Peter Lanyon

at TATE

Lost Mine, 1959

You are deep underground. Everything is a hue of black. Suddenly, the water is flooding the place(blue). You see water pouring in from everywhere. Now, seemingly strong and solid structure holding up the place start to crumble. You understand that it is not only the structure collapsing it is your life(red). Some flares of (white) hope keep you running for the exit. But the only things you see in the escape opening are the new waves of blue ruthless water.

Roy T. Durrant

at Art World Gallery

October Place

October - you still remember the summer : beach, sand and bikinis (a pair of white triangles on the black background in the center). There is a feast of colors around you : yellows, reds, browns, pinks, etc. But don't make a mistake - it is an agony before the death. You can see the black naked branches, barren ground. There is a dissonance between the lively wild colors of autumn and the melancholy you are feeling about the apparent decay and dying.

Lesley Vance

at David Kordansky Gallery (Art 43 Basel 2012)

Untitled, 2012

Sometimes you think that you have a major problem, a life-threatening issue(the figure in lower left corner).  You feel that your life is changing because of the problem. But if you look around, if you see a bigger picture, you will notice that your life is not threaten. The only thing that changed is your routine. The problem is temporary. It will be resolved with time. And there are much more fearful and really life-changing problem that could possible threaten your existence or lives of your loved ones(the structure in the center).

Sophie Von Hellerman

at Greene Naftali ( Frieze Art Fair New York 2012)

September 01 (explosion)

Autumn is very beautiful. It is very colorful : orange, yellow, green, brown. It is bright, cheerful, sexy. And depressing. It is sad, because you know all this beauty is a preamble to emptiness, cold, gray skies, rains and winter. This is the cycle of nature  : everything dies to give room to new things. The autumn is a good reminder that the time is going by as a river with a strong stream. And we will have our September sooner or later.

Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell at Barbara Mathes gallery (Art Basel Miami Beach 2011)

Untitled

You saw it coming. There were early hints(black lines). But you had hoped that it was nothing. Even if it would have something, it would have been something minor. And then you came up to the black square in the middle. That's where you have realized that this is it. The end. You are standing in front of frightening black square.Other people still have hope(blue squares), but you understand than no matter what you do, you will return to the same black square. No escape.

Darby Bannard

Darby Bannard at Loretta Howard

Narni

A circle represents a person. A black circular spot on the left with red blood splashing from it is a death of a person.Contrasting white background says that was a sudden death. Probably a tragic one.The line-like cloud underneath from the bottom left to lower right is an attempt of somebody to avoid to deal with that loss.This person is in denial. The line is blurry, the denial fogs the mind and makes the (wo)man to to divert from the normal course.But the meeting with the blood is inevitable. Until you face your fear you can't move forward.