Provisional Painting

“Provisional” painting

pro·vi·sion·al/prəˈviZHənl/ Adjective: Arranged or existing for the present, possibly to be changed later.

•“Provisional paintings can show signs of struggle and can also look "too easy." In the case of easy-looking provisionality, we encounter a paradox: the struggle with the problematics of painting results in a painting that shows no signs of struggle in the sense that the finished piece displays a minimum amount of work (Michael Krebber, for instance). But in other cases we can see the record of the artist's struggles, though not necessarily accompanied by Giacometti-style anguish (Raoul De Keyser). But whether it looks easy or arduous, the provisional work is always opposed to the monumental, the official, the permanent. It closes the door on the era of the high-production-value art market (Hirst-Koons-Murakami-Currin). It wants to hover at the edge of nonexistence. It wants to rest lightly on the earth.”

– “Provisional Painting 2: To Rest Lightly On The Earth”, Article by Raphael Rubinstein – Art in America

Alberto Giacometti oil on canvas36¼ x 28¾ in. (92 x 73 cm.)Painted circa 1958

Joan Miro

Sigmar Polke Streifenbild IV 1968

• Rubinstein writes of his increasing awareness of provisionality in the practice of painting that “deliberately turn[s] away from ‘strong’ painting for something that seems to constantly risk inconsequence or collapse.”

David Hammons, Untitled, 2010

David Hammons, 2011 installation at L&M Arts, New York, NY.

Sergej Jensen

Sergej Jensen

Sergej Jensen

Provisional Painting at Modern Art, London – 2012

Richard Tuttle (right)

Albert Oehlen

Christopher Wool, “Untitled”, 2007

"Untitled" Brendan Smith

“Provisional Painting”, “New Casualists”, or “Un-heroic Painting”

Raoul de Keyser, “Untitled”, 2002

Provisional painting is “the finished product disguised as preliminary stage” or “major

painting masquerading as minor painting.”

 Martin Bromirski, “Untitled” (2011). Acrylic, sand, paper on canvas. 20 × 16˝.

 Patrick Brennan, “Flow and Fade” (2011). Mixed media on canvas. 72 × 48˝.

Lauren Luloff

Bruce Price

Amy Feldman, “Ever After”, 2010

80" x 90"

acrylic on canvas

Scrapple Still Life, 201048" x 60"

acrylic on canvas

“By reassessing basic elements like color, composition, and balance, based on 1920s-vintage Bauhaus principles taught in every 2-D foundations course, the new painters are exploring uncharted territory. They are looking for unexpected outcomes rather than handsome results.”

- Sharon Butler, Two Coats of Paint

Joe Bradley : Schmagoo Paintings, Installation view, 2008

“With the eclipse of Abstract Expressionism circa 1960, new modes of artmaking were discovered in which the kinds of doubts that troubled artists from Cézanne to Giacometti became largely irrelevant. They were replaced by a solid work ethic, by an emphasis on production, by attention to surfaces (in both a material and a psychological sense), by coolness, by social rather than individual identity; in short, Giacometti's gloomy, doubt-filled studio was replaced by Warhol's Factory. “– Raphael Rubinstein

Tatiana Berg

Isle Murdock, Ours, 2011. Oil on canvas, 14 x 18 in

"Considering the Provisional"May 4th - May 27th, 2012FJORD: 2419 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA

"Corner Painting" Hannah Hall