The New Museums of Los Gatos presented a talk Thursday evening with artist Stephen Beal in conjunction Warp and Weft, an exhibition of Beal’s grid paintings that was guest curated by gallerist George Lawson. It runs until January 3, 2016.

This show spans a decade of work, and consists primarily of acrylic gouache applied to board, muslin and linen. These pieces have been inspired by textiles, music, the work of artists such as Piet Mondrian and Agnes Martin but primarily by the materiality of the work, the way the paint reacts to its substrate, the way colors butt up against each other and by the transformative process itself.

Hard to capture with photography, these panels of dots pulsate with the juxtaposition of color as seen in the detail below.

The complimentary combination of red and green really vibrates!

This series of tape pieces, Untitled #1 – #16, from 2005 is made up contact tape on fluted acrylic panels.

In this detail, you can see how the layering of these transparent tapes creates a fascinating pattern and absolutely feels like a woven textile.

I love this lacy pattern that is created by overlays of tape shown in this detail!

In this “argyle” series on muslin, the color of paint is influenced by the unprimed muslin itself which is left to show through in areas.

Stephen Beal answering questions about his work.

NUMU’s director, Lisa Cosino, and curator, Marianne McGrath introducing  guest curator, gallerist George Lawson and artist Stephen Beal.

George Lawson and Stephen Beal in a fascinating conversation about the work, the process, the craft and the creative impulse. One of Beal’s acrylic gouache on linen can be seen overhead.

Artist Lynn Letterman, gallerist Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas, and artist Lorriane Lawson attended the talk. These two artists are currently exhibiting work along with Stephen Beal at Iwasawa Oriental Art in Los Gatos. That show, Image and Transmission runs through November 30, 2015.

Stephen Beal and and his wife, Dee Hoover met working at the Art Institute of Chicago where Beal did his MFA and Hoover worked as an administrator. Coming west, Beal was provost at the California College of the Arts for over a decade when he was appointed president. He maintains his studio practice, his role as president and positions on many art’s boards and sees all this work as being part of a transformative process!