateful to live in this city and know so many amazing painters whose work inspires me and who I love to talk to."

Rick Briggs

"I feel lucky to have this contemplative life in the studio, away from the world, in a space that allows me to make my own world. I'm grateful for my close friends who inspire me with their words and their work as well as the opportunity to be a part of a much bigger, multilayered, and always changing art community in NY. At museums, I'm thankful for the potential to time travel while standing in front of a painting via the magic of imagination, to be transported to the mind and hand of the artist who made the painting and then return again, both feet on the ground, eyes and mind wide open."

Clarity Haynes

"I love that you’re focusing on this theme. Gratitude is so important, and we rarely give it a forum. I’m so grateful to be an artist – to be able to work with my hands, to do something that’s therapeutic, that produces something concrete. Also, the fact that it is nonverbal! To be able to at least try to formulate a response to living in this world, in a medium beyond words… is really exciting. And truly, you yourself don’t really understand it. It’s a mystery for sure. You’re like a detective, following clues. It’s like a game; it’s play. (Although we’re always calling it work, a noun.) Painting is a craft so, no matter what, it’s grounded. It saves you."

Julie Langsam

"I am most thankful that I get to do what I love and live the life I want to live."

Catherine Haggarty

"The space between a paintings creation and resolve is something I am grateful for. The dedicated life of observation that painting has afforded me keeps me present & it keeps me company...even when I am totally alone. Ultimately, the company the paintings keep me in memory and the joy it brings me in dreaming it's conclusion is one of my greatest rewards.

More than anything though - I am most thankful for the community it has afforded me. Painting has opened up a world which once seemed too hard to enter and it has encouraged me to live a brave, challenging, and generous life. Being an artist lets me partake in and contribute to a living history that is part of a continuum greater than anything I will ever do by myself."

PAPER/PARIS #1

April 1, 2016

PAPER/PARIS is a new pop up mini art fair project by L&L, dedicated to works on paper, publications and editions. launched in march 2016, the event was located in the 3rd district in Paris. PAPER/PARIS aims to offer a unique melting pot for artists, art professionals and the public, through gathering international galleries at the heart of Paris, during the drawing week.

The first edition included the following galleries:

GALERIE REJANE LOUIN, LOCQUIREC

SCHEMA PROJECTS, BROOKLYN

THE DRAWING HUB, BERLIN

GALERIE ALAIN COULANGE, PARIS

LOOK&LISTEN, ST-CHAMAS

Galerie Réjane Louin @ PAPER/PARIS

March 13, 2016

For PAPER/PARIS, Galerie Réjane Louin will be showing the following artists:

Maelle Labussiere

Dominique De Beir

Marine Joatton

Olivier Michel

Antoine Perrot

Dineke Van Huizen

Schema Project @ PAPER/PARIS 2016

March 11, 2016

Schema projects artists for this year are :

Paula Overby, David Ambrose, Rosaire Appel, Katarina Denzinger, Scott Espeseth, Ken Gray, Mary Judge, Meg Lipke, Matt Kleberg, Audrey Stone, Lawrence Swan, Oriane Stender, Robert Otto Epstein, Vitor Mejuto, Andrew Zarou, Ward Schmaker, Brent Hallard.

Ward Schmaker

Rosaire Appel

Mary Judge

Meg Lipke

Alain Coulange Gallery Paris

March 7, 2016

In this series of posts we will introduce our partners for the PAPER PARIS project, starting with Alain Coulange Gallery.

Alain will present works on paper by :

Bernard Joubert

Sophie Keledjian

Marie Zawieja

PATRICE PANTIN

March 5, 2016

This Post is an introduction to Patrice's amazing work process. As Messy as the process seems: cutting, spilling, burning , the result work is elegant and super clean. His work will be exhibited along side Gabriele Herzog at our next DUET EXPO coming up next.

Patrice Pantin ches Gallery AL/MA

http://www.galeriealma.com

GABRIELE HERZOG - ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

February 22, 2016

Have a look at Gabriela's INSTALL VIEW & AVAILABLE WORKS from her residence.

One of my favorite things is talking to painters about what we do. I dont mean the big fancy words, i mean down to earth, clear, simple 'shop talk'. here's another round :

CONVERSATION

Yifat Gat - Gabriele Herzog / photos by Julia Gat

YG : When did you first knew you wanted to be a painter ?

GH : Maybe when i was 14. i spent two weeks at a brilliant art summer camp which was run by art tutors from the Basel school of art. i totally loved it. i then entered art school when i was 16.

YG : When were your recent painter ‘happy moments’ ?

GH : Now here - at this amazing artist residency - working in an inspiring space and meeting you, your family and your friends. installing my work and taking part in the exhibition at SMAHK in Assen, Holland last autumn. taking part in your ‘black and white’ project at Look&Listen. being involved in several exhibitions in the last couple of years. meeting in person, many new artists all over through Facebook. i always feel happy when i paint (I do of course have ‘big-doubt-days’) and recently figuring out more what my painter language is, is a nice ‘happy painter moment’.

YG : What impact did your family life had on your work (parents, partners, kids) ?

GH : I guess like for everyone who has kids, it did have a big impact on restructuring how i arranged a good work/family balance. but all that has brought me to where i am today.

YG : Looking back, when were your biggest challenges to get where you are today, and how did you overcome them?

GH : I think my biggest challenge has always been to find the time to paint. due to finance space and time. there were long stretches of time when i didn’t paint. as i got older i understood more how to ‘just do it’. i feel fortunate that i have been/still am now, able to do it at all.

YG : What are your current projects in or outside the studio ?

GH : Just painting in my studio in London and also in Berlin. trying to push my work. i get bored very easily with my work and so i always try to find new and uncomfortable ground. i am currently working on another artist’s book of mine to be self-published soon. and thinking about organizing/curating an exhibition in Berlin.

YG : Would you like to share about your practice? color-support-forms ?

GH : For now i mostly stretch my own smallish canvases with untreated cotton canvas. sometimes i use primed bought canvas as well, mainly when i want to work on a larger format. i paint with acrylic gesso gouache oil-stick and spray-paint. and during this residency i have been working only on paper (thank you :)) pushing me to work larger and faster.

YG : Can you elaborate on how social media influence your work ?

GH : Social media has transformed my life as an artist. i love the artist community on Facebook and Instagram. i feel very inspired and in awe by so many artists there. all the exhibitions and artist’s projects i have been involved in over the last two years are linked to fb in one way or another. social media is an incredible tool and platform.

YG : Anything else ?

GH : This residency has been so good for me and my work. to be in an unknown space opens up so many new possibilities i would never think of otherwise! i walk around the pretty village, sit in the beautiful and mysterious studio, look at the sky, the caves behind the house...... wow!!!

thank you Yifat for asking me about my work and thoughts.

* Gabriele stayed at St-Chamas for two weeks in Feb 2016. ( Merci Agathe ! ) The fruits of her residency where exhibited at the library gallery at Cornillon-Confoux.

PAPER PARIS 2016

February 19, 2016

PAPER/PARIS is a new pop up mini art fair produced by L&L, dedicated to contemporary drawing. Launching in April 2016, the event is located just next to the DRAWING NOW art fair in Paris. PAPER/PARIS aims to offer a unique meeting ground for art enthusiasts and the greater public, through gathering international galleries to present a wide range of original works including editions, publications, and more.

The fair’s inaugural edition includes the following galleries:

http://thedrawinghub.org/

http://alaincoulange.com/

My '5' List for VOLTA NY

February 19, 2016

VOLTA NY is the invitational fair of solo artist projects and is the American incarnation of the original Basel VOLTA show, which was founded in 2005 by three art dealers as a fair "by galleries, for galleries". March 2-6 2016

HERE IS MY LIST OF 5 FROM THIS YEAR PARTICIPANTS: