The paintings of Squeak Carnwath (American, b. 1947), often subtly illuminated by meticulously applied layers of glaze, embody complex layers of meaning. “Paintings are not ordinary objects,” the artist observes. “Painting is a carrier of meaning, of human touch. Each brush stroke or smear of pigment is freighted with philosophical inquiry.” In Carnwath’s works, rows of writing are placed to slow the eye, “to put the viewer in real time.” Recurring motifs touch on personal and universal themes, from a rabbit tentatively seeking its place in a chaotic world to the seated blue Medicine Buddha, healer of ills and reminder of the latent Buddha nature in each of us.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition organized by the Oakland Museum of California, Squeak Carnwath: Painting Is No Ordinary Object celebrates the wonder and spirit embodied in each of Carnwath’s works. Over eighty full-color reproductions trace the development of the artist’s distinctive style from the 1970s to the present, while essays by curator Karen Tsujimoto and art critic John Yau explore the personal, social, and artistic context of this powerful body of work.