Art on Sunday

I visited the Whitney to see Mark Bradfords show. I thought he'd have the whole floor but really there were just four new paintings. One hangs in the stairway going down to the cafe, the other 3 are in the first floor space. They look fantastic. The middle work is HUGE and glows as it has a silver background. There are less found posters on the surface than in the show at the Hammer Museum, and the pieces are less map-like. Bradford excaves the surfaces and here seems to draw into them as well.

Also on view were photographs by Danny Lyon. Again it was a small show. Selections from different series were on view. I was looking forward to his montages but they were disappointing--mostly personal collages. There were 2 30 minute films as well.

At the Asia Society I saw the exhibition "Zhang Huan: Altered States." Born in 1965 in Henan Province, China, Zhang Huan is best known for his controversial early works of performance art, most of which focus on physical endurance. The exhibition consisted of photo-documentation of his performances as well as some large sculptures. It was less awe inspiring than I had hoped.