Portrait of Sam Gilliam, pencil on paper by Phong Bui. Based on a photograph by Fredrik Nilsen Studio. News The Brooklyn Rail Interviews Sam Gilliam by Tom McGlynnSeptember 4, 2019 At its very core, the intrinsic value of art—which can be disruptive, unpredictable, and at the very least challenging—has tremendous transformative and healing incentives.Whether it occurs at the first encounter or over time, the implications for the viewer, be they formal or emotional, are simultaneously simple and complex, generous and demanding. Eluding easy categorizations has been at times disadvantageous to Sam Gilliam’s consistent visibility, perhaps due as much to our social and political context as to changes in aesthetic or taste.Gilliam has always done one thing throughout his career: be perpetually subversive by constantly erupting the delineating line that divides the visual world of painting from the world outside. By persisting in his pursuit of endless possibilities in expanding the language of abstraction, in his hand, the idiom of the so-called soak-stain technique and Color Field painting have been liberated into the realm of true invention and pleasure. On the occasion of Gilliam’s two exhibits, Sam Gilliam: New Works on Paper at the FLAG Art Foundation and Sam Gilliam (early works from the 1960s and 1970s) on long-term view at Dia:Beacon, as well as joining Pace Gallery as his New York representation, The Brooklyn Rail's editor-at-large Tom McGlynn took a trip to visit the artist at his home/studio in Washington, D.C.Head to The Brooklyn Rail to read the full interview now! Read More Art comes from the idea of inversion, from the change you want to make to what you see and wherever you find it. Sam Gilliam Journal View All Films Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, and William T. Williams In Conversation Apr 25, 2022 News Dia Art Foundation and MFA Houston Acquire Sam Gilliam's "Double Merge" (1968) Mar 15, 2021 Museum Exhibitions The Ringling Presents "Sam Gilliam: Selections" Feb 21, 2021 Pace Publishing Sam Gilliam: Existed Existing Feb 11, 2021 News — The Brooklyn Rail Interviews Sam Gilliam, Sep 4, 2019