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New York-based artist Amy Sillman’s work combines elements of both abstraction and figuration. She primarily works in painting, though her creative endeavors cover videography, zine-making, writing, and sculpture. Her artwork draws upon historical art tropes, especially post-war American gestural painting and the early modern abstract movement. In her writing and zine work, she uses feminist critiques and plays with qualities such as humor, awkwardness, self-deprecation, and doubt. Sillman's primary focus, being both a writer and artist, is language. In her early art education, a professor of hers told her she was making a language with her art, a critique that has stuck with her to this day. The inspiration from language and its creation is clear when examining her body of work.
Currently on view in the Entry Gallery is a piece by Sillman titled Blue Contraption. Though the title has industrial implications, the painting shows its humanity through its intentionally placed brushstrokes and contrasting lines. Here, Sillman makes use of complementary colors orange and blue, with hints of red, green, brown, and teal throughout as well as noticeable patterns in some spots. This is from her technique of improvisational layering, in which her paintings develop from drawings as she reimagines them during their transformation into paintings. In all of her artistic processes, it seems like Amy Sillman holds play and discovery in high regard. All of the details of Blue Contraption are hard to capture well on camera, so make sure to really take it in when you next visit the Schneider.
Just as a reminder, our current exhibition "Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art" will only be on view for a couple more weeks. This exhibition closes on August 8th, so make sure to visit before then to see some historical abstract artwork!
If you're interested in Amy Sillman and her work, visit her website to view her previous exhibitions, zine and writing work, and watch videos she created. And check out this interview with Jason Stopa (an abstract artist and writer who exhibited at the Schneider last year) and Amy Sillman at the link below! One of Stopa's works from our permanent collection is currently on view in the Main Gallery, on the opposite side of the wall from Sillman's Blue Contraption!
https://momus.ca/2024/05/03/changing-the-ground-amy-sillman-talks-about-painting/
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