NEW YORK, NY.- Gary Snyder/Project Space presents its first exhibition of John Griefen’s paintings. One might think it easier to photographically reproduce a recent monochromatic painting by John Griefen than a 50’s painting by Ad Reinhardt, as the acrylic paint on a Griefen is textured and thick in contrast to Reinhardt’s matte application. But both Reinhardt and Griefen defy reproduction, and that is just one of the things they have in common. Both demand that the viewer powerfully and authentically engage the actual painting, and both are inextricably bound to the physical act of painting.

This physicality is probably why Griefen prefers a motorcycle to a car, his rustic home in Southwest France to Brooklyn, or wine to water. Life is lived fully in the art of John Griefen, and the viewer can sense this in front of his paintings.

Griefen has been showing in New York City since the 1960s, with numerous exhibitions at Kornblee Gallery, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, and others. His work is in major public and private collections, and has been discussed by writers as diverse as Rosalind Krauss (Artforum, 1969), Hilton Kramer (NY Times, 1973) and Terry Fenton, 1981.