An Exchange of Ideas with Jay Grimm

  resolve40: In thinking about art, particularly painting, I often think about how styles and movements are related, rather than that which makes them different. As a gestural painter, it intrigues me that an artist like Turner is considered the father of abstract expressionism. This was brought to mind on a recent visit to James Graham & Sons Galleries when I encountered the works of historical painter David Fertig on display adjacent to those of New York School artist Norman Bluhm. The small gestures in Fertig's landscapes , so like the touch of Turner, also resembled Bluhm's much larger stokes.

I asked Jay Grimm, director of JG Contemporary, if this relationship had influenced his curatorial choice in selecting and displaying the works. This was his response:

Jay Grimm: Really, there was no forethought in juxtaposing Fertig and Bluhm.  The salon-style hanging of David is something we often do in our back room, as it is a nice way to see his paintings, which are always small in scale.  And the Bluhms we had around as part of a follow up to the solo booth we did of his work at the armory ADAA show in February.
 
I really love paint, the surface is very important to me.  A lot of the work I show is surface oriented and landscape driven.

But, now that you mention it, there is a connection. When Fertig was a young man (he's now 60), he saw an Arts feature,"Bluhm Paints a Picture".The ".....Paints a Picture" was a regular feature of Arts magazine for many years.
 
Anyway, there was Norman in a painter's hat and white pants, absolutely brush-full onto a massive canvas.  According to David, he showed the article to his Dad, who heartily disapproved of his son's choice of profession.

David has a real love and awareness of New York School painting.  His paint application and compositions owe a real debt to that impulse.  Of course, his subject matter of the Napoleanic Wars has nothing to do with the NY School.  But often, I see his works as Rothkos with little boats in them, or de Koonings where you can see a charging horseman.



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