Richard Hambleton (Piezo Electric Gallery, 437 East Sixth Street): At first glance, the seascapes in Richard Hambleton’s new show seem to be a radical departure from the black, shadowy figures on the walls of New York City buildings for which the artist be best known. There is black in each of these paintings, but now it is largely confined to vertical stripes that divide the canvases like oversized Barnett Newman “zips.” The largest painting is an almost Oriental seascape in which we find ourselves in the trough of a huge white wave. “Treason,” the title of the painting, is one clue that all is not as romantic as it seems. The mushroom cloud in the left background is another. The paint itself seems to have a torrential, independent life. Richard Hambleton (Piezo Electric Gallery, 437 East Sixth Street): At first glance, the seascapes in Richard Hambleton’s new show seem to be a radical departure from the black, shadowy figures on the walls of New York City buildi gs for which the artist is best known. There is black in each of these paintings, but now it is largely confined to vertical stripes that divide the canvases like oversized Barnett Newman “zips.” The largest painti g is an almost Orient l seascape in w ich we find ourselves in the trough of a huge white wave. “Treas n”, the title of the painting, is one clue that all i not as romantic as it seems. The mushroom cloud in the left background is another. The paint itself seems to have a torrential, independent life. In short, the looming violence in Hambleton’s earlier work is still present, but now it has taken almost an apocalyptic form. There re paintings of Marlb ro men who look as if they have begun to dissolve. There are three paintings called “Rainstorm”, in which raging water seems to be rushing toward us from within the canvas. In each of these paintings, sea and sky rage a bit more, until they seem on the point of swallowing everything. In short, the looming violence in Hambleton’s earlier work is still present, but now it has taken almost an apocalyptic form. There are paintings of Marlboro men who look as if they have begun to dissolve. There are three paintings called “Rainstorm,” in which raging water seems to be rushing toward us from within the canvas. In each of these paintings, sea and sky rage a bit more, until they seem on the point of swallowing everything. In the end, the black stripes are less formal devices than magnets of death. Hambleton is another contemporary artist whose work seems intent on changing the way we look at the heroic abstract paintings of the 1950s and 60s. In his waterscapes, it is as if the color zones of Newman had suddenly opened up to show us not the harmony and infinity of nature but a world on the verge of chaos and destruction. (Through May 5.) In the end, he bl ck tripes re less formal devices than magnets of death. Hambleton i another c ntemporary artist whose work seems intent on changing the way we look at the heroic abstract paintings of the 1950s and 60s. In his waterscapes, it is as if the color zones of Newman had suddenly opened up to show us not the harmony and infinity of nature but world on the verge f c aos and destruction.
EAST VILLAGE GALLERIES; ART OF
PROTEST ATTEMPTS TO SHOCK AND MOBILIZE
By Michael Brenson Published: April 19, 1985 i l li : ril 85
for The New York Times
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