The nature of color is that it is a reflection of light within the molecules of an object which is then interpreted by the brain to make pretty pictures in the eye. Any exercise in the application of color is important in that it is an attempt to feed the eye certain perceptions. When looking at the work of Grant Newman, one has the impression that exactly this type of visual endeavor is in play.
Why the judges of the 2010 No Dead Artists decided to offer Grant Newman so much wall space at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery is no less mysterious than why Newman decided to create his colored panels in the first place. They are nearly true abstractions. Rectangular panels of color are confined in the forms of plexiglass in aluminum frames. They are an observation of substance in the absence of form. Unfortunately, they are also rather boring.
Newman appears to have been reading too much outdated Clement Greenberg. The old Ab-Ex critic used used to decry sculptural illusionism and favor flatness as a true painter's tool. Well, Newman's paintings are just that- flat.
Supposedly, Newman's sources are as various as advertisements and product packaging, stripped of their text and imagery and re-presented as autonomous surfaces meant to inhabit their own space. This is just an old idea recycled onto a new model. It has been argued that if one were to create an abstract something it had to be deconstructed from a real something, but most of the time abstraction is viewed as an extension of the artist's process. There were a multitude of other ways Newman could have approached this concept and come up with a better result. He could have done more research into how advertising and design companies use certain colors to elicit responses- like yellow and red for hunger, or the inviting qualities of blue- and how subliminal influence is used in commercials to get people to buy a product. The persistence of Design is a much more interesting topic to explore in Art rather than just a color saturated economy.
What Newman has come up with in the end are really well constructed color swatches. There is something a little endearing in the way he has chosen to create a pure painting exercise, but there is so little there that it is hard to get excited. The implied purpose seems to be that once the advertisements and logos are stripped away there is no reason to look, and this feels too much like an accidental result. It does not hurt to be an artist whose work is based on the idea of nothingness, but it is better to do so on purpose.
To view Grant Newman's work and bio, go to: www.jonathanferraragallery.com
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