My visit to the Albright Knox this afternoon was exciting. I had done a quick walk through the gallery with another class but hadn’t gotten to look very closely at the new work that had been hung up. Robert Colescott’s acrylic painting titled Feeling His Oats, painted in 1988, left an impression on me because of its large scale. This work was about 8x12 feet. The artist used bright colorful and hurried brush strokes. There was a lot going on and my eyes enjoyed finding small things such as the pair of rats on the right side of the painting. 

Jennifer Bartlett’s In the Garden II #6 had a similar impact on me regarding the brushstrokes. Painted in 1981 and roughly 3x4.5 feet each, two boards hang next to each other. The media is enamel, glass silkscreen and steel. The left panel is clear and has colorful, expressive brushstrokes and the right is white with a thin grey grid. Inside each square on the grid is a colored dot which is only noticeable close up. From far away, the image of a figure at the end of some kind of pool is more legible. 

I felt a connection to Joan Linder’s Yellow Weed  made in 2016. Her ink on paper drawing reminded me of the small plants I draw in the margins of my notebooks. I enjoy delicate looking things and even at 12x4 feet, it had a light and elegant look to it. It inspired me to enlarge one of my drawings to an exceptionally large scale. I also really enjoyed the monochromatic pen markings that were sketchy up close but created a full image from farther back. 

The second piece I felt a connection with was Sigmar Polke’s Break Domination painted in 1998. It was about 4x4 feet and was mixed media. It reminded me of the series of paintings I did in high school that had some extra component that made it more than a painting. I really liked how the wire mesh in the background of the painting was subtle and added a sparkle to the marbled resin. 

I saw Francois Morellet’s Geometree No. 51 and had a few questions. First I wondered if this was the only one of its kind but that question was quickly answered by looking at the information card. It’s number 51 so there must be at least 50 before it. I wondered what natural objects were used in the other paintings. Were they all tree branches? What kind of tree is it from and how does he choose which one to use? Further research needs to be done. 

I was also curious about Dan Flavin’s blue, pink, and yellow fluorescent light sculpture from 1971 titled Untitled (to Donna). Who is Donna? Did he make this for a lover? Does it symbolize positive or negative feelings? If I had to make an educated guess, I would say positive because of how it made me feel standing in front of it. The light was warm and not too bright. The colors reflected on the faces of my friends when they got closer and made their eyes light up. I also wondered if it is always displayed in the corner of a gallery. I imagined how the light would shine on the walls if it were flat on a wall, maybe the pink and yellow would mix.