Mots et Images

Map of Desire, oil on canvas, 2011

2011-11-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

New work
Map of Desire
30"X 36"
By Emma Trincal

Recent work: The path, 2011

2011-11-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

By Emma Trincal

Please inquire for studio visits

Ad Reinhardt on pictures and paintings (Click for full entry)

2011-11-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Recently saw a retrospective on Ad Reinhardt's work from 1935 to 1945 at the Pace Gallery. Many gouaches, drawings and collages were on view. One of his quotes painted in big letters on a wall said:

"We don't have to dwell on what a picture is. It has subject matter, tells a story, is photographic or cinematographic and sometimes, it's just plain hand-painted.
The best and most effective pictures can be found in magazine and movies. A painting however is still a relatively private, individual activity and its freest, most abstract form is not concerned with communicating specific information or subject matter. Because it's universal, unhistorical and independent of everyday existence doesn't mean it doesn't have any meaning."

Refreshing contrast to today's obsession in the art world to explain and justify everything with words. One objection to Reinhardt's definition of what a painting is: juxtaposing the terms "universal" and "unhistorical."

Current exhibion: Galex 45 National Juried Exhibition

2011-03-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

Work currently displayed at the Galex 45 National Juried Exhibition at the Galesburg Civic Art Center.
GALEX is one of the longest running juried exhibitions in the country, having begun in 1966.

Where: 114 E. Main St. in Galesburg, IL.

Art Center hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information contact the Art Center at (309) 342-7415, or visit their web site at www.galesburgarts.org

L'Hiver de la culture (The Winter of Culture) by Jean Clair

2011-03-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Contemporary art faces harsh criticism in this new book written by Jean Clair, the former director of the Picasso Museum in Paris. The essayist whose real name is Gérard Régnier sees in the modern art scene the sign of a deep civilization decline.
Only published in French right now. Here is an excerpt of the book review from Le Figaro:

La charge de Jean Clair contre les dérives de l'art

Par Bruno Jacquot, Valérie Duponchelle

09/03/2011 | Mise à jour : 14:19 Réactions (15)

Dans son nouveau pamphlet, L'Hiver de la culture, l'essayiste étrille les musées, l'art contemporain, ses marchands et ses collectionneurs.

• L'Hiver de la culture lu par Guillaume Cerutti et Antoine de Galbert

"Cent quarante pages,neuf courts chapitres: il n'en faut pas plus à Jean Clair, dans son pamphlet L'Hiver de la culture, pour dresser son réquisitoire contre le monde de l'art. Académicien, conservateur, essayiste, commissaire d'expositions à succès comme Mélancolie ou Crime et châtiment, Jean Clair n'en est pas à son premier coup de gueule. En 2007, dans Malaise dans les musées, il s'insurgeait de l'accord de coopération conclu entre le Louvre et Abou Dhabi: il ouvrait, estimait-il, la voie à la marchandisation des œuvres et écornait le principe de l'inaliénabilité du patrimoine artistique de l'État. L'Hiver de la culture s'inscrit dans la lignée de son Malaise…

Cette saison froide qu'il annonce pour la culture est le signe d'une crise de civilisation. Avec la perte du sacré, le recul de la religion, les œuvres d'art peuvent-elles encore faire sens pour ceux qui les regardent? Non, on ne les adore que pour elles-mêmes, regrette Jean Clair, qui parle de «culte de la culture» et qui craint que les musées deviennent des « abattoirs culturels». «Absurdité de ces tableaux alignés, par époques ou par lieux, que personne à peu près ne sait plus lire, dont on ne sait pas encore pour la plupart déchiffrer le sens, moins encore trouver en eux une réponse à la souffrance et à la mort. (…) Les foules qui se pressent en ces lieux, faites des gens solitaires qu'aucune croyance commune, ni religieuse ni sociale ni politique ne réunit plus guère, ont trouvé dans ce culte de l'art leur dernière aventure collective.»

Un public incapable de comprendre les œuvres du passé n'a que les artistes contemporains qu'il mérite. Des artistes qui, aujourd'hui, contrairement, aux avant-gardes du XXe siècle, ne rêvent que d'entrer au musée «avec la mine contrite et réjouie du roturier admis dans la noblesse». Et les musées les accueillent de bonne grâce puisqu'ils sont devenus un rouage essentiel du marché de l'art. «Une étrange oligarchie financière mondialisée, comportant deux ou trois grandes galeries parisiennes et new-yorkaises, deux ou trois maisons de vente, et deux ou trois institutions publiques responsables d'un patrimoine d'un État, décide ainsi de la circulation et de la titrisation d'œuvres d'art qui restent limitées à la production, quasi industrielle, de quatre ou cinq artistes.» Titrisation… La promotion d'artistes comme Jeff Koons ou Damien Hirst, analyse Jean Clair, s'inspire des techniques financières qui ont conduit à la crise du subprime, en 2008. Il s'agissait alors de confectionner des produits financiers mêlant des obligations saines à des titres très risqués."

L'Hiver de la culture et Malaise dans les musées, Flammarion, coll. Café Voltaire, 12 € chacun.

From abstraction to face

2011-02-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

I started this work as an abstract piece. It evolved into a face.

Initial piece

Second version

final version

Fort Greene Exhibition closing today

2010-11-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

The show is closing today. Thank you to all of you who could join us at the opening Thursday or at the reception Saturday. Here are a few pictures and some brief news or blog entry. See you at my next opening.

Solo Show in Fort Greene: Opening Oct. 28, 2010

2010-10-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Opening is this Thursday. I will be showing 17 abstract paintings. Hope to see you there. We'll have wine and cheese.
For those who can't make it Thursday, I will be at the gallery Sat. Oct. 30 from 4p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Show is on for a week only. See details below.

EMMA TRINCAL: New Paintings

Opening Reception
Thursday, Oct. 28th, 2010
6:00--8:00 p.m.
Exhibition Continues Through Nov 4, 2010

SHOP TALK ART GALLERY
35 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Across the street from BAM

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 4-9 |Saturday & Sunday 12-8
(718) 498-5330

Subway/LIRR
Atlantic Avenue (2,3,4,5,B.Q)
Lafayette Avenue (C)
Fulton Street (G)
Pacific Street (N,R,D,M)

Three Seasons

2009-08-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Exhibition in Mexico for 4th Annual Human Rights Exhibition

2009-03-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

My painting The Rape of Freedom was selected for an International Juried Traveling Show based on the topic of human rights. The "across the border" 4th Annual Human Rights Art Exhibition will be located at South Texas College Art Gallery in McAllen, TX and will travel to Universidad de Monterey in Mexico.

The show is sponsored by the South Texas College's Women's Studies Committee in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Conference. It opens April 1 in McAllen and then travels to the University of Monterey in Mexico a week later on April 8. My painting will be on display in Mexico for a month until the end of the exhibition on May 8.

This painting is a little bit more "figurative" than my usual work but still remains abstract. The theme evokes violence and even torture if one considers the pose and the hood worn by the main character. But one more time, colors define the structure of my work.

2009 One Of My Pieces On Auction At The American Cancer Society's Pink & Black Tie Gala

2009-03-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

One of my paintings--Origami--will be up for bidding at an auction organized by the Brooklyn offices of the American Cancer Society for its First Annual Pink & Black Tie Gala on May 7th.

Mark your calendar for a good cause and join a fun-filled, rock n’ roll-themed celebration of the greatest hits of Brooklyn music, people and industry. More than 300 attendees are expected and will include corporate sponsors, business, philanthropic and social leaders and guests. The event will be a hosted by Brooklyn’s own Stacy London of TLC’s What Not to Wear. Naturally, proceeds will go to the fight against cancer in a variety of ways: funding services to help local cancer patients and their families, programs for cancer prevention and early detection as well as national life saving research.

For more details, check the website of the American Cancer Society:
"Party like a rock star at the fabulous cocktail reception and bid like one too at a lifestyle auction with great travel, dining and entertainment prizes. Then enjoy an elegant dinner highlighted by some classic local specialties and a live auction kicked off by Brooklyn’s own Borough President Marty Markowitz. Don’t forget to take advantage of the special cruise package offered in support of the American Cancer Society’s patient navigation program! Groove to the sounds of the Dexter Lake Club Band, playing the hits of the 70s and 80s and Brooklyn’s own musical legends."

 When: Thursday, May 7, 2009 6:00 pm- 10:30 p.m.
Where: Stage 6 at Steiner Studios 15 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 
 Complimentary parking will be provided

Good Bye Winter: February Versus March

2009-03-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

There are subtle differences between February and March: The light; the snow turned into ice and then into water. This is the silent story of the Japanese Garden near the Brooklyn Museum. The first picture on the left was shot in early February and the second, just about a month later.
For more, see my photo blog "Memories & Shots"

Bruegel's Triumph of Death

2009-03-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

An article published by the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 14 gives some interesting explanations on one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's masterpieces: "The Triumph of Death. "
"The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is not for the squeamish. Commonly dated circa 1562, it ranks among the most terrifying paintings of the age, and the centuries since have only boosted its fearful currency. Not until Goya's 1810-20 "Disasters of War" was there anything in European art quite like this savage depiction of hell on Earth," writes the author of the article, Richard Woodward, a New York arts critic.
Even when one enlarges the picture, it's hard to keep track with the detailed inventory of horror. The painting hangs in the Prado, Madrid.

Sam Glankoff at Knoedler & Company

2009-01-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

I went to Knoedler & Company to see a few pieces of Helen Frankenthaler exhibited for her 8oth birthday, in December. As I went downstairs, I found myself in the good company of Sam Glankoff.

Besides the beauty of this work, I noted two interesting things. Glankoff developed his "print-painting" process to save space for the simple reason that he lived in a small Manhattan apartment where he lacked the room and the walls to store large canvas. Secondly, he turned down the Whitney Museum's invitation to do an exhibition at the age of 80 saying: "I'm not ready yet."

For those more interested in the younger artists, "ready" or not," there is a list of "Artists To Watch" in last month's issue of ArtNews. It didn't impress me all that much but lists are always interesting. Barron's today published its list of best families of funds. Benjamin Franklin had its lists of 13 virtues for living. I have my list of groceries. We all have our lists of disappoitments and enchantments. Nothing wrong with lists.

"Controversy", Oil on Canvas, 30"X40"- Emma Trincal

2008-12-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Recent piece accomplished in Paris, this fall. See other recent pieces on my website at www.artrincal.com

Quoted in the new issue of Art Calendar Magazine

2008-12-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Art Calendar, the monthly business magazine for artists is running a feature piece this January on "Art and The Economy."
See a copy of the article

Renee Philips, director of Manhattan Arts International and a well-known author and critic, wrote this very timely piece. She quoted me about those esoteric "art hedge funds" and art as an asset class in general.

Although I am not an expert, it seems clear to me that the art bubble began to burst at least a year ago. Things only got worse since this summer, just like every other asset class. Right now, I can't imagine a bright future for art hedge funds, movie hedge funds, coin hedge funds, and all sorts of illiquid and esoteric assets that can hardly trade. Nor do I see prosperous days for Chelsea art dealers. Time for introspection, maybe?

The situation, however may get better for the 35-year old and older "emerging" artist. Let's hope that "value investors" will emerge in a market completely destroyed by a ridiculous wave of conformism, inflated prices, rumors and speculation.

The print version of the magazine--not the online version-- contains a color picture of "Cle de Sol", one of my paintings currently for sale at a gallery in Brooklyn just across the BAM, where I will have a solo show in June. Contact me for any information.
Best Wishes for 2009!

Lake Nahuel Huapi, Argentina, just accross Chile

2008-03-03T14:51:00.001-08:00