Paul Bloodgood (1960 – May 4, 2018) was an artist and gallery owner who played an iconoclastic role in the New York art world for multiple decades. Bloodgood produced predominantly abstract paintings often relating to the works of earlier artists from Jackson Pollock to Paul Cézanne. He co-founded the AC Project Room in Lower Manhattan, and held solo exhibitions in several US cities, including New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., and at the Andreas Binder Gallery in Germany. His group exhibitions included shows at the Saatchi Gallery in London.^[1] He was a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow.^[2]

Life

Paul Bloodgood was born in Nyack, New York, and awarded a BA in painting from Yale University in 1982. He moved to New York City in 1986 and received his MFA from Maine College of Art in 2002.^[2] He taught painting at Rutgers University, Cooper Union, and the Savannah College of Art, and was a recipient of multiple awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2009.

Michael Kimmelman wrote in The New York Times, "Mr. Bloodgood pushes things right to the edge, but not over it. The gestures are dizzying, yet not empty or simply derivative of the Abstract Expressionists whose art he inevitably evokes. There's a genuine and exuberant emotional quality here that suggests Mr. Bloodgood is someone to watch."

A 2012 Art in America review of his second solo show at the Newman Popiashvili Gallery described Objects in Pieces (2011) as having "a sense of being in the thick of things, a zooming in, as opposed to a deliberate fracturing and arranging. The accentuated density of elements and the intensity of this particular painting make it his most accessible and instantly gratifying canvas to date."^[3] It explained that Bloodgood had recently suffered a head injury, the result of a 2010 mugging, "leaving him with an optical disorder that prevents him from recognizing a whole object if he sees only parts of it... the artist has since changed his process and is relying on his impairment, rather than collages, to create his fragmentary abstractions."^[3]

"Standing in front of Bloodgood’s oils," it continued, "one is deeply impressed by the artist’s offbeat perspective and resolute pursuit of his own language."^[3]

From 1989 to 2001, Bloodgood operated AC Project Room, an independent, artist-run commercial gallery, initially on Renwick Avenue, later moving to Broome Street in SoHo, New York, along with Alissa Friedman and fellow artist Anne Chu. Together, they organized early, solo exhibits of many important artists' works, including: Louise Lawler, Matthew Ritchie, Isa Genzken, Fiona Banner, Kai Althoff, Verne Dawson, Doug Aitken, Kiki Smith, Jane & Louise Wilson, and Josiah McElheny.^[4]

For four years in the early 2000s he worked as a colorist, creating a range of paint colours for Martha Stewart and Lowe's Home Centers based on Paul Klee's color theories from his time at the Bauhaus.^[2][5]

Despite being diagnosed with early onset Alzhiemer's disease following the traumatic 2010 brain injury, Bloodgood continued working in his studio until 2017.

Exhibitions

Further reading

2012: Wilson, Michael. “Paul Bloodgood, ‘Objects in Pieces.'^[9] Time Out New York (February 2–8, 2012): 40; McClemont, Doug. “Reviews: Paul Bloodgood.” Artnews (June 2012): 96

2009: Coggins, David. “Paul Bloodgood and Michel Auder.” Art in America (February, 2009): 130-131; Dobrzynski, Judith H. “What Does it take to Win a Guggenheim Fellowship, Part 2.” Real Clear Arts. (April 23, 2009) [online]

2008: Perry, Colin. “Unrelated.” Frieze Magazine (July, 2008); “Bloodgood, Bullock, Kwiatec.” Art News (2008); Hayden-Guest, Anthony. saatchionline.com (2008) [online]

2000: Myles, Eileen. Art in America (March, 2000)

1999: MacAdam, Barbara. Art News (October, 1999); Conley, Kevin. The New Yorker (May 10, 1999); Schmerler, Sarah. “Paul Bloodgood: Now Wait for Last Year.” Time Out New York (May 6, 1999); Glueck, Grace. “Art in Review,” The New York Times (April 23, 1999)

1998: Cotter, Holland. “When Words’ Meaning is in Their Look.^[10] The New York Times (October 16, 1998); Kino, Carol. “In the Beginning.” Time Out New york, Issue 159 (October 8–15, 1998): 62; Scott, Andrea. “Current Top Picks.” City Search (October 8, 1998)

1996: Melrod, George. “Openings.” Art & Antiques (June 25, 1996): Halle, Howard. Time Out New York (May, 1996)

1995: Siegel, Jeanne. “Reviews.” Art International (May/July, 1995): 237; Schjeldahl, Peter. “Gallery Legs.” The Village Voice (May 30, 1995); Smith, Roberta. “Art in Review.” The New York Times (May 14, 1993): C26 Scott, Sue. ARTnews (September, 1993): 176

1993: Saltz, Jerry. “Critic’s Diary.” Art in America (June, 1993): 43; Kimmelman, Michael. The New York Times (May 14, 1993): C26; Scott, Sue. ARTnews (September, 1993): 175

References