Regarding John Altoon—all I can say is GO TO LACMA NOW and see Altoon’s stunning, inspiring first major retrospective. Altoon was a visionary, but more that perhaps, he was deeply committed to the process of painting and willing to see where that journey took him. Made up of some 70 works, Altoon’s visual language is literally like no other and works like Untitled, 1964 combine both abstraction and figuration in a manner that utilizes the negative space as though it were a character in a play that is unfolding before your eyes. Altoon is also not afraid of humor or to venture a political opinion in his work and this is so refreshing. The young people coming out of graduate art programs all around the country could learn a thing or two from this master. 

LACMA
John Altoon 
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Ends Sept. 14, 2014