Referencing Carl Ostendarp’s characteristic fusion of Pop, Minimalism, Color Field painting, and cartoons, art critic Jerry Saltz once mused that “If Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat, Jules Olitski and Roy Lichtenstein made art it together, it might look like

Ostendarp’s.” His humorous paintings feature biomorphic forms (think “splats” and spills), words, and vibrant patches of color, and often extend beyond the canvas to cover part or all of the gallery walls.

Music, too, is integral to these works because, as Ostendarp explains, “Somehow music has this quality of keeping us in the present tense, and I hope that this feeling spills over to the viewers’ experience of the visual work.” Thus, songs by the Velvet Underground and the Talking Heads not only constitute some of his exhibition titles, but also resound throughout his exhibition spaces.

Bio is from artsy.net.

Carl Ostendarp’s paintings were once described by art critic Jerry Saltz as a hypothetical collaborative art production by Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat, Jules Olitski, and Roy LIchtenstein, and we couldn’t agree more. These playful paintings evoke a

range of visual cues from cartoons to high art minimalism (quite notably referenced in Untitled (Miro Painting)), and Ostendarp’s distinctive painted typeface has an undeniable resemblance to that which appears in all of our favorite children’s books by none other than the author ofThe Lorax, Horton Hears a Who!, and Green Eggs and Ham (just to name a few from the master of eccentric rhymes and fantastical character illustration).

Filled with humor and laced with references to art history as well as contemporary popular culture, Ostendarp’s paintings have seduced us into their pleasantly colored world of empty, melting Seuss-ian landscapes.

As you gaze into Master Cylinder with its dark brown drip descending over a cream-

colored ground, you can’t help but imagine a seemingly playful yet dark sky over a mountain range of cartooned, snow-capped alps and wonder, “Oh, the places you’ll go.”

I hope you enjoy my piece today!  I loved painting it.  It was inspiring in a weird way. 🙂 I think my only challenge was having too many ideas and picking just one or two for this painting.  I will see you tomorrow on Day 242!