Latest Ocula Conversation Artist Taloi Havini and Ruth McDougall, curator of Pacific art at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, discuss Havini's first Australian solo exhibition, Reclamation .
Ocula Report Armory Week Lowdown: Art Shows to See By Casey Carsel, New York After structural issues forced The Armory Show into last-minute relocation pirouettes last year, the fair returns between 5 and 8 March 2020 with a flourishing programme, complemented by stand-out shows across New York City.
Ocula Insight Ella Kruglyanskaya Steals from Art History, Takes Back Gaze By Tessa Moldan, London For her second solo exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery in London, Ella Kruglyanskaya's compositions signal the many possibilities of paint.
'Black is usually considered the absence of colour: it is severe and rigorous but this is only two facets of its many qualities. One of the reasons I am attracted to black is indeed its dichotomies. It is sophisticated and primitive, emotional and intellectual, it is a colour that everyone responds strongly to, in one way or another.' – Joan Witek.
Read MoreJoan Witek’s work has always been involved with the colour black: whether in oil paint, water colour or pencil, Witek’s works concentrate on specific materiality and formalist content, which she twists by adding a linguistic domain using titles from various sources.
The unity of Witek’s body of work is defined not through a signature style but through ways of picture making that permit the works to look very different, and yet all are immediately recognisable.
Although black can be associated with negative ideas and expressions, it occupies a wide range. Witek’s large paintings, as well as her small drawings imply a sense of emotional intimacy. The colour is strong and delicate, rational and emotional. Her paintings are defined by radical condensation and Witek’s potentially infinite suggestiveness is accomplished using deliberately limited means. For example, the expression of a black watercolour on delicate, wrinkled rice paper or a black painting made of repeated brush strokes; all create a meaning and intensity for the viewer.
Text courtesy Bartha Contemporary.
