Among the artists sited throughout the Albright-Knox’s spaces as “interventionist” rather than installed in a single gallery are the paintings of Buffalo’s best known former art critic, Richard Huntington.  Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that art history gets a run for its money in Huntington’s practice, as seemingly incongruous sources come together in the lushly-painted, expressive canvases.  Willem de Kooning’s late-in-life geometric abstract brushstrokes are combined with an oddly centered arrangement of fruit and witty title in Our Lady of the Perpetual de Kooning Shapes, 2008; Henri Matisse’s exotic style and flat, bright colors are painted in an especially childlike style in Disappointing Sunset, 2009; and cartoon imagery and crude drawing blend in the wonderfully absurd Zimzum, 2010.  For this installation, these works are juxtaposed with masters from the Albright-Knox’s collection: Disappointing Sunset, for example, can speak its mind next to Matisse’s famed La Musique, 1939.  In the end, like the reviews he posited as a critic, the insertion of paintings throughout the building will offer an extended dialogue with the collection, and with art history.

On view at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

To hear the artist’s audio statement, click the audio player below: