Amy Sillman at the Boston ICA

Boston Institute for Contemporary Art, 10-6-2013

The lead for stories about the new Amy Sillman show at the Boston ICA is that she's part of a renaissance in painting, which is very good news, though for me and my friends it's never gone away. At any rate, the show is superb . . . and huge. It features dozens of works from the middle-aged, Brooklyn-based Sillman, and none of them are weak. They range from small ink and water color portraits of friends to witty, cartoonish pieces to massive paintings that effortlessly incorporate every major strand in abstraction along with Guston-like figuration. I'm not sure if I know what's new about what she does, but her masterful integration of all that has come before is really something. The show is just plain fun to view, and there's too much to take in, so a return is called for.

The New York Times has a nice review and slideshow.

BTW, that's me in the picture, which isn't out of focus. That's what I look like.