May 11, 2022 – Reblog / Review : Joan Mitchell, “I carry my landscapes around with me” – #Polyptychs

I’ve been meaning, wanting actually, to do a reblog / review type blog post for awhile now; have had plenty to choose from, but kept being too embroiled in my own work to do much else, even when some ( most? ) of the posts I wanted to reblog reflected or revealed things to me about my own art!

And few do both, reflect and reveal, things about art – my own art and art in general – especially in regard to my relatively recent involvement producing multi-panel/canvas art work.

Though books and articles I’ve read of Helen Frankenthaler’s work speak more directly to the minute moment to moment interaction of the process and connection of interior state of being creative and actually creating, my reading of Joan Mitchell’s work – while often including much of that same connection, speaks more directly to me about the impact of the canvas before me in that process. Especially most specifically in regard to Joan’s work with multi-panel / multi-canvas works of art – ie, polyptychs!

There’s such a variety and range of possibilities of art with multi-canvases, I chose the above pic from the article for the feature image because it shows 3 at one time. Each, plus more, are shown more singularly in the images in the article.

I’m gonna let one quote be my sample, then hope you’ll want to explore the not-too-long-at-all post that speaks to Joan Mitchell’s place in art, and especially her contribution to art work with more than one canvas – polyptychs! 😊

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As Judith E. Bernstock has noted, these paintings, unlike the artist’s single canvases, ‘are composed of panels that function as separate entities and yet draw from each other; her sense of equilibrium extends within each panel as well as throughout the whole.’²

https://ocula.com/art-galleries/david-zwirner/exhibitions/joan-mitchell/

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“panels that function as separate entities and yet draw from each other” is something I came to realize as I worked on my polyptychs.

I wasn’t sure if that was good, not a big deal, didn’t matter, or what – but I’d noticed that happening about them with my work.

Reading about other artists being involved in those same thoughts and questions about art in a multi-panel format helps me feel a connection, and, that no matter how small or insignificant my own efforts may seem to me at times, those thoughts, those creative questions, are part of a well worn path of creative exploration. And that can be very fortifying, having a virtual connection not usually possible for artists in years past who didn’t live in art intensive enclaves or centers.

Now the centers can also be – literally – at our fingertips 💕

Stay well everyone! Stay curious! ☺️

Adan

My art reblog posts – https://felipeadanlerma.com/?s=Art+reblog

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Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

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