Available online now, director Dennis Scholl’s comprehensive documentary on the abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, Lifeline: Clyfford Still, delves into the artist’s profound and prized works and his rather cryptic private life. Using the artist’s archival material; as well as his own video, audio and interviews with a handful of Still’s peers, critics, and family members, Scholl pieces together a story with plenty to ponder. Still …
Born in Harlem, in 1909, Norman Lewis led a life laden with art and activism. Unlike many of his peers, he chose to separate the two—even though they influenced one another. As an African-American artist (especially one active from 1930 until his death in 1979) it was expected that his art would document the plight and putrid treatment of black Americans—and that it make a direct …
As one circles up the rotunda at NYC’s Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, a selection from the life’s work of artist Agnes Martin offers inspirational insight. The introductory piece from 1957 declares Martin’s devotion to abstract expressionism. This yields to decades worth of graphite grid work—punctuated from time to time with watercolor. This grid use nods to a lack of hierarchy and a desire for approachability. …
