Samantha Bittman Michelle Bolinger Anna Kunz

February 19 – April 11, 2015

Ralph Arnold Gallery

FORMAL | LOOSE | PAINTINGCURATED BY JENNIFER MURRAY

Samantha Bittman | Untitled, 2014 | 20 x 20 inches acrylic on handwoven textile

(on front) Anna Kunz | Peel, 2015 | 10 x 16 x 4 feetlatex on wall and fabric, latex and enamel on canvas

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The term abstraction is one of the most

loaded terms in art. It is charged with a

history that has rewritten itself more times

over than arguably any other term and

represents numerous theories. The two

most likely understandings of the word are

the abstraction of figure or an object that

exists in the world and pure or expressive

abstraction, which is born out of process and

seeks a response from both the maker and the

viewer that is emotive and/or transcendent.

At the time of this exhibition, Formal | Loose |

Painting, a surge in conversation surrounding

contemporary painting practices and

abstraction is well underway. Conferences

have been held in the past two years in

Norway and San Francisco on the subject,

numerous think pieces have been written for

art publications, and in 2014 a monumental

(if not problematic) exhibition on painting

practices of this current millennium was

mounted at the behemoth MoMA entitled,

The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in

an Atemporal World. Much to the chagrin of

Arthur Danto and other art critics, painting

(and certainly abstract painting) is not dead.

It is alive and well in all corners of the world

and most especially in Chicago. Chris Martin’s

essay in the Brooklyn Rail from 2003 succinctly

sums up where the line between history and

the contemporaneous resides:

Abstract painting contains powerful

limitations and extraordinary freedom.

Great abstract paintings can be the result of

a tremendous condensation of information.

An abstract painting can be a tight

tough form with which to transmit huge

content…The painting enters vision fast

but continues to flow into consciousness

as it releases it’s meaning slowly over time.

We live with the image and it lives with us.

This is what the soul needs—long periods

of slow focused contemplation.1

Formal | Loose | Painting at Ralph Arnold

Gallery on Loyola University Chicago’s

campus presents the work of three prominent

A CONTEMPORARY CONVERSATION REGARDING PAINTING AND THUS, ABSTRACTIONBy Amanda Roscoe Mayo

1 Chris Martin. Everything is Finished Nothing is Dead: An Article About Abstract Painting. Brooklyn Rail, April 1, 2003.

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two-dimensional and cohesive rather than

layered. The eye sees shape, ground, and

color as one image. The content of the

image often relays data and transmission

breaking down pattern from an existing

set of principals informed by weaving

technology. Paint becomes the response

to the parameters of the loom. For Formal

| Loose | Painting Bittman exhibits works

on the wall as well as Untitled (2013), a floor

piece most obviously referencing pixilation

and the aforementioned patterns resulting in

seemingly endless sets of visual information.

artists working in Chicago across several

generations, with one major binding effort:

paint. Samantha Bittman, Michelle Bolinger,

and Anna Kunz have crafted distinct practices

in their approach to using paint. It is telling

that this exhibition is on view at a place of

academic study as formalism is often at the

core when painting is discussed. While it

can be emotive and elicit those responses,

painting is a scholarly and intellectual effort.

Pedagogy has long taught the monumental

importance of form, color, light, and

composition to young artists. Artists who

then turn formalism on its head only to have

it sneak back into the work. The grouping of

these artists represents a focused look into

contemporary painting practice now as it

stands in Chicago.

The beauty of the conversation surrounding

contemporary practices in painting is that it

is no longer confined to the limits of painting.

Samantha Bittman’s work, for example, relies

on an entirely different ground, one that

consists of hand-woven textiles. The paint

becomes an addition to portraying an image

of sorts so that presently the work remains

Samantha Bittman | Untitled, 2013 | 17 x 11 inches acrylic on handwoven textile

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(above) Samantha Bittman | Untitled, 2013 | 6 x 6 feet MDF tiles and spray paint

(right) Samantha Bittman | Untitled, 2014 | 20 x 16 inches acrylic on handwoven textile

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(above)Michelle BolingerMoon Moves, 2013 | 12 x 12 inchesoil on board

(left)Michelle BolingerHarness, 2012 | 12 x 12 inchesoil on board

(right) Michelle Bolinger

Night Hut, 2014 | 12 x 12 inchesoil on board

(above)Michelle BolingerMoon Movesoil on board

(left)Michelle BolingerHarnessoil on board

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paintings, which profess their identity most

directly as such. The paintings presented in

this exhibition hold a charged entity of move-

ment at their center. Color and surface

meld seamlessly akin to the technique and

mastery of a Paul Klee. For Bolinger the

content of these works comes entirely out

of process, the pictorial relationships hinge

on color, form, non-objectivity, and layering.

Moon Moves (2013) and Night Hut (2014)

are two of the six one foot square candy

colored paintings included that mesmerize

the mind and speak to Bolinger’s practice

both past and present. Moon Moves houses

Both these tiles and the act of weaving situate

Bittman’s work in another history as rich and

extensive as painting: craft. The sculpture

itself most directly references the great fl oor

works of Carl Andre, but rather than use

industrious material, Bittman’s choice to hand

make and paint each tile referencing both

craft and contemporary painting elevates

this work into the 21st century and the larger

conversation of how this conversation has

departed from it’s own history.

The most literal translation of this exhibition

lies in Michelle Bolinger’s work. The works are

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the closest thing to a horizon line seen in

the show, which is noteworthy as this at

one point was of the utmost importance

in debating whether abstraction was of

existing form or an entity birthed from the

artist’s consciousness. The title and the

visual language of this work represents the

first option best while Night Hut et al carries

an entirely new set of directives. The ground

of the painting is layered so precisely and

thoroughly patterns beyond patterns and

textures emerge through the paint only to

be flattened entirely by an almost contained

cotton candy colored vessel.

Anna Kunz’s large-scale installation in this

exhibition speaks to the final corner of

abstraction and the experience at large.

Geometric fields based on the aspects of a

rectangle, bisect the space both inviting and

engulfing the viewer. Kunz’s practice makes

reference to the stage, the body, and the

visceral proficiency color has on the mind.

Peel (2015, cover image) is a new installation

for Formal | Loose | Painting, but employs

Kunz’s signature practice of painting directly

on scrim, the shadow of paint left behind on

the wall once the scrim is removed, mixed

Opposite

(top) Anna Kunz Pryamus and Thisbe, 2011 | 10 x 14 x 12 feet latex and acrylic on wall and fabric, natural light

(bottom) Anna Kunz 2nd Avenue, 2012 | 12 x 14 x 12 feet latex on wall, floor and fabric, natural light, photo: Etienne Frossard

Anna Kunz Outside In, 2013 | 11 x 4 x 14 feet latex and acrylic on fabric and wood, Plexiglas photo: Tom Van Eynde

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It is timelier than ever to heed Kaprow’s

words and stop expecting something more

from painting than what it is willing to give.

Not knowing what will happen when in

its presence is the most exciting thing to

anticipate. It is time now to consider how

these Chicago artists are building on their

own explorative practices towards a new

understanding of painting.

with physical paintings and the re-structuring

of space. The body becomes integral to this

work as its movement in, out, and around the

space causes the work to shift, move, play,

and become complete. The artist’s process

of making these works can be likened to a

happening as she responds to the constant

state of flux while making the work, which

also uniquely applies to the way in which

the viewer interacts with the piece. In his

seminal text describing the Happenings in

the New York Scene (1961) Allan Kaprow offers

this definition, “Happenings are events

that, put simply, happen.” Kunz’s practice

does not organize an event in the way we

normally think about Kaprow’s “happenings”2

but it offers the stage in which one is able

to intimately orchestrate a happening of

their own if they so choose, “much like a

contemporary painting, where we do not

know exactly what is going to happen next.” 3

Amanda Roscoe Mayo is an independent curator and arts and music

journalist based in Chicago, exhibiting nationally and published

internationally. She received her master’s degree in curatorial practice from

California College of the Arts in San Francisco. The exhibitions she produces

are critically curated to engage a multi-generational dialogue with a focus

on emerging artists. In addition to her numerous curatorial projects, she is

a regular contributing music, arts, and film writer for Mosshouse and San

Francisco Arts Quarterly (SFAQ). While in San Francisco she wrote for KQED

Arts as a music and film journalist.

2 Allan Kaproq. Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993, p. 15

3 ibid. p. 18

Michelle BolingerTwo Sided, 2012 | 12 x 12 inchesoil on board

RALPH ARNOLD GALLERY

Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex

1131 W. Sheridan Road

Chicago, IL 60660

Established by Loyola University Chicago in 2010, the

Ralph Arnold Gallery is located on Loyola’s beautiful

Lake Shore Campus. An educational exhibition

space, the Ralph Arnold Gallery is a venue for cultural

enrichment which sustains an active roster of

professional and community-oriented exhibitions,

providing opportunities for artists, curators, students,

and the public to engage in and be inspired by varied

art and design practices. The vital role visual arts

play in society, and in Loyola’s liberal arts curriculum

are central to the design and focus of our dynamic

exhibitions, lectures, and events.

Our exhibition program demonstrates the diverse

talents of visual artists, Loyola faculty, and students

from local, regional, national, and international fields.

In addition, selected lectures by artists or curators are

offered at the gallery, and all events are free and open

to the public.

For more information about upcoming exhibitions

and about other arts programming by the Department

of Fine and Performing Arts, visit our blog

blogs.LUC.edu/ArtsAlive