Sunday, November 17, 2013

Danny Licul & Dean Radinovsky, "Liquid Time," presented by Q at Fridge Miami



Flow. It’s a component of many concepts. Time comes to mind, and water (or any liquid).

Flow is a very visual way to describe and exchange of energy or ideas from one point to another. And back, and over again.

When artists takes in the world, almost like a breath, it flows out again embodied in their medium, and that creative gesture becomes part of the world for the next breath. Growth is organic and inevitable.

The more of the new, the other, we breathe, the more we grow. Our culture values the individual and original in art, and that is certainly valid, but so also is the notion that art must truthfully reflect the world as seen by the artist. There is no value in copying or following, but the resonance between creators is the web upon which the entire history of art is woven.



Dean Radinovsky (top) and Danny Licul in their Brooklyn Army Terminal studios.

To visit the Brooklyn “studios” of painters Danny Licul and Dean Radinovsky is to see this alchemy incarnate. While technically discreet spaces in opposite sides of a corridor, they feel more like a ritual journey through alternate time and space. Art and related objects belonging to both span the full height of the walls, the artists pace through and between, sometimes interacting, sometimes immersed in adding strokes to a canvas, sometimes contemplating what is to follow. Working in close proximity is an arrangement that has suited them for going on a decade. Kindred spirits in their dedication the way in which their paintings relate to time and experience, each creates a distinct and unique body of work.

“Many works going consecutively allow for a succession of incremental changes.  Large or small, the works may continue for years,” says Radinovsky. “  The works in progress are seen over time by my own shifting selves as I am shaped and influenced by others’ work, including literature, music, and film; and the changing light and seasons and the inflection of experience.  I spend a lot of time on the ocean, often at twilight, and this is something that very slowly finds its way into the works.”

Dean Radinvosky, "Angel" Oil and Acrylic on canvas, 9’ 2" x 7’ 8" 2009 


“Since 2009, I’ve explored power plays in a parochial school setting. The cast includes nuns, a diverse student body, sock puppets and a boy who channels Rambo,” states Licul, who begins by creating and photographing a scene within  “a scale model based on the grammar school I attended, populated with clay figures and furniture… Messages from social interaction, religion and popular media are absorbed at home and school and the child’s developing mind struggles to make sense of it. Columbine, pedophilia, and fundamentalism are some of topics that I routinely consider while developing the paintings.”


Danny Licul, "Face Off," 73.5" x 55," Oil on canvas 2010

New York Native Danny Licul received a BFA from Queens College and the Yale Summer School of Art Fellowship. Residencies include chashama, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Herziliya Center for the Creative Arts in Israel. His large-scale solo exhibition Moral Investments and Other Follies, was on view at the Wall Street Journal building in 2011, and his work has been seen in numerous groups shows, recently:  The Triumph of Human Painting” at Bull and Ram Gallery, Brooklyn, curated by Katherine Bradford; Lesley Heller Workspace on the Lower East Side; “Empire State of Mind” at the Chelsea Hotel; and “Mystery Tour” at the Tompkins Square Library.


Danny Licul "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 72” x 60”,
2007-2010

In addition to his accomplishments as a painter, Dean Radinovsky created digital images to accompany the world premiere of classical composer José Beviá’s Three Enigmas at Merkin Concert Hall performed by Ferdiko Piano Duo. His large scale installation “Chapel Americana” was the subject of a feature on WNYC, and paintings from the piece were exhibited in a solo exhibition at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan in 2012. He is a past and current recipient of a chashama subsidized studio grant and was named the organization’s artist of the year in 2008. Born in Lancaster, PA, Dean received a Masters Degree in Painting from Queens College and lives in Queens.


Dean Radinovsky, "Chapel Americana" (West Wall), February 26, 2008

While both artists are known for their work on a very large scale, “Liquid Time” opens a crack in a window on the inner life and practice of two uncommonly gifted and dedicated painters through smaller pieces to fit the scale of the fair while showing the range of each artist and the resonance between their works. Presenting a selection of individual works and 2 installations drawn from a series of small works by each artist, it is the inaugural art fair presentation by Q LIC/NYC, a project of BeauArts Ltd.

“Liquid Time”
Paintings by Danny Licul and Dean Radinovsky
curated by Linda DiGusta
on view at Fridge Art Fair in Miami December 5-8, 2013

http://fridgeartfair.com/

Click on any image to view all as a slideshow


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Being there...


Reading a wonderful memoir, “A Complicated Marriage” by Janice Van Horne (she was married to Clement Greenberg) I came across so many people I have met and places I have been.  It is a reward for getting one’s hands dirty in the REAL life of the art world.

Going inside the New York community of artists is watching history in the making.  As this era becomes the subject of books and films, people you meet, places you go and things you do will become characters, locations, episodes. Experiencing this while reading brings a unique sense of belonging – I saw that show, had dinner with her, visited his studio… Having a piece of that history in your collection has concrete value as well as being a conduit for the story in the future. Watch the films about Pollock and Basquiat, how would it feel to recognize a piece of those lives because you touched them?
Best of all, whoever you are, whatever you do, you only have to reach out for artists to pull you in, all of us want our work to be seen, appreciated, discussed. Just say “Yes.”