2/08/2007

Marc Handelman

34 comments:

Painter said...

Marc Handelman @
Sikkema, Jenkins & co.
530 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011

Anonymous said...

painter seems to have a preference of an art grounded in the real world of illusion instead of the shift in the real world. And this painting, which is not bad, reinforces this. What happens with these kinds of paintings is that you are drawn into some central focus, and all the other stuff that may be happening, while being faithful to this single illusion, fall by the wayside: Is not really important. But of course all the extras in the world make the movie a success. I'm not complaining there. But will these extras ever get the chance even at a bit-role, a chance to be bed partner with the right and great Mr. or Mrs. Shape Texture or Hue?
If I could call in and beam down maybe I would head over to the new moti and take a gander at 'beyond the pale' included work by Paul Pagk, for a fresher take on post 9/11, or something like that.

George said...

I saw Marc's paintings last week. I thought it was one of the best shows in Chelsea.

Sven said...

was this painting in the show? kinda wierd show, I almost got into the palette knife thing, though something wasnt there to hold my hand and take me over the boundary

Anonymous said...

one of the best shows in Chelsea, whoa, that's saying something, George! Wouldn't care to add why you thought so?. TRADEMARK, from what I can work out is just that, a trademark of easily recognizable takes, while no loss of points or faux pas, reads excruciatingly smug. The dividing line does a fine job of neutralizing any dynamic within the picture, the two takes tongue-in-cheek areas right-angle triangles: the division is powerful so on each side of it is a savvy lame duck dressed in worn-out feathers painted back up neat. Or so this is how I'm beaten up and then put to sleep.

George said...

cp,

I'm somewhat ambivalent about Handelman’s subject matter but he makes a painting like he means it. His paintings are ambitious, both in scale and for painting itself, I liked that.

There’s a lot of half-assed painting around now, the "I’ve got an idea and some paint, I’ll make a painting" approach, but painting is more than that, it has to get past whatever ideas are current at the moment and be a painting. This isn’t easy to do and I think he pulls it off.

Within the scope of his approach and his themes, he doesn’t skimp, or cut corners, he pays attention to the details without feeling fussy about it. His subjects are simple enough and might not have interested me with a less intense execution. I found them both beautiful and abrasive.

zipthwung said...

I mean cant you feel the oily wind in your hair? the caress of damned souls? Weird tales?

Its like a twilight zone episode or something.

zipthwung said...

Twilight. Twilit. Tlingit. Tacit. Toxic. Trinket.

WHere are the burnt marks? The slits? The bullet holes? THe Lead straw and sand?

WHere is the weight, oh heavy of heavies? WHere is Giles Corey? Where is John Henry? WHere is Saddam Hussein? Where is the angst anguish pain? WHere is the rain? Where is the spain? Salt and draino paino wash it away, blow up the outside world oh borderline personality of our receptionist mind. WHere is the office park space and porche with convertible balding spot? WHere is the stenciled in signifier to street outside world and concrete? Where is the exploding pudding bag? WHere is the sschalk mark of deceit wittgenstein lecturing at our feet? Captain my captain your ship is in hawk, we here in Margarita ville. How now brown cow? Udders udders!

zipthwung said...

Theres a great HP lovecraft story that takes place in egypt - or shall I say is situated in egypt. It is about, I mean interrogates (very archaological that) a pit tomb with alligators AND WORSE! The thing is it had a kind of palpable reality for me - not belief so much as suspension of disbleief - it blurred the boundary of belief, in the parlance of some people - and indeed I looked it up and there are actual pit tombs and many of them hidden. Probably no elder beings, though. Maybe there are. Coming at you out of the inky void. Pregnant with meaning, syle and panache.

youth--less said...

nice tie dye

arebours said...

m

arebours said...

...my ma used to make something like this on rice paper-this breathes lighter than air-this element of a man made design that seems alive is an interesting one

amy boras said...

love the tie dye. i'm ready for jerry garcia's resurrection now.

youth--less said...

jerry lives forever in all his shitty glory. in minds, hearts and over at wolfgangs vault (until the lawyers shut it down)

Idon'tbathe said...

hey nerds,
Oddly the greatfull dead nor tie dye came to mind when I saw this nor does it now. Maybe thats cuz I hate hippies and my least favorite smell is patchouli.
Marc's got his own thing going and its damm good that can be threatening sometimes to people who aint got a thing.
chow.

poppy said...

i agree with above, about having your own thing, try to recognize even if you can't place pntg yourself. this comes as threatening to people who place primary energies and focus on having unique own thing.

Idon'tbathe said...

and lets not forget those trying to do the elusive "trendy own thing" Good luck with that.

poppy said...

trendy and own thing prime focus is style and surface and always recognizable. Its like listening to madonna trying to tap into what is hip while rapping about yoga and pilates.

youth--less said...

who's threatened?

amy boras said...

marc's got his own thing and it sucks. i'm sorry i didn't realize painting was all about optical illusions and decorative wall hangings these days.

Thousand Points of Light said...

Painter: you're throwing up the next batch of paintings too fast!

These paintings seem to have been misunderstood because of the rep. image. His work is the antithesis of tie dye.

Zip: this is interesting. I didn't know a lot about H.P.'s bio, and Houellebecq is always engaging on some leve:

H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life (Paperback)
by Michel Houellebecq

zipthwung said...

i havent read houlebexk too trendy. im threatened like a lwswuit.


read jonathan lethems plagiarism - i was there with the velveteen rabbit - who cares. im threatened by this paintng like a lightning bolt is threatened by thunder. like a mistake to a blunder like run run ran da do run run I made a gun out of chewing gum.

zipthwung said...

They didn't know, they couldn't make the scene

She had to run, run, run, run, run
Take a drag or
two
Run, run, run, run, run
Gypsy Death and you
Tell you whatcha do

Beardless Harry, what a
waste
Couldn't even get a small-town taste
Rode
the trolleys down to forty-seven
Figured he was good to
get himself to heaven

'Cause he had to run,
run, run, run, run
Take a drag or two
Run, run, run,
run, run
Gypsy Death and you
Tell you whatcha do

youth--less said...

how is it the antithesis of tie die steve?

youth--less said...

jesus!

youth--less said...

I wasnt interpreting. Just saying it LOOKS like a tiedye.

Hippies were into american luminism as i recall--thoreau, back to nature and all. Gradation. All those split founts on those hippie posters.

By hardedge what are you referring to exactly? Anyway, never met a hardedge hippie?

youth--less said...

ah i went over to saachi and they explained it all for me--hollow splendor and all that

well the thing is daddy's long dead. so no matter how tough you get with him--he's no longer there. Stupid is in control now...

Going to see inland empire. im sure DL will have something to add.

George said...

tpl,
It looked like MH used tape in one phase of the painting process but as I recall the edges didn't looked taped in the end, they didn't have the sharp edge (with the telltale ridge) when finished. It appeared as he might have taped out the drawing initially, to separate areas, but finished it off by hand.

zipthwung said...

Hippy but not yippie. Hippies treck in Nepal and do nepalese hash and then come back with hard edged wax resist batik die job clothing and labor intensive (leisure class) macrobiotic diets of high tannin high fiber vegetables. Yippies steal this book and stuff.

I dont know really. But this painting seems ironic. Maybe because everything is ironic, even taped edges and repetitive palette knifed images.

If you deconstruct - is a bob ross any different technique wise? No.

Talk about content or ill summon Yug Sothoth. I mean it.

Anonymous said...

At least you responded G,
I didn't because I was waylaid.
I believe you. I did notice Tom Moody with a post that mentioned Marc, and he kind of gave him the thumbs up. I A couple of perhaps lesser known though more seasoned artists made the sign, Mark Dagley and Don Voisine at McKenzie Fine Art, which finished yesterday, or the day before.
http://www.digitalmediatree.com/tommoody/?39346

George said...

cp,

My comment on MH were based on a gut reaction I had to the paintings. I have some ambivalence about his subject matter, it’s Op/Pop with a ‘means’ twist. I think Op is probably a cul du sac for painting, the Pop aspect might have more legs. What I responded to in part was their abstractness and his way of getting to it. He does references themes others are currently using and I suspect with a little more experience he will find a path clearly his own. Overall, I came away feeling that there is a lot of potential in his paintings and he seems to have the ambition and skill to take it further than what we are seeing today.

joy said...
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Bunk Morelum said...

inverted

joy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.