By Jules Lavallee

 

Influenced by the movements of color field and action painting, Francine Tint’s paintings are the result of a process of disclosure, drawn from her own life events, dreams, and literature. Tint has been the proud recipient of grants and awards such as the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Grant, two Pollock Krasner Grants, and a recent Honorable Mention from the Butler Institute. Tint’s work has been shown extensively both nationally and internationally and is held in the permanent collections of over 27 museums, including the Portland Art Museum, the Heckscher Museum of Art, and the Krannert Art Museum. She has been featured in over 30 solo shows, most recently at Cavalier Galleries in New York City.


Your paintings are a result of a process of disclosure, drawn from your own life events, dreams, and literature. Tell us about your work. 

The surfaces of my paintings – all acrylics on canvas — are relatively flat, though frequently conveying the impression of deeper space by different degrees of thickness of the paint and layering some forms on top of others.

Working wet on wet, I paint in energetic, and assertive brushstrokes. Through short, sharp bursts of color, my art expresses a unique sense of contemporary life and personal experience.

Tell us about how you bring your own unique brand of “Color Field painting.”

I have been working long and hard to differentiate my work from its former context and time frame, doing my best to establish my own unique brand of Color Field painting. My extensive background as a costume designer has inspired me to experiment with the natural world and engage with pigment and movement without its dictating what the outcome may be. I trust that the organic interplay of my form and color decisions will take its place in the natural world no less than in the manmade. 

Your paintings are seen nationally and internationally; and are held in the permanent collections of over 27 museums, including the Portland Art Museum, the Heckscher Museum of Art, and the Krannert Art Museum. Share some of your favorite paintings worldwide.

My solo show at P.zza V. Veneto – Matera, Italy, was a special one for me. 

Tell us about the New Orleans show and Voltaire in Love. What inspired you for this painting?

I enjoy working large scale and am tempted to go even larger, as I used to. In the past, I’ve made paintings over 20 feet long. The scale was chosen and seeing them stretched, was enlightening to me. 


For ‘Voltaire in Love’, I was inspired by love.

 

What do you enjoy the most about this exhibit? 

I have a beautiful studio here in Manhattan, but the scale of my works never allows me to see my paintings displayed in all of their glory unless they are stretched– there’s no space large enough! However, thanks to the magnificent space at Octavia Gallery, the works can shine with true dynamism. 

How are your paintings like a dance? 

I use long-handled house-painter brushes and rollers, so the motion is with the whole body, not just the wrist, creating much larger and freer forms. ‘Wonky’ is a great example of this.

The Real Abstraction – Five Painters Beyond the Picture is a group exhibition at the Cross Contemporary Partners Virtual Gallery, curated by Peter Frank, a West Coast contemporary critic. What excites you the most about this exhibit? 

The well-chosen paintings by a well-chosen curator!

Do you have a favorite painting? 

I have many, but to name a few more recent pieces: ‘Voltaire in Love’, ‘Wonky’ and ‘Lipstick’, are some that stand out to me. 

Real Abstraction – Five Painters Beyond the Picture

An excerpt from a group exhibition, curated by Peter Frank, a West Coast contemporary critic, at the Cross Contemporary Partners Virtual Gallery.

“Francine Tint, long associated with Color Field painting, allows the natural to enter into her expansive engagement of pigment and movement without its dictating what the outcome may be. Tint trusts that, as she (like Pollock) is part of nature herself, the interplay of her form and color decisions will take its place in the natural world no less than in the manmade. Still, the breadth of certain of Tint’s canvases, roiling with color eruptions and lyrical flows, presents us with a kind of environmentalized drama that demands its own meteorology.” – Peter Frank, reviewed in Vasari 21

 

You’ve had a very busy year with many exhibits. Tell us about the Neuberger Museum exhibit. 

I was acquired by the Neuberger Museum’s permanent collection in 2020, in Purchase, NY, exhibiting next to Al Held and Cleve Gray, among others. Unfortunately, it closed due to COVID, but it is expected to reopen this summer, I believe. 

What can we expect to see from you in 2021? 

As aforementioned, the reopening of the Neuberger, and upcoming projects and conversations with galleries. 

http://www.francinetint.com/

@francinetint on Instagram

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