Albert Contreras - Geometric Abstraction

Albert Contreras (1933-June 17, 2017) was an artist and painter based in Santa Monica, California known for gestural and geometric abstraction.Contreras painted from around 1960 to 1972, and then stopped painting for 25 years.He resumed painting in 1997. Contreras has donated many of his works to museums and university galleries..."Then, in 1972, Contreras stopped painting. “I was paintings like a lot of Minimalists at the end of the 60s: reductive,” said Contreres. “We wanted to finish off painting. I painted myself to where I wanted to disappear. And I succeeded! I had come to the end of the line, and it was all over. There was no use for me to paint anymore.”So after moving back to Los Angeles (by way of New York), he shut down his studio and went to work for Santa Monica. For the next 20 years, he was a full-time employee, driving garbage trucks, operating heavy equipment and working as a crewman on a front-end skip loader, resurfacing asphalt streets.After retiring in 1992, Contreras spent five years in therapy. In 1997, he was done with that and went back to painting. “I don’t know exactly how I took up painting again. One day I said, ‘You know, I think I can paint again.’ I picked up exactly where I had left off, making monochrome paintings with little gestures in them. The first paintings I made were nearly 30 years late.”(lagunaartmuseum.org)

 

Anthony Poon - Abstract Art

Anthony Poon Kin Soon (21 April 1945 - 2 September 2006) was one of the pioneer abstract artists in Singapore best known for his paintings in the Wave Series which he began working on in 1976. t was during the late 1970s that he produced the Wave Series, abandoning the shaped canvas for the square frame, although order and symmetry remained the operative logic. This was followed by the Frequency series in the early 1980s, a truncated variant of the wave motif. Here, the illusion of three-dimensionality emerged as an interest of his. He also explored chromatic ranges in the Colour Theory series during this period.Here, abstraction was the predominant form of expression, although Poon deferred in being more conceptual, analytical and controlled as compared to his contemporaries. His early works, although containing figurations instructive of the formal teachings of NAFA, already showed signs of semi-abstraction. He quickly developed a unique style, centred on his interest in the spatial relationship between line and colour. This was evident in the Kite series of geometric abstractions and aerodynamic shapes on shaped canvas, developed just before his return to Singapore. He then expanded fully into the third dimension in the mid-1980s, with the Wave relief marking his progress into three-dimensions on canvas. He was known in the art world for his professionalism and discipline. His close friend and fellow artist Teo Eng Seng said, "He was a good example of a successful artist. People tend to think that artists are not organised, but Anthony was highly organised, highly competent." Friends of Poon also remembered him as a food lover. Teo remembered fondly that his friend was always urging fellow artists to try new places to eat, even if the places were out of the way. Poon would drive his friends around to different eating locations every day, sometimes even driving five kilometres just to try a new place. Then he would order a lot of different dishes and tell everyone to eat as much as they could.(Wikipedia)

Jean Dewasne - Abstract Art

"Jean Dewasne was born in Lille, France on May 21, 1921. During his youth, he studied music, but began exploring the art of painting at the age of 12. Dewasne spent two years studying architecture, during which he became familiar with the major classical buildings. He entered the "Ecole des Beaux Arts" of Paris, however, he quickly abandoned his studies to devote himself entirely to painting. In 1941, he exhibited for the first time, but it was not until 1942 that his first abstract painting appeared. During the same year, he had his first solo exhibition.In 1945, Dewasne joined a circle of artists including Deyrolle, Hartung, Marie Raymond and Schneider that launched a campaign in support of abstract art. Their exposition in February of 1946, curated by René de Solier, revealed a type of abstract art that had new forms and came from rich and varied trends. Later on, Poliakoff also became a part of this group. In 1946, Dewasne was chosen for the newly founded Kandinsky prize. During the same year, he contributed to the founding of the "Salon des Réalitées" and was elected a member of its committee, along with M.me Sonia Delaunay, Jean Arp, Pevsner, Gorin, and others.During this period, Dewasne utilized the chiaroscuro technique in his painting, however, in 1947, he began to include ragged forms in vivid colors. In 1948, he completed his first large mural, “La gioia di vivere.” In 1950, Dewasne founded "L'Atelier d'Art Abstrait," and for three years, in a room in front of the Church of St. Germain des Prés, he organized "Conférences d'Art Abstrait." The Conférences provided a free and open environment to debate and exchange opinions, and they were attended by everyone from artists to critics to specialists in diverse fields, including everything from physics to psychology. In these years, the theory of connections between dialectical logic and abstract art, a theory to which Dewasne attributed great importance, developed.In 1952, he completed the first “anti-sculture”, in which industrial and anonymous, unresearched objects, or simple plastic sense created by the artist became real and true works of art. Then, Dewasne began an intense period of travel throughout Europe and America where he held exhibitions and conferences. In 1966, his first retrospective exhibition took place at the Kunsthalle of Berne. He represented France in 1968 at the Biennale di Venezia, and in 1972, he exhibited in the United States at the Lefebvre gallery. Between 1974 and 1975, two important solo exhibitions took place, one at the Louisiana Museum in Humblebaek and the other at the Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. In 1979, another solo exhibition was held abroad at the Museo d'Arte contemporanea of Caracas. During the 1980s, he participated in two group exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou-- first Paris-Paris, 1937-1957 in 1981 and then Les Années 50 in 1988. Between 1985 and 1989, Dewasne completed two large murals, measuring 100 meters tall and 70 meters long, at the Arche de le Défense in Paris. In 1991, he was elected a member of the Académie de Peinture all'Institut de France. In addition, Dewasne explored other fields, writing numerous articles on different topics, illustrating books, stage designing for theatrical productions, and writing poems.Jean Dewasne died July 23, 1999. "(lorenzelliarte.com)

Leon Polk Smith - Geometric Abstraction

Leon Polk Smith (1906–1996) was an American painter. His geometrically oriented abstract paintings were influenced by Piet Mondrian and his style has been associated with the Hard-edge school, of which he is considered one of the founders.
Smith was born near Chickasha, Oklahoma a year before it became a state. He grew up among American Indians of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. He graduated from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma in 1934. He moved to New York City in 1936, where he attended Columbia University, and remained in New York for the rest of his life.Much of Smith's work was inspired by the interchange between positive and negative space and using as few elements as possible to create a convincing space, object, or motion. He frequently used canvases which were round or other non-standard shapes and painted with close valued colors.Wikipedia
"Leon Polk Smith, a painter who furthered the development of American geometric abstraction, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. Mr. Smith was 91 and also had a home in Shoreham, L.I.In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Mr. Smith became known for paintings whose simplified shapes and brilliant colors were at once pure and playful, worldly and ascetic. Although never considered a major artist, he arrived at geometry before others did and remained steadfastly loyal to its principles, cultivating aspects of scale and simplicity that presaged the Hard-Edge and Minimal painting styles of the late 1950's and 60's.By the mid-50's, his most characteristic works were often shaped, sometimes modular paintings that seemed barely to contain the bold forms painted on them, creating an expansive if sometimes graphic energy. Several critics felt that Mr. Smith's big-scale simplicity and use of biomorphic shapes influenced younger artists like Ellsworth Kelly, Jack Youngerman and Al Held, all of whom visited his studio in the mid-50's."(nytimes.com)