Amy Sillman

oh, Clock not only provides the exhibition with its title, but is also exemplary for Amy Sillman’s most recent works. In both the exhibition and accompanying publication, the artist confronts the significance of time in the painting process, writing: “I’ve been thinking for a long time about how both the time and the space of painting can play a role in releasing meaning in the room of an exhibition. Time is packed into the paintings, the time of their making, which is largely covered to the viewer. I like to reveal the underlayers to think about how time is packed in there, so that’s one thing.”

The painting itself testifies to Sillman’s engagement with the work of other artists on multiple levels. For example, the intricate and vertical lines and the reference to a clock evoke works by Jasper Johns such as Between the Clock and the Bed (1981). Amy Sillman possesses a wide-ranging knowledge of art history and painting, enabling her to utilize such strategies as improvisation or the devising of a score, as a conceptual painting guide prior to painting.