Preview Conner's Pulse Booth

You can preview Leigh Conner's booth at Pulse Miami here. The gallery will be at booth 311 and will feature new digital light sculpture by Leo Villareal, new video and photography by Maria Friberg and large-scale figurative paintings by Erik Sandberg.

Speaking of Erik, his latest works at Conner Contemporary were reviewed by ArtForum's Nord Wennerstrom as "tremendous achievements in figuration - masterfully painted and richly sculptural, they establish the artist as a worthy heir to John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage."

Subject matter aside... say what? Has Wennerstrom ever actually taken a close look at either a Currin or a Yuskavage? Upon close inspection they fall apart as "paintings," and reveal themselves more as flat washes of "straight from the tube" works, which (as any experienced painter will tell you) is often the first gritty evidence of a painter lacking technical skill (few seldom "avoid" it, like Picasso often did).

Sandberg can paint circles around both Currin or Yuskavage, with one hand tied behind his back, an eye-patch covering one eye, and an old brush with only sixteen bristles left in his left hand. His painting skills are in part the result of a lot of hard work, and having benefitted from the amazing teaching and painting skills of GMU's Margarida Kendall (now retired). Since her retirement, Kendall has sort of disappeared from the DC area "scene," while enjoying spectacular success in Europe.

This is a case where the "heir" is far better than the King and Queen.