PAINTERS PAINTING

 Painters Painting is an amazing documentary film that explores the New York School of painters from 1940 – 1970. Directed by Emile de Antonio, the film probes artists about their thoughts on the art of the day, yesterday, and their unique methods for creating work. It explores Abstract Expressionism, through Hard Edge and Color Field painting to Pop Art. Painters interviewed include Robert Rauschenberg, William de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Barnett Newman, Hans Hoffman, Jules Olitski, Philip Pavia, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell, and Kenneth Noland.The film is packed with insights, critiques, and even a few secrets. Rauschenberg discusses how he learned color from Joseph Albers and how his “paintings are an invitation to look somewhere else." Jasper Johns' sniffs at Pop Art, dismissing it as an unsurprising form where “everything was certain.” The artists discuss, with relief, how Pollack and Hoffman got the art world out of cubism, providing their successors with a freedom that they could push/pull in their own work. Helen Frankenthaler points out that "where to paint is not an issue because there is no background." Lastly, an entertaining interview with Warhol has him confessing that he hadn’t painted in years because one of his Factory girls did it for him.

-The Examiner