Old friends at the MCA, Chicago

I still haven't seen the Gallagher show in LA but I was happy to visit an older work of hers in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.  They also had an outstanding Leon Golub on view. His work came up in graduate critiques last month.  Together the work of Gallagher and Golub serve as examples of what can happen when the surface of a painting is up for debate.  Golub scrapes his paint down to the canvas weave and Gallagher builds it up into deliciousness. 

detail, Ellen Gallagher, Pomp-Bang

Ellen Gallagher, Pomp-Bang, 2003

detail, Ellen Gallagher, Pomp-Bang

Leon Golub

detail, Leon Golub