In colour: the Colour Field movement’s past and present merge at Paul Kasmin

The Color Field movement – defined by saturated paint and amorphous shapes – was a distinctive approach pioneered by Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, a conscious rejection the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline.
There’s a new generation of artists echoing and reinventing that practice – and none more so than the Brooklyn-based artist Landon Metz.
Paul Kasmin Gallery’s latest staging cleverly juxtaposes Metz’s newest endeavours right alongside one of Louis’ seminal Veil paintings in the exhibition ‘Morris Louis/Landon Metz’.
Front and centre is Louis’s iconic 1958 work, Tzadik, with its layers of diluted paint in a palette of moss greens that bleed into tobacco browns and burnt orange. Next to that pivotal work are Metz’s four Untitled paintings, each measuring some six feet in length as well as close to five feet in width.
‘Like Louis, Landon questions the traditional processes, such as brush work, involved in creating a painting,’ says Eric Gleason, the gallery director who co-curated this show with the art critic Alex Bacon. ‘Where he continues to push those boundaries is with regard to the painting versus sculpture categorisation, and the image versus object power struggle,’ he adds.
Rather than turning to highly thinned paint, Metz literally pours acrylic blue dye onto unprimed, unstretched canvases, and in doing so, achieves a sense of stain. ‘The dye literally flows over the canvas and creates a new form,’ he points out. Metz’s Pillar is just that – a freestanding, cube-like sculpture comprised of individual sections also rendered in blue dye against an untreated canvas.
With so much of contemporary art marked by sharp angles and an occasionally day-glo palette, Landon’s work is thrillingly meditative in nature.
Metz, a Brooklyn-based contemporary artist, echoes and reinvents the practice established by Louis, which is defined by saturated paint and amorphous shapes. Pictured: one of Metz’s Untitled works on display
‘Like Louis, Landon questions the traditional processes, such as brush work, involved in creating a painting,’ says Eric Gleason, the gallery director who co-curated this show with the art critic Alex Bacon
Front and centre is Louis’s iconic 1958 work, Tzadik (pictured), with its layers of diluted paint in a palette of moss greens that bleed into tobacco browns and burnt orange
INFORMATION
’Morris Louis/Landon Metz’ is on view until 9 April. For more information, visit Paul Kasmin Gallery’s website
ADDRESS
Paul Kasmin Gallery
515 West 27th St
New York, NY 10001
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Formafatal ventures deep into the Costa Rican jungle with Studio House, a spectacular retreat
Set high on a forested hillside, the Studio House has far-reaching ocean views yet is completely integrated into its site
-
Peek inside Madrid’s best-kept art secret
Solo’s labyrinthine new art space in Madrid presents a surreal opportunity for exploring contemporary art and architecture
-
A lush Bengaluru villa is a home that acts as a vessel for nature
With this new Bengaluru villa, Purple Ink Studio wanted gardens tucked into the fabric of the home within this urban residence in India's 'Garden City'
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
As we approach Frieze, our editors have been trawling the capital's galleries. Elsewhere: a 'Wineglass' marathon, a must-see film, and a visit to a science museum
-
June Leaf’s New York survey captures a life in motion
June Leaf made art in many forms for over seven decades, with an unstoppable energy and fierce appetite leading her to rationalise life in her own terms.
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect Park
In a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
-
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles launches the seventh iteration of its highly anticipated artist biennial
One of the gallery's flagship exhibitions, Made in LA showcases the breadth and depth of the city's contemporary art scene
-
Inside a Courtney Love-inspired art exhibition in New York
Liza Jo Eilers looks to the glory days of Hole at an exhibition at Grimm New York
-
Thomas Prior’s photography captures the uncanny fragility of American life
A new book unites two decades of the photographer’s piercing, uneasy work
-
Apple unveils its next-gen camera in a powerful new photography exhibition
The new iPhone 17 Pro Max takes centre stage in a New York exhibition where artists Inez & Vinoodh, Mickalene Thomas, and Trunk Xu explore the theme of joy
-
Central Park’s revitalised Delacorte Theater gears up for a new future
Ennead Architects helmed an ambitious renovation process that has given the New York City cultural landmark a vibrant and more accessible future