Painting is Painting’s Favorite Food: Art History as Muse

Curated by Alison M. Gingeras

South Etna Montauk
6 South Etna Avenue
East Hampton
Montauk
Jul 16th 2020 — Aug 29th 2020

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Situated in a Tudor-style cottage, South Etna Montauk, as a new East Hampton gallery and exhibition space, has made an auspicious debut in the form of "Painting is Painting’s Favorite Food: Art History as Muse." Co-founders Amalia Dayan and Adam Lindemann joined forces with Alison M. Gingeras to curate the ambitious presentation. Through more than 30 paintings and sculptures, the show considers how nearly two dozen contemporary artists engage with art history in their work—be it out of admiration or subversion or something in between.

The pieces on view demonstrate a range of tactics: Chris Oh's Citrus (2020), for instance, reproduces a Flemish Virgin and Child painting from the 16th century that the artist hand-painted on plastic fruit rather than a canvas; elsewhere, artists like Lynette Yiadom-Boakye look to art history for inspiration, using subtle references as jumping-off points.

Reflecting on the show's timeliness, Gingeras writes:

By separating us from physical access to the trove of treasures we normally take for granted as accessible at museums and galleries, this unprecedented period of confinement has made us more aware of how much we feed on art history as part of our regular visual and intellectual diet.

Karen Kilimnik, My Nephews in Germany by Winterhalter, 2009. Water soluble oil color on canvas, 18 x 14 inches. Private collection, courtesy South Etna Montauk.