黑料不打烊

For the 2023 edition of Independent 20th Century, Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to present three paintings by Paul Feeley from the early 1960s, a time of intense formal and technical innovation for the artist.

The two works from 1960鈥擵espasian and Germanicus鈥攊n some ways epitomize the animating tension at the heart of his most compelling works; that between Dionysian chaos and Apollonian order. These paintings mark some of the initial moments that archetypal, jack-like forms began to precipitate out of the chaotic blotches that preceded them in the 1950s. In later paintings like Untitled (1961), the forms solidify further, taking on firm borders, becoming more settled and architectural.

Paul Feeley was a prolific painter, sculptor, and teacher. His art historical legacy is intertwined with that of Bennington College where he taught for 27 years (1939鈥�1966), founding its celebrated art department in the process. At the school, Feeley organized the first retrospective exhibitions of Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, and other artists who would later take on canonical significance. Feeley鈥檚 social and cultural proximity to the most significant artists and critics of his time was a great benefit to his students who, in turn, made their own impact. His students, likewise, had a reflexive influence on Feeley, and perhaps reinforced his already preternatural curiosity and openness. Notably, his technique of thinning oil-based enamel paint, particularly evident in Vespasian and Germanicus, was developed by his pupil Helen Frankenthaler.