The artists in Post prove that paintings and drawings can be captivating years after they were done, and that a timely style has a way of becoming uninteresting, even mummifying.
Lester Johnson
Artists Update Bygone Myths
Even as Pollock was eliminating mythology in his work, younger artists born in the 1920s were finding ways to make it fresh.
Dark Paintings Done in a Dark Time: Lester Johnson’s Men
Lester Johnson (1919–2010) was an innovative figurative painter who has never quite fit into any of the accepted narratives of postwar American art, and that alone makes his work worthy of a longer look.
Lester Johnson’s Last Paintings
Lester Johnson (1919 – 2010) remains a cult figure, particularly for those who care about painting, which, let’s face it, is a cult made up of warring factions. Johnson is a full-fledged member of the faction to which the terms “painterly,” “expressionist,” and “figurative” have accrued, but which are too diluted to be of any use. He remains best known for his paintings of men, often depicted as monochrome silhouettes packed tightly together.