Blake Morgan and JohnHenry Tecklenburg: Figures and Landscapes
I love my job at Bowery Gallery. I get to be the blog writer, which means that I get to stare at and think about paintings, research and interact with the artists about their work, and translate and synthesize my thoughts into coherent (enough) prose, all in the name of portraying praise of the artists who show at Bowery Gallery. Through all of that, I benefit personally because I get to learn through looking and through writing.
Having said all of that, I am in this gallery because I am a painter. And staring at the paintings of Blake Morgan and JohnHenry Tecklenburg is not just a lesson in painting, it’s also a lesson in self restraint. I say this because the surfaces of these paintings and pastel drawings in this show are just so irresistibly soft and lucious, that whenever I look at them, all I want to do is go paint.
Tecklenburg’s pastels feel like 500 year old frescoes…
JohnHenry Tecklenburg, "Pastel Study," Pastel on Paper, 11" x 6.5", 2018
…while Morgan’s landscapes are so sculptural, they feel like they have been carved out of a block of paint.
Blake Morgan, "Italy 3", Oil on Paper, 22.5" x 68", 2021
Though their styles are different, they are both responding viscerally to the experience of observation.
JohnHenry Tecklenburg, "Reclining Figure", Oil on Canvas, 47" x 78", 2018
Blake Morgan, "Jeff's House", Oil on Paper, 31" x 65", 2025
They say that a work of art captures the aesthetic experience of the moment. To me, some art captures the experience of witnessing the scene, but other art captures the experience of making the work–the impression that the scene made on the artist.
Maybe this is what it means to be a painter’s painter. Or, maybe this is a cautionary tale, to the likes of, “Never go into a grocery store hungry.” In this case, “Never write a blog post without having first made a successful painting,” …or having had a successful painting session…maybe?
Since there are never any guarantees of that, I will just have to conclude this post by encouraging everyone to please come to this beautiful show, which runs from June 24 until July 12, 2025. The opening reception is Thursday, June 26, 2025 from 5-8pm.
