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Phong H. Bui: symphonies and meditations
Alternate title
Symphonies and meditations
By
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Publisher
Publication
New York, NY: Craig Starr Gallery, 2022
Year
Is about
Person
Subject
Type
Language
Classification
ISBN
- 9780999585030
- 0999585037
Annotations / title notes
Notes
- Catalog of an exhibition held at Craig Starr Gallery, New York from November 3, 2022-January 28, 2023.
- "Craig F. Starr Gallery is pleased to present Phong Bui: Symphonies and Meditations, on view from November 3, 2022, through January 28, 2023. This exhibition brings together a selection of Phong Bui's (b. 1964) recent meditation works and his iconic portraits of artists, writers, poets, and other art world dignitaries. The first focused presentation of Bui's original body of work, the current display showcases his meditation paintings and portrait drawings within grids arranged by the artist, together with his meditation drawings installed in single columns or rows and as standalone individual pieces. These symphonic arrangements highlight the artist's seminal practice of introspective abstraction and detailed representation as well as his commitment to the fundamental values of community, democracy, and independence. In the New York Times, Roberta Smith counted Bui among, “[In] Jane Jacobs's words, 'people with ideas of their own' who help keep a city alive and moving forward on countless fronts in art and in life.” In 2000, Bui cofounded The Brooklyn Rail, one of the most important independent forums for arts, culture, and politics in New York. Eight years later he began to design his intimate and careful portraits to enliven the magazine's interview section. Intuitive at first, Bui's elegant line and modeling developed into a defined graphic style, always foregrounding the vibrant presence and his heartfelt sympathy towards his sitters. Bui's portraits are a monument to the diverse and rich community of ideas and friendships he has cultivated over the years. From his earliest pictures of Robert Ryman, Brian Doherty, and Barbara Novak, he has produced at present more than 800 drawings depicting Rail interviewees, guest critics and even historical subjects such as Ad Reinhardt and Barack Obama. In the artist's own words, “What I have always tried to do is think in ways that allow me to become an interesting person, like how I am always attracted to [in the poet Delmore Schwartz's wordplay] inner-resting people. Whatever else follows is a matter of luck.” In counterpoint to his portraits, Bui's meditation paintings and drawings set aside the accurate imitation of life in favor of the expression of self-contained worlds of inner forces and emotions. Each painting features several layers of color lines over a black background, often structured in three regular vertical columns. In his meditation drawings, crosshatched lines are interwoven in a diagonal grid interrupted by subtle accentuations and shifts of the pencil. Abstract explorations of spiritual states, these works are created through a methodical ritual, scheduled in advance and often lasting hours at a time. The balance of rigor and spontaneity in these images illustrates the artist's interest in the rational and the irrational, the impersonal and the intimate, as complemental halves of the modern subject. The current exhibition presents Bui's meditations and portraits within networks not unlike those of our new digital environments. For Bui, however, the grid structure responds not only to current social conditions, but also to a deep commitment to essential ideas and values. He refers to these arrangements as symphonies, aiming to capture how “each [part] exercises his or her inner freedom through the uniqueness of their instruments. This relates to our concept of liberty. But even though there are differences among the sounds, each is treated as equally important. Hence our concept of equality is also being celebrated.” A fully-illustrated catalogue will be published and will include a new essay by Charles H. Duncan, an art historian and Executive Director of the Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation, as well as an editor-at-large at The Brooklyn Rail." -- Craig Starr Gallery website.
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