Your Mind, This Moment: Art and the Practice of Attention, February 17, 2017 - August 17, 2017, Second Fl. North Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

Momentum: An Experience in the Unexpected, October 2, 2014 - February 22, 2015, New Wing, Second Floor, North and Central Skylight Galleries, San José Museum of Art.

Juicy Paint, December 22, 2009 -May 30, 2010, New Wing, Second Floor, South Metro A Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

It's About Time: Celebrating 35 Years, October 3, 2004 - February 13, 2005, New Wing, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, First Floor, San José Museum of Art.

Your Mind, This Moment: Art and the Practice of Attention (2017)

In Hole in One, Sam Tchakalian’s use of aquatic blue oil paints evokes the serene waters of the sea. The predominantly blue canvas displays the traces of his sweeping gestures that reach beyond arm’s length, disrupted sporadically by bursts of white. Tchaklian’s spontaneous energy and improvisation create a visually dynamic plane. His application of paint is thick and generous as he uses a palette knife to articulate the surface. A leading figure of the West Coast Abstract Expressionist movement, Tchakalian created works driven by energetic impulse and the interplay of color to express the individual psyche.


Momentum: An Experience in the Unexpected (2014-2015)

Sam Tchakalian’s impact on the history of California art is twofold: he is celebrated for his spirited nonobjective paintings, their luscious surfaces revealing his single-minded devotion to the material nature of paint; and he was respected for his role as an influential teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute, where his unflinching honesty and committed attitude guided students for 35 years. Early in his career Tchakalian discovered a manner of working that suited him and he spent a lifetime devoted to exploring its possibilities and affirming his belief in the process of creation through the manipulation of his chosen materials.

Hole in One (1990) initially seems simple, yet the evidence of Tchakalian’s gestures and process are an integral aspect of the work and its complexity unfolds upon closer inspection. The artist began by painting a thin base coat of red oil paint on the canvas, which he almost completely covered with a layer of white gesso. Over the gesso he painted great sweeping horizontal strokes of blue-green, accented by darker blue-green and gray, and punctuated with patches of unpainted primed canvas. The painting possesses neither illusionistic effects nor allusions to anything found in the outside world. Execution and performance are unstated correlates of Hole in One; the artist’s effort is evident where he swept his tool across the canvas, varying his pressure and indicating his presence through the application of the paint. The soothing, watery reference of the blue-green color establishes a calming mood, and the rhythmic horizontal stripes reinforce the sensation of respite, as does the generosity with which the artist handles the medium.


It's About Time: Celebrating 35 Years (2004-2005)

Hole in One is deceptively simple, but the complexity of the work unfolds upon closer inspection. The painting possesses neither illusory effects nor does it directly refer to anything found in the outside world. The generosity with which Sam Tchakalian handled paint is evident everywhere he swept his palette knife across the canvas, layering the color and varying his pressure. The soothing, watery effect of the blue-green color establishes a sense of calm, while the rhythmic horizontal stripes offer rich textural variation.

• Image Dimensions: 84 x 84 in. (213.36 x 213.36 cm)

This object has the following bibliographic references:

• Selections: The San Jose Museum of Art Permanent Collection. Selections: The San Jose Museum of Art Permanent Collection San Jose Museum of Art. San Jose, CA, 2004
  Page Number: 216-217

This object is a member of the following portfolios: