Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

Can’t decide what to wear today? How about some blue jeans to commemorate US Patent No. 139,121? #OnThisDay in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a patent on the process of creating riveted work pants, known today as blue jeans. Strauss, a Bavarian-born dry goods merchant in San Francisco, was approached by Davis, a Latvian-born tailor in Reno, NV, about a new system of using copper rivets to strengthen men’s work pants. Strauss supplied Davis with fabric and agreed ...to work with him, and Levi Strauss & Co. began to make and sell riveted pants from blue denim shortly after they received the patent. May 20, 1873 is considered the birthday of blue jeans, because although denim had long been the traditional fabric for men’s workwear, it was the act of placing rivets in these pants for the first time that created what became known as jeans. Originally called waist overalls or overalls to distinguish them from bib overalls, the term jeans was adopted around 1960 when denim pants achieved widespread cultural significance. In honor of this landmark in the history of American clothing, we share Untitled (c.1960), a large-scale wall relief constructed with denim by Lee Bontecou (b.1931). Art historian Jo Applin explains of the artist’s use of denim: Bontecou would use denim alongside the more industrial sections of burlap, where the already present seams and stitching of the cut-up jeans are echoed in the joins and seams of the pieces of fabric themselves, fixed to each other and the structure via a method of patchwork. The use of the denim fabric presents a curious conflation of everyday clothing with the rather more unsettling skin-like carapace evoked by the stretched, stitched surface. Stay tuned for moreLee Bontecou is one of five artists to be included in our summer exhibition opening on June 1! #LeeBontecou (b.1931), Untitled, c.1960, wall relief constructed with denim, wire, welded metal, and soot, 20 1/2 x 60 x 8 1/2 inches / 52.1 x 152.4 x 21.6 cm #BlueJeans @levis

Hot Diggity Dog! Today is National Barbecue Day and we encourage you to indulgegrill a hot dog or a hamburger while spending time outside enjoying the late-May sunshine! Featured hereand abundantly fitting for the occasionis the monumental acrylic on canvas painting Hot Dawg! An Impression (1981) by Robert Colescott (1925-2009). This humorous and patriotic painting, depicting a towering mound of hot dogs in a layered mass of golden buns, brick-red wieners and squiggles o...f yellow mustard, exemplifies Colescott’s distinctive take on the American vernacular. A satirical observer, Colescott explained: I'm allowing myself to say things I don't have a complete answer for You get a feeling that there's something going on but you don't have the whole story. In some of them you wind up asking bigger questions than when you started. And that's okayI've allowed myself that. The hot dog has long been considered one of the quintessential American food items. The 1994 edition of The Dictionary of American Food and Drink explained in its entry for hot dog that hot dog stands were well-known throughout the US by the 1920s, and the hot dog soon became one of America’s favorite foods, particularly plentiful at sporting events, country fairs and carnivals. The dictionary reported that hot dogs are eaten in 95% of American homes, and that the average person consumes 80 hot dogs per yearand nearly 90% of these hot dogs were said to have been eaten with mustard, as illustrated by Colescott! If you’re unable to barbecue outdoors today, we hope this image gives you an early taste of summer! #RobertColescott (1925-2009), Hot Dawg! An Impression, 1981, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 72 inches / 213.4 x 182.9 cm, signed #NationalBBQDay #HotDog

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is a proud lender to the exhibition Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio at Nottingham Contemporary in Nottingham, UK with two exemplary works by Charles White (1918-1979). Selected for their scale and subject, "Paul Robeson" (1973) and "J'Accuse! No.3" (1965) are signature portrait drawings executed in charcoal and sepia tones. Curated by Cedric Fauq with Olivia Aherne, Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio explores the career of... iconic singer Grace Jones (b.1948) and seeks to question black image-making and gender binarism as well as both performance and the performance of life. The inclusion of White’s portrait of Robeson the celebrated singer, actor, athlete and activist is hailed as one of the exhibition’s powerful moments. In The Guardian, writer Hettie Judah notes that the display evokes the tense status of black performers in the US: celebrated as entertainers, vilified for speaking out. First opened on September 25, 2020, the exhibition was set to close in January, but due to a national lockdown, it has now been extended until April 18, 2021. We are honored to be a part of this multimedia exhibition that explores faceted questions of identity, entertainment and social justice. 1. Charles White (19181979), J'Accuse! No.3, 1965, Wolff crayon and charcoal on paper, 33 5/8 x 34 inches / 85.4 x 86.4 cm, 30 1/2 x 30 inches / 77.5 x 76.2 cm sight size, signed, The Charles White Archives 2 & 4. Installation views of "Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio" at Nottingham Contemporary, 2020; Photographer Lewis Ronald 3. Charles White (19181979), Paul Robeson, 1973, oil and graphite on illustration board, 48 x 47 1/2 inches / 121.9 x 120.7 cm, 41 1/2 x 41 1/2 inches / 105.4 x 105.4 cm sight size, signed; The Charles White Archives #CharlesWhite #GraceJones #PaulRobeson @nottm_contemp @cedric.fauq @oliviaaherne @sdzthorne See more

Looking for a great addition to your library collection? Need some holiday shopping inspiration? "Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes" is now available. A hardcover monograph designed in a large format (188 pages, 14 x 9 1/2 trim size, 35 artwork color plates, 13 double-page detail spreads, Printed by GHP Media), "Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes" traces Andrews’ commitment to portraiture. Featuring new scholarship, this book includ...es an expanded artist chronology with never-before-published photographs that narrate the life and career of Benny Andrews. Kyle Williams, Director of the Andrews-Humphrey Family Foundation, raves, "The gorgeous reproductions so capture the energy of the actual works, and the details in close-up do more than just recordthey give viewers a guide for how to look at them. The extensively-researched chronology will be a resource for scholars of the artist's work for years to come." Come view "Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes" now extended and on view until December 23 and pick up a copy of the catalogue. You can also call the gallery or email us at [email protected] to order a copy. #BennyAndrews #Portraits #HolidayShopping #GiftList #ArtBooks

"Working in abstraction during [the late 1960s], there were lots and lots of obstacles. There were obstacles from the art world and the press itself, there were obstacles within social-political circles, and as an artist you are defining your own faith, you’re making the rules in your world, and that was an important decision on my part, of doing that, and meeting a whole group of other artists that were very much trying to do the same thing." -William T. Williams Last ...chance! Don’t miss our virtual booth "OVR-Sized: Masterworks of Postwar Abstraction" for Art Basel’s OVR: Miami Beach, dedicated to heroically-scaled highlights of postwar abstraction. Two highlights include "Untitled" (1970) by Sam Gilliam (b.1933) and "Hawk's Return" (1969-70) by William T. Williams (b.1942), monumental paintings completed in 1970 a pivotal moment for both artists who have fostered a lifelong commitment to abstraction. Gilliam and Williams have been friends for over 52 years, having first met in 1968, while Williams was organizing the seminal exhibition "X to the Fourth Power," held at The Studio Museum in Harlem the following year. During this time, Gilliam and Williams were both making their names through the language of abstraction, set apart for their singular takes on scale and handling of paint, at the height of the civil rights movement. "OVR-Sized: Masterworks of Postwar Abstraction" features 17 over-sized masterworks by Norman Bluhm, Jay DeFeo, Beauford Delaney, Sam Gilliam, Michael Goldberg, Nancy Grossman, Alfred Jensen, Alfred Leslie, Norman Lewis, Conrad Marca-Relli, Boris Margo, Alfonso Ossorio, Richard Pousette-Dart, Milton Resnick, Alma Thomas, Jack Tworkov and William T. Williams. To view our presentation online, visit https://www.michaelrosenfeldart.com//ovr-sized-masterworks 1. William T. Williams and Sam Gilliam in Washington, DC, c.1970; Photographer Melvin Edwards; Courtesy of the William T. Williams Archive 2. Sam Gilliam (b.1933), Untitled, 1970, acrylic and dye pigments on canvas with beveled edge, 100 3/4 x 110 x 2 1/2 inches, signed 3. William T. Williams (b.1942), Hawk's Return, 1969-70, acrylic on canvas, 109 x 85 1/2 inches, signed See more

Best in Show of 2020: Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes is acclaimed as one of The Most Important Moments in Art in 2020 by New York Times co-chief art critic Holland Cotter, who calls our show a museum-ready survey of portraits by the still-undersung Benny Andrews. Cotter selects Benny Andrews: Portraits along with major museum exhibitions that have kept the critic focused in an otherwise difficult year, writing, Art, fundamentally, is infor...mation. It’s as much about issues as about objects, about how we live and think, ethically, politically, emotionally. This has been clear in exhibitions that have expanded our knowledge of what’s in the world, near and far. To read the full selection of Defining Art Moments in 2020 from New York Times art critics Holland Cotter, Jason Farago and Roberta Smith, visit https://www.nytimes.com//a/important-art-moments-2020.html To schedule a visit to see the exhibition now extended until December 23 visit our website at www.michaelrosenfeldart.com. #BennyAndrews #HollandCotter #NewYorkTimes #BestInShow #YearInReview #2020 #BestOf2020 @nytimes

Critic’s Pick: Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes has been reviewed in today’s edition of The New York Times by co-chief art critic Roberta Smith. Hailing Andrews’ riveting, eccentric images, Smith writes: This remarkable exhibition features the inventively constructed paintings of family, friends and colleagues that portray the artist’s world and his place in it. Smith highlights several standout collage works by Andrews in our exhibition, concludi...ng that Andrews depicted what he knew and cared about, which not to oversimplify came down to art, politics and people: his loved ones and fellow artists as well as human suffering and social injustice, the issues behind his activism. Eventually he portrayed his world and his values, which may be the most you can ask of any artist. To read the full review, visit https://www.nytimes.com//benny-andrews-exhibition-review.h. And don’t miss your chance to see our exhibition, now extended and on view until December 23. To schedule an appointment, visit our website at www.michaelrosenfeldart.com. 1. Installation view of "Benny Andrews: Portraits, A Real Person Before the Eyes", currently on view at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York 2. Louie, 1977, oil on canvas with painted fabric and mixed media collage, 59 1/2 x 51 x 1 3/4 inches / 151.1 x 129.5 x 4.4 cm, signed 3. Famine, 1989, oil, ink and colored pencil on paper with painted fabric and mixed media collage, 30 x 22 1/4 x 1/4 inches / 76.2 x 56.5 x 0.6 cm, signed #BennyAndrews #RobertaSmith #NewYorkTimes #CriticsPick @robertasmithnyt @nytimes See more