“Elevator Books is a nomadic used book store, helmed by me, that regularly pops up in and around NYC. Elevator's "shelves" hold mostly out-of-print copies of books on art, architecture, design, film, food, photography, and just about any other subject matter that celebrates the visual beauty and exploration of the palpable world. This curation for Platform includes titles from some frequently appearing artists in the Elevator collection.”

Elevator Books:

“There is a quality to Lily’s work that makes me feel like it was all painted in a monastery. I know it wasn’t. But…maybe? Maybe. She paints fabric so beautifully, and her still lifes resonate in a way that feel old and dignified, without ever sacrificing their strangeness. When I see one of her works that is housed in a frame that falls short of “traditional” shape (which is thankfully often), the paintings seem to have grown from the inside, rather than been placed there from the outside. They’re wonderful.”

Lily Rose Fine:

“I am a sucker for typography by painters. Always. And Charis does it quite frequently, in a way that evokes quiet memories of Ruscha, in a slightly less isolated treatment. Her work makes real places, many pulled from the streets of New York City, feel fictional, and fictional places feel real. Which is, when you get down to it, the magic of a place well-painted. Side note: her paintings of lush, green vegetation are also fantastic and evoke that same feeling.”

Charis Ammon:

“I would not say that art is generally becoming funnier. Or more clever. We may even be in a drought of pertness in the art world today, a lack of tongue-in-cheek tone on canvas. But Nathaniel Matthew’s work, to me, is not part of that drought. Quite the opposite. Equal parts shit talk and refined observation. Equal parts pub and opera house. There is a humor and humanity and thrill and normalcy and matter-of-factness in his work that all truly delight me. His work is a quick pint and a slow drag wrapped in a lengthy roster of mediums.”

Nathaniel Matthews:

“It would be a shame to say that the sheer technical talent Brian has is the best thing about his work. Because it isn’t. But I at least have to mention it, because, come on. Look at the paintings. He creates these perfectly paletted worlds in which a combination of work from other artists and designers becomes a unique composition of his own. It is a deft, intentional, visual soup in the most complementary way. The way art and furniture look in Brian’s paintings is the way I one day want art and furniture to look in my home.”

Brian Rideout:

“When the words “color” and "repetition” are the first two to be said about an artist, I usually turn to go, but Joe’s paintings are a glaring exception to that tendency. He packs so much into his compositions. Movement and stillness. Rigidity and fluidity. Definition and confusion. All happening at the same time, on the same canvas. And watching him work in real time, dumping and manipulating watercolor on large canvases, is really a pleasure to behold. Doing a lot with not so much is a quality I’ve always loved in artists, and Joe has that ability ten fold.”

Joe Henry Baker:

“Eleanor Kaminski is still in art school! At the RISD! And her paintings are amazing! I own three of them! She works beautifully with oil and acrylic on paper and masonite board, and there is a flatness to her work that feels anything but. Her pieces make me feel like I just missed a miracle. Or that I’m standing in the millisecond between an exhale and an inhale. This series of her friends being stacked on top of each other is so fun and bizarre to me. I can’t wait to see more work from her.”

Eleanor Kaminski:

“Some work you look at and understand immediately. Some you don’t. And some, you think you might. With Daniel’s, there are pieces and pieces and pieces to put together. And most of the time, when I think I’ve gotten to where I’m meant to go, I realize I’m not even close. They are incredibly serene works that exist just outside of what we might view as traditionally beautiful. They always leave me asking, “What happened here? And what do I need to know to understand it?” Which is a question I think more of us should be asking much more frequently than we currently are.”

Daniel Licht:

“"Quilt of glances," is what I thought the first time I saw Kevin’s work IRL, in his studio in Richmond, VA. His paintings are amazing assemblages of what I like to think of as room-crossing looks, the fraction of a second of eye contact you might get from someone across a bar or table or dancefloor. Enough to notice a rogue curl of hair or a lifted eyebrow or a quick smirk or a shifty eye. The faces are obviously the subject matter in most of Kevin’s compartmentalized pieces, but what is really magical about his work is the way he creates distinct moods with color. A bunch of imperfect, individual personalities, working within a palette, to paint (literally) a mood. Incredibly cool.”

Kevin Sabo:

“Maya’s ceramic works exist on a wide spectrum of functionality, stopping at every possible point between pure form and pure function. But regardless of where exactly they land, there is a fantastic note of playfulness in all of them, and it’s not a playfulness or charm that could be easily replicated in a commercial manner. It exists solely in the singular object she’s created, amongst the flaws and the overlapping strokes of glaze and the wonky edges and the imperfect lettering. I have a totally theoretical dinner party in my head where every guest sits down to a piece from Maya on their plate.”

Maya Strauss:

“Owen’s work is very circumstantial. You feel like you’ve been dropped into a story that you’ve been watching from above. You know what happened. And you know what’s supposed to happen. But this is what it is right now. And maybe you shouldn’t be there. There is an amazing context surrounding the circumstance that’s only amplified by Owen’s glowing touch with the brush and even more glowing color palette. Even his coolest colors feel warm, in a way where I can’t help but imagine what the Los Angeles sun would do to my morning Manhattan walk. I have one of his pieces hanging in my bedroom, and it’s one of the first things I see everyday. ”

Owen Willis:

“The color contrast, saturation, and depth of Laura’s work is so cinematic and so brilliant. I feel like she paints a story being told by an unreliable narrator, and her pieces always remind me (for no actual reason, except for general feeling) of the short stories of Shirley Jackson, which describe the most menial horrors and subtle psychological fractures of the every day. Laura’s pieces seem to depict what has happened, what could happen, and what a person fears might happen, all at the same time, while maintaining the attention of now. They’re incredibly beautiful and incredibly exciting in ways we might not want them to be. ”

Laura Watters:

“There’s a rare quality, found in only the most secluded corners of the smokiest bars, where it feels that a continual conversation (or maybe a cigarette) has been being had by thousands of people, over decades and decades, without ever stopping. A quiet, constant hum that pulls you in, wraps you up, and sits you down for a very long time. That same quality exists in Lee Dawson's work. It’s mysterious and swirling. Half real, half imagined. It makes me feel like I’m floating an inch and a half off the ground, whenever I see it.”

ALEX DELANY

CURATED WITH:

ALEX DELANY

ABOUT ALEX DELANY: