Eric Crosby interviews Alex Olson for the
Walker Art Center. This is in conjunction with their upcoming show Painter Painter, more on that show soon. The title of the interview is
Remarks on Surface and here's a snippet in response to Crosby's questions about what paint
is to him.
Alex Olson
I’d say there are two main qualities of paint, specifically oil paint, that especially appeal to me. One is its enormous range as a material. Depending on how it’s applied, it can read from graphic to visceral. Most of my paintings take full advantage of this quality, incorporating a variety of tools and marks to arrive at the finished piece. The second quality is its extensive history. It’s impossible to make a mark at this point that doesn’t come with a historical referent, but this is actually a huge benefit. You can pull from art history’s enormous catalogue and build off of a past meaning, re-situating it in the present toward a different end.
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Proposal 3 2012, oil on linen, 61 x 43 in.
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| Open Letter 2009, oil on linen 41 x 29 in. |
