Marc Renue resolve40 © 2006
Seeing Things
Larry Poons @ Danese
What is abstraction? We tend to define it by it’s opposite, as “non-objective,” “non-representational,’ meaning that we do not see a recognizable object, person or scene when viewing an abstract painting. In the eyes of the observer, objects may appear, which begs the question - is act of abstraction, like murder, a matter of intention, or is it the result that counts.
We won’t pretend to know the answer, but a good place to start asking the question is at Larry Poons’ solo exhibition, “Recent Paintings,” at Danese through March 17th. Large and exploding with color and touch and energy, these works demand to be looked at, and once you look, you will begin to see forms and faces in paintings that at the same time, virtually shout “ABSTRACT” the second you enter the gallery. This renouned artist defies categorization, giving some of the works names like: Sixteen year-old Sisters; Monkey God's Vista; And Nude and Angel; Baby Bull; Three Acrobats - challenging those of us who must read the names of works of art to try and find the title subject, and more, in the painting
Speaking of shouting, in 2005 Larry Poons himself came in loud and clear at a lunchtime talk with Molly Barnes. Below is some of what he said:
“That complexity sets me free. It’s not a good idea or a bad idea, what I just said. It’s not a rule … When it’s complex enough you’re not to worried about the next move, because you’re too screwed up…the idea of what’s complex and what isn’t is not as obvious as the words appear to me.
“Mondrian, one of the greatest painter that’s ever lived, always painted wonderful pictures… from the time he started painting until the time he died. But what happens when all of a sudden he started painting these squares, whatever you want to call it …I mean his color was always great, but a little like other colors, like bold and stuff, but wonderful, wonderful paintings. And the something happened when for some reason he started to paint these squares - as way to talk about them, not to describe them…his color changed, became more complex… I think what we know of Mondrian now is so fruitful, because as a painter he found… he didn’t, he discovered. Painters don’t find anything, it’s like the guy who discovered the X ray , he just opened the goddamned drawer and there’s an accident, but he recognizes, you see, he pursues it, takes it wherever it might go. So-called discoveries or breakthroughs in painting are the same kind of process, meaning, I didn’t mean to do that, bit it looks wonderful.”
Molly made the point, “There are artists who changed their style, but have then gone back. You’ve never gone back to the original work you were doing.” He responded “You can’t confuse style with the way things look…You don’t confuse style with a look…There’s that kind of style. But then there’s a style that’s a style of touch, and that is like unique to great artists, from the very beginning until the very end…”
“You’ve got to understand what I think it means to be gifted as an artist like Rembrandt, Beethoven… Tolstoy, Glenn Gould, the ones that everyone wants to be, but maybe 2 people out of every 50 years turn up on that wavelength.
…Somebody like Glenn Gould, Beethoven, Brahms, take your choice , why are they so much better…why are they so good? Everybody asks that. I say it’s not Beethoven’s fault he was that good, he was not responsible for it…the idea of our minds being computers, as we all know they are, that every sensation that you’ve ever experienced is somewhere in your brain, it never leaves…so think of total recall, say in the case of Glenn Gould, involuntary - this is very important - involuntary total recall, that every sound every whisper every rhythm that ever entered his system is somehow involuntarily immediately recalled when he plays piano. And that’s what accounts for that difference between being great and being a genius. And there is a difference.
Molly asked, “What are you trying to reach in other people?
There’s nothing to reach in other people. That’s propaganda, that’s PR…Art’s become a lot of things these days. Wallace Stevens talks about the visible replacing what is invisible… There is a lot of art that is very well known today which is invisible art, meaning, if you don’t get the story line, if you don’t get the theory, if you don’t get all the reasons why…words and ideas and theories are invisible…painting is nothing but visible.”
Larry Poons currently has one man a show in NYC at Danese:
Recent Paintings
Feb 16 - Mar 17, 2007
Danese
535 West 24th Street
6th Floor
New York, NY, 10011
website
T: 212/223-2227
F: 212/605-1016
Hours: T-S 10-6
Summer: M-TH 10-6 (F 10-4)
resolve40©2006-7
