Try Letting Go by Sean Greene

West Coast greetings collectors! I'm in Cali for the week with an agenda chock full of bizness, some scouting of new artists to bring your way, and the meeting and greeting of friends old and new. It's warmish and sunny 'round these parts—nothing's better for jet-lag than a bit of piney fresh air.

Last night, post delish dinner of Vietnamese food with Ms. Distin, we were taking in that fresh air and our conversation, naturally, turned to today's newsletter and Try Letting Go by Sean Greene. We were smitten with this painting when he first sent a jpeg but when we finally saw the proof—whoa! I suggest that you click on the "View Large" icon on Sean's edition page to better soak in the details of this print. At first glance, it seems tidy, careful and completely elegant. Yet, upon closer inspection, Sean's work is a little messy—but sophisticated: lines and colors are laid down precisely while bearing the mark of the human who created them.

When I found out that Sean's a skater, it made sense that the physical aspect of the sport would translate into his work. The careful layers of paint in Try Letting Go are akin to the controlled chaos evident in David Corbett's Untitled (blue) and Shill. But the energy that David distills in poured paint is entirely kinetic in Sean's work. It'd be easy to align his paintings and the illegible and invented languages that they reference to the work of Carol Padberg too. In Verlag 3 and Prensa 1, she also works decisively, but instead in tribute to modernist fonts. Sean it turns out, is a little like that guy in the back of the classroom who stuns everyone when he finally speaks up—sure he's been quiet but he's not slacking back there.