Dennis Hollingsworth

Hal Foster and Blake Rayne at Miguel Abreu

Last Saturday, I attended a conversation between Hal Foster and Blake Rayne at Miguel Abreu Gallery in the Lower East Side. The exhibition titled Reserves" comprised of paintings, sculptures and installation of course was fodder for the conversation, but much of it focused on Rayne's paintings. You can find images in the link. Rayne's practice involves a highly articulated breakdown of his painting process, much of which is couched in art theory that ripened, or over-ripened in the early aughts. Again, follow the link to the press release which is descriptive.

It seemed to me that the artist was such a student of thinkers like the very famous Hal Foster, that there wasn't much room for Foster to weigh into the dialogue. At one perhaps pivotal moment, Foster remarked "For a minute there, you sound like a really smart Modernist... and that's MY job!" My notes in red and green denoting Foster and Rayne respectively, show the ratio clearly.

I took notes, although they don't probably capture the drama of the evening. The talk was recorded, and perhaps the gallery might make it available to the public someday, someway.