THE FOCUS

In film, video, sculpture, and installation, I explore the relationships between personal, collective, and official memories as they unfold in history, cityscape, and across national borders. Often, I employ my own body and subjective position in order to investigate questions of translation and belonging. Masha Vlasova, Studio Visit, May 2017 Masha Vlasova, Studio Visit, May 2017 I was a Soviet citizen; I am a U.S. citizen; the status of my Russian citizenship is uncertain. I take this site of translation—...

Rachel Bubis: You’re a Painter. But you seem to approach painting in a very specific and deliberate way, with the intention of re-contextualizing the medium. Would you say this is accurate? John Tallman: Yes, that’s right. If we unpack this specificity in terms painting, I would say it started with [Jackson] Pollock. Pollock took paint as it was, he didn’t try to falsify the characteristics of the paint. He put the liquidity in the center of his wo...

Alex Blau (b. 1970, Austin, TX) has an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and works primarily in painting. She has had solo shows at several venues, including Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville, Firecat Projects in Chicago, Gallery Seomi in Seoul, Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, Kevin Bruk Gallery in Miami, Barbara Davis Gallery in Houston, and the New Britain Museum of American Art. Alex Blau, Studio Visit, May 2017 (works pictured may be...