Zane Lewis

Zane Lewis (born 1981) is an American Visual Artist based in Brooklyn, New York.[1][2] His abstract paintings and sculptures reference color field painting, pointillism, phenomenology, and minimalism. And have been stylistically referred to as 'psychedelic minimalism'.[3]

Zane Lewis
Born1981
NationalityAmerican
EducationSchool of Visual Arts, Atlanta College of Art
Known forArtist, Painting, Sculpture, Abstraction

The acclaimed New York Times art critic Roberta Smith, called Lewis' paintings "skillfully spray-painted whose shifting tonalities and densities have a glowing, slightly psychedelic look suggesting an admiration for Jules Olitski, the California Light and Space movement and Las Vegas. Spray-painted with diaphanous textures, delicate and unexpectedly beautiful."[4] Lewis' works contain a phenomenological aura pushing the notion of direct experience upon the viewer. This essence becomes part of Lewis' tool kit as he forces those to engage his paintings sculpturally, a "Turrellian approach" to painting.

Biography

Lewis was born in San Antonio, Texas and studied Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and the Atlanta College of Art affiliated with the High Museum of Art, where he earned a BFA degree in sculpture. Lewis was the youngest artist to exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Georgia, having been commissioned by the museum to create an installation before completing his undergraduate degree.[5]

Work

Early Work

Zane Lewis often blurs conventional distinctions between painting and sculpture. Early in his career he presented his work in installation-like formats hanging canvases with printed-images, then painting them onsite in the gallery. The paint dripped on the floor would become part of the exhibition. In a further extension of his practice, he created new works cut from the dried paint puddles left behind. Lewis referred to recycling and "remixing" images like a DJ.

Lewis's unique drip painting technique allowed different colors of paint to combine without mixing while retaining a wet look.[6] These cascades of paint leaked from canvases and spilled onto the floor of the exhibition space. Christopher Bollen, Editor-in-Chief of Interview Magazine, called this method of Lewis' "making art bleed."[5] "The artist allows the gash to “bleed” brightly colored paint (which he has applied), in order to express a transient and dying glamor."[7]

Lewis' mix of abstraction and appropriated images[8] caught the attention of The Wall Street Journal who included Lewis in the article "The 23-Year Old Masters," along with artists Ryan Trecartin, Jordan Wolfson and Dash Snow[9] in a selection of ten top young US artists. Lewis has exhibited at Whitney Museum of American Art in conjunction with Phillips de Pury and was featured as a "Groundbreaker" artist in groundbreaking ceremony for the new location in lower Manhattan.[7][10]

Stylistic Shift

Between 2010-2013 Lewis' website stated he was dead, however this was proven false.[11] During that time period Lewis distanced himself from exhibiting and his involvement with the art world.[12] Lewis marks this as a "transitional period," which certain elements of his work "had to die."[3] Here marks the artists rejection of imagery and a shift toward total abstraction.[13]

Lewis is known to avoid interviews and to have denied reputable collectors studio visits or only allowing them to view his studio by themselves.

Exhibitions Include

The Aishti Foundation (Lebanon), The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston (TX), Museo De La Ciudad De Mexico (Mexico City), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Atlanta, GA), Hauser & Wirth (Los Angeles, CA), Galerie Eric Hussenot (Paris, France), The Hudson River Museum, The Watermill Center and Columbia University.

Lewis is also a distant cousin of James Dean.[5][13]

Notes and references
  1. Artpace Gala Happenings, ARTPACE News, 16 April 2014.
  2. Slenske, Michael. "Spray It Loud", Wmagazine.com, 10 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. "Colour theory: New York artist Zane Lewis re-emerges with a new body of work | Art | Wallpaper* Magazine". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  4. Smith, Roberta (2015-11-19). "Joe Grillo and Zane Lewis in Separate Shows at the Hole". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  5. Bollen, Christopher. "Zane Lewis Makes Art Bleed" Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, VMAN, Spring/Summer 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  6. "Biography: Zane Lewis", www.Artsy.net, July 2015.
  7. Zane Lewis, Untitled (Mirror Study) archived at Whitney Art Party artists Archived January 26, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Smith, Roberta (2015-11-19). "Joe Grillo and Zane Lewis in Separate Shows at the Hole". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  9. Crow, Kelly. "The 23-Year Old Masters", Wall Street Journal, 17 April 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  10. Davis, Peter. "Whitney Art Party 2010", VOGUE Italia, 10 June 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  11. "Zane Lewis is temporarily dead: New York artist interview", "Examiner: Arts & Exhibits", August 10, 2009.
  12. "Interview with Zane Lewis", Huffington Post ARTS & CULTURE, Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  13. "Color Fields Forever – Pari Dust". www.paridust.com. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
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