A FIELD OF FROSTY WHITE flecked with hues of blue, violet, green, and rose, “Foggy” (2021) by Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) graces the cover of the November 2023 edition of Artforum. Inside, an essay by Julia Bryan-Wilson explores the unique characteristics that distinguish Gilliam’s abstract paintings and connects his techniques to Black women’s labor. Gilliam is best known for his large-scale beveled edge paintings, which fetch top prices at auction (the artist’s current record is nearly $2.2 million), and his color-soaked sculptural paintings that are unsupported by stretchers and displayed in dramatic fashion, draped across walls and suspended from ceilings. Artforum, November 2023: SAM GILLIAM, Detail of “Foggy,” 2021 (acrylic, aluminum granules, copper chop, sawdust, flocking, encaustic, and paper collage on canvas, 96 × 96 × 4 inches. | © Sam Gilliam/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Bryan-Wilson doesn’t focus on those works, but rather considers paintings by Gilliam that are defined by their “textural materiality.” The paintings have textured surfaces built up with layers of pigment; raked surfaces yielding parallel “rhythmic grooves”; and collage formats achieved by cutting up existing paintings and piecing the remnants together to form new compositions in the patchwork style of a quilt. “Gilliam’s […]
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