Comments on: Tina Newberry

By: Chris D

Chris D — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:21:09 +0000

I actually couldn’t decide whether I found my interpretation of the “no-coaster” thing to be pretentious or intimidating so eventually I just stopped thinking about it.

By: Chris D

Chris D — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:15:58 +0000

Actually I do ride a single speed fixed gear bike, so no coasting there, but I thought it referred to not resting, pushing forward and keeping up the investigation. You know, constant vigilance, that sort of thing. A reference to a philosophical mindset rather than a geographical state.

I do like Tina Newberry’s work, I’m still puzzling out how many different levels she’s working on. I like that piling on of fictions, exaggerations, half truths and honest expression.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:15:48 +0000

Yeah, there’s something about the way one enters and moves around a complex small-scale painting. Less real, demands more projection on the part of the viewer.

I have to admit that The Persistence of Memory has kind of sucked me in, every time I’ve seen it in person. Though I would swear I’m not a Dali fan, even if you woke me up in the middle of the night.

Also, another scandalous thing to say: in the last couple of years I’ve come to enjoy ter Borch more than Vermeer. I know Vermeer is the Great Artist, and there’s just not as much quality in ter Borch. But both of them get small scale. But Vermeer turns a small scene into a performance, one that can match any grand-scale history painting or fresco cycle or whatever. And ter Borch feels a little less like a performance and more like a singalong.

I’m glad that Newberry’s weirdness feels so idiosyncratic. When you mention the Barbie dolls, it makes me think how simple it would be for here to change course a bit and make these some kind of sociological statement a la Hillary Harkness.

By: Joey B

Joey B — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:03:02 +0000

I know Tina has a fascination with barbie dolls and I may be making this up but I think she once related that to the scale of her paintings-as in the miniature scale makes the figures feel somewhat unreal.

By: Kristin M

Kristin M — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:23:57 +0000

put me down as a fan of all three (so far) interpretations of no-coasters. any more out there?

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:39:34 +0000

Oh! All this time, I thought it referred to some blog doctrine about bicycling strategies, like we all had to ride one-speeds and avoid downslopes.

By: Sam K

Sam K — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:37:24 +0000

I also tend not to use coasters. I fear no rings of condensation on this coffee table. That kind of reckless abandon is what we aim to foster: Low-impact furniture degradation. Incidentally, that might be my new favorite answer to “describe your work” questions.

I’m with Kristin, the scale is impossible-seeming… I’ve said it before, and I say it again: nothing tops the unrepentantly weird.

By: Chris D

Chris D — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:35:05 +0000

I suddenly realize that I completely misunderstood what “no-coasters” meant. Whoops.

By: Kristin M

Kristin M — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:28:55 +0000

wow, she packs a lot into those tiny paintings. I love the attitude.

By: Joey B

Joey B — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:56:14 +0000

I just noticed the explanatory captions under almost every painting on the website, how goofy. Tina’s an interesting person, very self-deprecating and really into the Civil War. She had a party once where we all wore old hats and shot guns in the basement.