Manny Farber | New Paintings

Quint Contemporary Art  will exhibit new paintings by Manny Farber opening on May 19, 2000.  Born in Douglas, Arizona in 1917, Farber began painting in the 1930s.  Before joining the faculty of the University of California, San Diego Visual Arts Department in 1969, he was a film critic in New York, writing in the New Republic, the Nation and ARTFORUM.  Known in the 50s and 60s for his shaped canvas abstractions, Farber began painting still lifes in 1974.  He retired from teaching in 1987 and paints in Leucadia, California.  One person exhibitions since 1982 have included the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Texas Gallery, Houston; Larry Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles: Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla: Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.

Farber’s compositions make us feel as if we are viewing painted scenes from above; turning still lifes into aerial viewed landscapes.  These paintings have a cinematic, choppy rhythm to them, aggressively exploding with color, detail and texture.  Personal notes, agendas, lists and stories are scribbled into the paint and work as a device to simultaneously draw the viewer physically closer to the detailed painted surface and to reveal clues to the artist’s private life.  These paintings “read” much like personal diaries, providing insights into Farber himself and the process he undergoes to make art.  Farber has been able to combine still life and landscape and come up with paintings that are self-portraits.

The Manny Farber exhibition will continue through July 1, 2000