Louis Block

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

Oil on linen, 18 x 20 inches

From last year. Oil on linen, 13 1/2 x 15 inches

Wrote about 70 years of Lois Dodd’s paintings at @kunstmuseum.nl , out now in @brooklynrail

Closing Saturday— last chance to see this watercolor and more at @artcake_nyc — @cathouse_proper @jodiemanasevit @joseph_brock @casimirn

Penultimate week for Like Cotyledons Buckled with Loam, open Thursday–Sunday 12–6pm through January 31 Untitled, 2025. Oil on linen, 18 x 20 1/2 inches @artcake_nyc @cathouse_proper @joseph_brock @jodiemanasevit @casimirn

LIKE COTYLEDONS BUCKLED WITH LOAM The painting of Thomas Nozkowski with Louis Block, Joseph Brock, and Jodie Manasevit, cinematic contribution by Casimir Nozkowski, built and curated by David Dixon ART CAKE @artcake_nyc 214 40th St. Brooklyn 11232 open thru Sat. January 31 hrs. Thurs-Sun, 12-6pm Included in this exhibition of mostly painting, we also centrally project Casimir Nozkowki’s video “a hike with Thomas Nozkowski.” from 2007. This video captures a conversation the filmmaker had with his painter father about seeing. I first saw this video in a studio visit with painter participant Joseph Brock who showed it to me when discussing Nozkowski’s influence. The video, oddly, made me laugh; there is a visual delight to see like this, to be taught to see like Nozkowski, to see like a Nozkowski painting. It led me to believe that everyone should paint like this, or that this is what we all do when we paint, or even just think; essentially, we abstract things from reality. Perhaps the mark of a great artist is that their method seems, in its moment, universally applicable and self-evident. In any event, in this video, to witness Nozkowski spin a visual tale from some debris and lichen found on a rock is to know the joy of imaginative pluralism’s endless making. We should say not Art for Art’s Sake, but Life for Art’s Sake. This is the creed I now retroactively recite when presented with a Nozkowski painting.  And here we have the paintings, not only of Nozkowski, but of several generations of descendants, each of whom has their own very specific language, but all of whom have gathered some seed from Nozkowski. This installation of artwork attempts to celebrate these lived connections through art and its community of makers in time. With this show, from a certain point of view, the whole of Art Cake (consistent with its mission) becomes a kind of cell in the act of mitosis: appropriating, extending, growing, harvesting, cathecting. . . . For the full Press Release and related press please link in Bio. #thomasnozkowski @joseph_brock @louisblock @jodiemanasevit #daviddixon @artcake_nyc #cotyledon #harvesting #cathecting

Two of the watercolors included in Like Cotyledons Buckled with Loam, curated by @cathouse_proper at @artcake_nyc open Thursday–Sunday 12-6 With: @jodiemanasevit @joseph_brock @casimirn

‘Like Cotyledons Buckled with Loam’ opening reception Friday 5-9pm @artcake_nyc The painting of Thomas Nozkowski with Louis Block, Joseph Brock, and Jodie Manasevit, cinematic contribution by Casimir Nozkowski, built and curated by David Dixon Art Cake 214 40th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 This exhibition began with a question asked to painter participant Jodie Manasevit during her exhibition ‘Jodie Manasevit: Cathected’ at Ghostmachine this past November. The question was, “If you could show with any artist, living or dead, who would it be?” The answer: Thomas Nozkowski. This was something of a set up because I knew after having had many studio-visit conversations with Manasevit that this would be her answer. Additionally, I had just recently visited the studios of painter participants Louis Block and Joseph Brock, both of whom also referenced Nozkowski as a primary influence. Personally, I knew little about Nozkowski’s work, and quickly found and read this same Louis Block’s review of Nozkowski’s first posthumous exhibition at Pace in 2024 published in The Brooklyn Rail (linked in bio). A line from this exceptionally evocative review provided our exhibition’s title: ‘Like Cotyledons Buckled with Loam.’ Hope to see you Friday evening for a celebratory reception with the artists, otherwise hours are Thurs-Sun 12-6pm thru Jan 31. #cotyledon #loam #artcake @louisblock @joseph_brock @jodiemanasevit @casimirn #thomasnozkowski

Watercolor, gouache, and acrylic on paper, 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

Watercolor, acrylic, and gouache on paper, 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

Dutch & Flemish rounds part 2