Dennis Hollingsworth

Just got back from Dennis Hollingsworth's opening at Nicole Klagsbrun in Chelsea, where I took this pic of one of Hollingsworth's paintings, and met the artist for the first time. Nice guy, but I knew that from his blog (still a comparative rarity--a generous walk around his life and studio). The photo makes the piece look small, but this is about 4-5 (?) feet wide. I like Dennis's work and have enjoyed watching it evolve on the Web. Nothing like seeing the real thing, though. I think you can get from the photo how sumptuous it is. What you don't get is the complex interplay of layers, and the gritty, gestural quality that invokes Pollock as well as taggers. These aren't facile paintings, you sense a lot gets scraped off before they start working. Earlier posts on Hollingsworth are here and here.

- tom moody 5-12-2006 5:42 am

Thanks for posting this Tom- glad you saw the show and met Dennis. I hope to have the privilege too, some day. Dennis is one of the few artists really sharing his process and the evolution of his work via his weblog- very generous, great insights, lifts the veil wide. I've also seen his paintings in the flesh, and as you say, while they look good on the web, seeing the real thing is... the real thing. He's a solid painter- inventive, visual, doing something different.
- chrissashley 5-12-2006 8:43 am