Modern Painters

WASHINGTON-BASED PAINTER Dan Attoe might consciouslytip his hat to the Hudson River School, but his mountainousvisions of the sublime hold an unexpectedly comedic (and oftenperverse) undercurrent. His beach, ski-slope, and forest scenesDUHSRSXODWHGE\ÀJXUHVVRWLQ\\RXPLJKWPLVVWKHP³DQGthey’re speaking an even tinier dialogue, rendered in silver oilpaint. In one painting, on view earlier this year at Half Galleryin New York, several nude women are posed on a pier juttingout into an icy lake, attended by what appears to be a pair ofCanadian Mounties (“I did everything you told me to,” one ofthem says). Family at Waterfall, 2016, shows a trio of revelersabout to take a dip; something about the loaded positioning ofthe bodies against the grandeur of naturerecalls the recent output of Gregory Crewdson,except with a sense of humor. “All of theHOHPHQWVDUHFKDUDFWHUV³OLJKWWRSRJUDSK\plants, rocks, people, the sky, and weatherand atmosphere,” Attoe says. “In this way, I see painting asFRPSRVLQJVKRUWVWRULHV0RVWRIWKHÀFWLWLRXVSODFHVLQP\paintings are based on actual locations, but probably in thesame sense that Stephen King’s characters are based on peoplehe knows.”Part of the thrill of an Attoe painting is the way these differentcomponents combine in jarring ways. “The scale of the landscapecompared to the people is a key part of the atmosphere,” heexplains. “Much of that does have to do with a feeling of longingIRUVRPHWKLQJ,UHPHPEHU³VRPHWKLQJEHDXWLIXOSHDFHIXOominous, and awe-inspiring. At the same time, I feel anHTXDOO\LPSRUWDQWXUJHWRGLVUXSWWKLV7KHÀJXUHVDQGWKHWH[Wrequire a different kind of focus. The landscape can be enjoyedIRULWVEHDXW\DQGWKHGLVSDULW\EHWZHHQLWDQGWKHÀJXUHVEXWLWalso exists in service to these contemporary people in funnyor ordinary clothing saying everyday things about e-mails orengaging in interpersonal clumsiness.” —SI``````Dan Attoe’s work is on view July 11 through August 20 in “MountAnalogue,” a group show also featuring Ed Ruscha, among others, andcurated by Neville Wakefield and Darrow Contemporary, hosted in apop-up at the Performance Ski shop in Aspen, Colorado.Focus on the small thingsBEAUTY AND CLUMSINESSTHE SUBLIME``````Lola Montes SchnabelSchnabel has been painting onthe island of St. Barths since shewas a teenager. “After a week,you begin to match the place tosettle into your unconscious,”she wrote in an artist’s statementduring a 2014 residency there,where she created a prismaticseries of paintings of seagulls,mermaids, and surfers.``````Donald SultanYellowstone National Park, themountains of Switzerland, andthe redwoods are among thepainter’s favorite destinations. “Ialways had the feeling that a‘large’ painting could be small. Ifyou take a one-foot painting andmake a very powerful image onit, it can become``````large. It doesn’t have to be agiant canvas. If you go tothe Grand Canyon, the scale isso big, but your peripheralvision is only so big. You get thefeeling of the space withinyour perspective.”``````Linda GanjianThe artist takes inspiration forher miniature landscapesculptures from childhood tripsto Armenia and Turkey. “Therewas such a sophisticated level ofornamentation and craftsman-ship,” she says, which “provokeda memorializing urge to recovera sense of that lost grandeur.”``````Stanley WhitneyEvery summer, New York–basedWhitney and his partner, fellowpainter Marina Adams, visit theirhome in the hills out-side Parma, Italy. So farthe landscape has notinfl uenced his vibrant,loosely geometric paintings.A recent show at GalerieNordenhake in Berlin pairedcanvases made in his studioin Italy with those done inNew York and “you could nottell the difference.” But what histravels do give him is time to“do a lot of reading, which is abig part of my practice.” And,perhaps most important: “I eatgreat food and sit in the sun.”—RACHEL CORBETTArtists’ go-to travel favoritesGET OUT OF TOWNDESTINATIONS``````Lola MontesSchnabel inSt. Barths.``````Dan AttoeSurfers on StillWater, 8, 2016. Oilon canvas overMDF, 36 x 48 in.FROM LEFT: TWO IMAGES, LOLA MONTES SCHNABEL; DAN ATTOE AND HALF GALLERY, NEW YORKWHEN THE PAINTER Gerhard Richter took his family to the Mediterraneanisland of Corsica for a vacation in 1968, he shot a roll of fi lm of thebeaches and mountains, and then used the photos as source imagesfor a series of paintings. When critics viewed the seascapes for the fi rsttime, many saw a misty-eyed sincerity better suited to postcards.Richter’s response? “I felt like painting something beautiful.” After all,artists need to relax sometimes too. We looked at a few of thefavorite destinations of four artists.``````BLOUINARTINFO.COM JUNE/JULY 2016 MODERN PAINTERS 33