This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 19, 2010 - Schmidt Contemporary Art is featuring Ford Beckman’s “Pop Rhythm Paintings,” ebullient works with drips and nests of paint floating against solid-colored backgrounds. It’s as if Beckman simultaneously channeled Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, and worked the results into a marvelous Pop-Expressionist hybrid.
Beckman has a knack for pairing colors, particularly of the complementary variety: greens and reds clash joyfully, while blacks and oranges vie gamely for your attention.
Those familiar with Beckman will know that this new direction is but the latest chapter in an epic career that has taken the artist from the height of success to the depths of obscurity, and from minimalist rectangles to paintings of clowns.
The 11 works on view here are graceful, engaging, joyful and confident — Beckman is back on track.
Ivy Cooper, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the Beacon art critic.