Edited Version
It is rare in abstract painting that irony and whimsy are part of things. Paul Klee, almost a century ago? But, thank goodness, these gentle yet profound human instincts still survive, emerging in the recent paintings of Bill Weiss, developed and more potent than ever.
Always questioning and on the move, Weiss’s paintings are small in size by contemporary standards. Made with quick-drying polymer emulsion, they have a brushy immediacy countered by a linear precision and unpredictable geometry.
In Bill's paintings, I’ve seen imagery come and go, yielding to painterly structured minimalism and then to almost cartoonish drawing, informal hard edged shape creations, loony happenings, the unexpected, a loose and humorous take on the possibilities of geometric abstraction.
Contemporary painters, like Andrew Masullo and many others, have riffed on the language of various abstract styles—adopting a casualness to style, an openness to mixing and matching of their predecessors. Few have, like Weiss, invented a unique language of painting that still somehow remains within the territory of abstraction.
Weiss’s fantastical inventions make the reviewer aware of what is possible, if you’d only relax, forget art history, sit back and let your mind wander. Loosen up . . . erase the boundaries, things could sprout wings, leave a trail, wander to another place, dividing, multiplying, and then. . . .
In these beautifully crafted and richly colored constructions, Weiss has invented a unique methodology. This stuff is what it’s all about. Hey everyone, let’s go have a drink.
Sheldon Figoten, Painter.
2017 Venice, California