13 More Spot Paintings That Are Not by Damien Hirst

By Andrew Russeth 1/18 5:06pm

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When people respond to something we do, Gallerist behaves like a small child–or a certain contemporary artist: we repeat ourselves. Last week, celebrating the grand debut of Damien Hirst’s 11-gallery spot-painting spectacular, we published a brief guide to spot paintings that were not made by Mr. Hirst. Readers replied in the comments section and on Twitter, sharing their favorite spot paintings and painters. Heartened by the response, we present here 13 more fine spot paintings. Thank you to everyone who wrote in.
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Bridget Riley, Scale Study: Ochre, Cerise and Turquoise in Closed Discs, 1970

Though of course best known for her eye-warping Op paintings, Ms. Riley also produced comparatively serene spot paintings, like the drawing seen here, composed of spots colored lime, raspberry and blueberry. Perfection. (Thank you to Alison Gingeras for recommending the UK–based artist, who turned 80 last year.)
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Ugo Rondinone, Nr. 214 TWENTYFOURTHJULYTWOTHOUSANDANDZERO, 2000

Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone makes spot paintings in the grand 'target' tradition of Kenneth Noland and Jasper Johns, while edging it into slightly trippier territory. Sometimes a concentric spot painting, especially one that is rich with pinks, yellows and purples, is all one needs.
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Thomas Downing, Red-1966, 1966

Writer Tyler Green suggested Mr. Downing, one of the Washington, D.C.–based artists making Color Field paintings in the 1950s and 1960s, much to the delight of Clement Greenberg. His works are clean, clear, rigorously organized and sometimes, as is the case here, quite beautiful. He has also been championed by the UK artist group the Stuckists as evidence that Mr. Hirst is a plagiarist of some sort.
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Larry Poons, Han-San Cadence, 1963

The moment Gallerist clicked "Publish" on our previous non-Hirst spot painting post, we regretted not including Mr. Poons--a master of the spot.
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Joan Miró, Bleu II, 1961

In this piece, the second painting in a three-part suite of works in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, Miró pares down his Surrealist magic to its most basic form: the spot.
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Paul McMahon, Red Dots Painting, 1985

Specific Object proprietor David Platzker declared Mr. McMahon the "[b]est dot painter of the '80s" on Twitter, and we're hard-pressed to disagree. This piece is just 12 inches by 12 inches, a square foot of red spots perfectly balanced throughout the work.
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Agnes Martin, Untitled, 1960

Yes, Ms. Martin, the Minimalist master of the line and grid had a few moments of shocking spot perfection. Who knew? Ms. Gingeras.
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Kazimir Malevich, Black Circle, 1913/1920s

The omission of Russian Suprematist founder Mr. Malevich from our initial list was rather embarrassing. We've tried to correct it here with this unsurpassed and admirably early spot painting from the collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, made originally in 1913 and redone sometime in the 1920s.
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Bharti Kher, A love letter, 2009

Often held out as an example of spare, austere elegance, the spot painting, in Indian artist Bharti Kher's hands, is pushed into the realm of luxury and decadence, spots (each one a bindi) spilling into one another and bursting exuberantly off the canvas. (Another recommendation of Ms. Gingeras.)
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Wojciech Fangor, M 65, 1968-2001

Polish artist Wojciech Fangor has been cranking out psychedelic spot paintings for decades, many that look eerily like Mr. Rondinone's work. Lush, sometimes captivating stuff.
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Mark Dagley, Primary Color Vortex, 1995

An anonymous commenter kindly tipped us off to Mr. Dagley's work, which often features hundreds of dots put into action to create wildly kinetic, Op-infused paintings like the one above.
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Robert Barry, One Billion Colored Dots, 1969

Damien Hirst has declared that his largest spot painting will feature two million dots. "It's fucking mad," Mr. Hirst told The Observer's Anthony Haden-Guest. Robert Barry went 500 times larger. Recommended by Mr. Platzker, the work is photographed here by the intrepid bloggers of Opening Ceremony.
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Anonymous, Tantric painting (11–6); Legend: The Birth of Speech; near Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 2008

Feature Inc. is showing a bounty of anonymous paintings made by followers of Tantrism in India. Many of them feature remarkably unique spots, reminders that the spot painting is something more than a grand Western tradition.
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