San José Museum of Art

See what you think.

Juicy Paint

  • Thick textured primary colors are smeared across a canvas seemingly randomly. Upon longer inspection, the blurred smears take shape into a yellow kitchen table, upon which sits an overflowing fruit bowl. Behind that table is a smiling, brown-eyed child in a blue shirt holding a utensil.

    Joan Brown
    Noel at the Table with a Large Bowl of Fruit, 1963
    Oil on canvas
    48 x 60 inches
    Collection of John Modell, San Francisco

  • A grey and orange abstract work. The large grey color field has been carefully scraped away to reveal organic shapes and areas of orange which glow through the thick paint.

    Long Nguyen
    Homage to a Troubled Land, 1989
    Oil on canvas
    Gift of the artist with additional support from the Museum’s Collections Committee, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th anniversary

  • An abstract pink and yellow painting. At the center of the image is a graceful white swoop which comes to a grey and yellow point. A soft pink glow draws your attention back to the central shape until you notice the many layers of paint slowly alluding into a bird.

    Nathan Oliveira
    Raptor 1, 1986
    Oil on canvas
    60 x 52 inches
    Gift of Deedee and Burton McMurtry, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary

  • Jeffrey Keith
    Elsbeth, 2006
    Oil on linen
    66 x 66 inches
    Gift of Jeffrey Keith and Linda Fairchild Contemporary Art

  • Elmer Bischoff
    Two Women in Vermillion Light, 1959
    Oil on canvas
    67 ½ x 67 ½ inches
    Partial and promised gift of Ann Marie and Averill Mix, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th anniversary

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    From buttery brushstrokes to massive, sculptural buildups of surfaces, many contemporary artists—like the impressionists and fauves before them—let the paint tell the story. Painters have long been inspired by the rich, visceral qualities of paint—its texture, its color, its sumptuousness. Drawn from the Museum’s own holdings, Juicy Paint explores the many ways in which artists have explored and exploited the sheer physicality and dimensional effects of paint since the 1950s. Highlights include works by Elmer Bischoff, Joan Brown, Nathan Oliveira, Manuel Neri, Karl Kasten, Jeffrey Keith, Sam Tchakalian, and Phe Ruiz.

    Sponsors

    • University Art Center
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