April 1, 2026
See I See #8: Layering, featuring Colin Thomson and Adam Simon
See I See #8: Layering, featuring Colin Thomson and Adam Simon
The issue of laying in art and painting seems as natural as the air we breathe, but I think that the topic has become perhaps such a key feature of contemporary life as we pass the first quarter of the 21st century that it is incumbent upon us to focus on it and open the topic up a bit. To do this, I have invited artists Colin Thomson and Adam Simon to join me in conversation in each of their studios to unpack this subject in the light of their oeuvre.
See I See is a channel devoted to conversations about art, the art we see, the art we've seen and the art we'd like to see.
History is only history when it's documented. Our exhibitions are documented as installation shots, as lines in a CV and hopefully when a review is published. Back in the day, publications were in the hands of power. I hope, with some confidence, that See I See adds another, perhaps more stubborn document into art history, complimentary but not contingent to a gallery show. We artists can document history too.
Time stamps:
0:58 Introduction of the topic of layering in painting.
6:28 Colin Thompson introduces his painting. Bringing drawing into painting.
7:29 Color influencing how you see different layers.
7:46 Fusing line and color.
8:19 The use of preparatory drawings while not knowing the outcome.
10:39 The objectives of Thomson's process.
11:34 Viewing inside the lines.
15:10 Premeditation versus spontaneity.
18:14 Adam and Colin's shared educational history in the New York Studio School.
23:34 Layering as an index to today's zeitgeist.
27:18 Abstraction vs representation.
28:44 Zombie Formalism vs things repeating.
31: 26 Pedigrees of influence.
31:44 "I'm hoping that I'll float up in this world of color."
34:52 Clarity comes about Colin's use of layering.
36:22 Colin's working theme, Manhattan's urbanism.
37:49 Landscape within a figure inversion.
40:30 Painting's magical potential.
41:00 The impact of the digital world.
*
41:48 Adam Simon's studio.
43:10 Adam Simon introduces his painting.
44:12 Metaphorical functions of the imagery.
44:54 The question or function of time (recognition).
46:47 Variability of depth.
49:57 "Ecology"
55:08 The reservoir of source imagery, its fixed nature and agency.
57:43 "You have to do it to find out."
53:13 The embrace of randomness.
01:00:08 How layering reveals history.
01:00:44 How corporate logos are infused into society.
01:01:44 Adam's two conceits.
01:02:32 The function of delayed recognition (the "nasty drawing" anecdote.)
01:04:34 Circular and circulation.
01:05:25 Pareidolia, the integrity of the imagery and abstraction.
01:07:46 Courting a "fucking mess".
01:08:47 Automatism.
01:09:28 Merging abstraction and commentary.
01:09:48 Who's using who? (Corporations, society and the artist.)
01:12:28 Entropy, forward and reverse.
01:13:21 Cultural identity and memory.
01:15:26 The all-over, abstraction, inverting Pop through AbEx.
01:07:11 Water. The flux of layering, how it's alive.
01:18:31 The "expanded field" of layering.
01:19:05 Wrapping up.
See I See #7: "Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds"
See I See #7: "Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds" at the Jewish Museum, NYC.
I review the new Paul Klee exhibition at the Jewish Museum, NYC. It's a tale of persecution and physical suffering, but I look for the smile in his works. What is remarkable are a series of satirical drawings he made commenting on the insanity of what he called the "National Socialist Revolution" in 1933. An exhibition spanning the artist's lifetime with 94 art works, the final gallery is devoted to his last years as he suffered and eventually died from the autoimmune disease scleroderma. Despite all this gloom, the happiness that he found in his art works is undeniable.
Paul Klee
Jewish Museum NYC
Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds
Mar. 20 - Jul. 26, 2026
See I See #6: Gwenael Kerlidou's James Bishop Trilogy
See I See #6: Gwenael Kerlidou's James Bishop Trilogy
NYC artist and writer Gwenael Kerlidou speaks with See I See about his recent article, "James Bishop, an American Hermit in Blevy", Tussle Magazine, February 5, 2026. Within that article, he links us to two articles that he wrote in February 14, 2015 for Hyperallergic, "Failure as Success in Painting: Bram van Velde, the Invisible" (Parts 1 & 2), and a translation of Maurice Pleynet's "Color Squared, Ripples, Intent", published in 1972.
Besides an in depth presentation of James Bishop's oeuvre, a theme emerges about the differing histories and perspectives between America (USA / NYC) and Europe (France). As Kerlidou unpacks this history and its impact on contemporary art and painting, we are treated with a vivid awareness of our panorama and blinders on both sides of the Atlantic.
James Bishop, an American Hermit in Blevy
Failure as Success in Painting, Bram van Velde the Invisible, Part 1
Failure as Success in Painting, Bram van Velde the Invisible, Part 2
"COLOR SQUARED, RIPPLES, INTENT" BY MARCELIN PLEYNET
See I See #5: Gregoris Semitecolo
See I See #5: Gregoris Semitecolo
We visit the opening of Gregoris Semitecolo at Ramiken Gallery in NYC's LES. The art world loves a rediscovery, and there's a bit of a buzz in town about Ramiken's recent offering*. Semitecolo is one of Greece's celebrated national artists, whose works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Greece and the Athens Municipal Gallery. A pioneering conceptual artist in the 60's, he focused his attention solely on painting in 1984 until the end of his life in 2014.
I went to the opening, snapped a few pics and jotted a few notes, observations about a peculiar artist who marched to his own drummer. (Isn't that what we all should do anyway?)
*I didn't notice until deep into this production that Ramiken has a gallery in Athens. At lest it is an address important enough to list at the bottom of their website. Could be an important detail.
