I’m Myself: Early Works by Bob Thompson and Mates at Steven Harvey Superb Artwork Initiatives gathers works by a gaggle of artists who Thompson first met in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in the summertime of 1958. Thompson had arrived from Louisville, Kentucky, hoping to satisfy the artist Jan Müller, however Müller died earlier than that was realized. The group included Emilio Cruz, Pink Grooms, Mimi Gross, Invoice Barrell, Jay Milder, and older artists Gandy Brodie and Lester Johnson.
The 12 months that these artists met is critical: Jasper Johns had his first solo exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery originally of 1958. Johns’s present offered the period’s first actual various to Summary Expressionism, giving rise to Pop artwork and Minimalism, which dominated a lot of the artwork world’s consideration for practically twenty years.
The present exhibition contains 21 items in several mediums by 9 artists, in addition to 9 by Thompson. Though largely sidelined in artwork historical past, the work of those artists constitutes a serious second in American postwar portray for a lot of causes, notably its variety — whereas many artwork teams receiving consideration on the time had been all White, this one included two Black artists, Thompson and Cruz, who was Cuban American.
Pink Grooms, “Eric Satie” oil on wooden and on cardboard assemblage 38 1/8 x 26 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches (∼96.84 x 66.68 x 11.43 cm)
Thompson touched many individuals in his quick lifetime (he died at 28), which is one thing that this present touches upon. We see his affect within the saturated shade of Invoice Barrell’s portray “Summer Pleasures” (1967). His curiosity in figurative artwork overlapped with that of others in his group, all of whom had been searching for options to Summary Expressionism. Their shared curiosity in drawing, portray, and figuration, together with earlier intervals of artwork, from the Italian Renaissance to German Expressionism, units them aside from the prevailing developments in New York.
Though many Provincetown artists would later settle in New York, they’d already began down their particular person paths and would by no means assimilate into the dominant actions that sprang up in New York across the similar time. I feel this separate evolutionary path is central to understanding postwar American artwork.
A fearless, prolific, and protean artist from the beginning of his profession, Thompson’s function in that is central, if not all the time apparent. He was capable of take up influences from each modern and historic artists with out turning into by-product.“Sun Face,” “The Family,” and “Portrait of Red Grooms,” all made in Provincetown in 1958, and 1959’s “Wilting Flower (The Rose)” reveal an artist advancing quickly whereas remaining rooted in conventional supplies and strategies.
Invoice Barrell, “Summer Pleasures” (1967), oil on canvas, 20 x 28 inches (50.8 x 71.12 cm)
Thompson’s want for creative autonomy distinguishes him from lots of his contemporaries. For all the eye he has acquired since his demise, there’s a lot we are able to nonetheless study from his defiance. Born into segregation, he didn’t need to assimilate into his surrounding world or be a spokesperson for Black tradition via his artwork. The figures in varied colours that occupy his bigger works (none of that are on this exhibition) counsel a want for coexistence somewhat than integration.
By gathering these artists collectively, the exhibition proposes that Thompson was a catalyst for the loosely allied group of largely White artists who had migrated to Provincetown to search out their very own measure of non-public and creative freedom. {That a} younger Black artist was on the heart of this group is one thing to be explored additional, in addition to broadly celebrated, by a deeper and extra in depth present. Nevertheless, this present is a constructive seedling.
Bob Thompson, “Portrait of Red Grooms” (c. 1958), oil on wooden, 15 x 14 5/8 inches (38.1 x ∼37.15 cm)
Mimi Gross, “Good & Bad Government (recto/verso)” (1962), oil on wooden, recto, verse, 21 x 62 inches (53.34 x 157.48 cm)
Bob Thompson, “Sun Face” (1958), oil on masonite, 8 x 12 1/2 inches (20.32 x 31.75 cm)
Jan Müller, “The Great Hanging Piece” (1957), oil on eight wooden panels, 80 5/8 x 24 inches (∼204.8 x 60.96 cm)
I’m Myself: Early Works by Bob Thompson and Mates continues at Steven Harvey Superb Artwork Initiatives (208 Forsyth Avenue, Decrease East Aspect, Manhattan) via December 7. The exhibition was organized by the gallery.
