First stop was the studio museum in harlem where there is an exhibition by the LA artist Kori Newkirk. It presents works form the last 10 years (1997-2007) and focuses on the beaded images as there are numerous works from the bead series in the exhibition. These works translate photographic images of the skyline, trees and landscape into threads of plastic beads. The beads become pixels and while the images are indentifiable, they are also disentegrated. Works in other mediums, pomade, video, collage and neon sculptures are also on view.
From there it was back to Chelsea to see Nina Katchadourian's video installation at Sara Meltzer. Inthe back room a 14 screen multi-channel work explored human and animal relationships, the confines zoo animals are kept in, and the attempt to make their domesticated habitats similar to their natural environments.
At Silverstein an exhibition entitled HOW TO HUNT features work by and Trine SondergaardNicolai Howait who photograph hunters in the lush Danish landscape. At first glance it seems possible but on close examination it becomes evident that each image is a composite of numerous shots that have been photoshopped together. The use of photoshop ...how dows it change things and with images that are heavily photoshopped...does it become more about that than the picture?
At Zwirner there was Jason Rhodes final work an installation entitled Black Pussy. It seems to be more about the happening that ocured than about the individual works left to view. A second visit to Thomas Ruff's blown up jpg images was a treat. They are beautiful and while they are about digital manipulation, it seems to be the point.
It was tragic to visit two exhibitions of young artists who recently died. Jeremy Blakes work continues to draw me in and appears fresh no matter how many times I see it.
Showing posts with label art log. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art log. Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Art 12/1/07
YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES
December 1, 2007–March 23, 2008
the New Museum
Well know for their online projects using rich rhythms and pulsating texts Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries has created a seven screen installation as part of the new New Museum's inaugural exhibition. The screens alternate between the vertical and horizontal formats as they span the wall. The work presents a disjointed narrative that can be read within each screen or across the seven. Using just black type on a white ground the words and letters fill the spaces as they flash on and off in time to the syncopated rhythm of the music. The carefully choreographed stories intersect one another. They begin and end in unison. These rich works are inspired by literary and cultural works as well as by film noir yet are reduced to their essentials. Using only the Monaco font the works have no images or color. Yet Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries creates an engagingly visual work through their deliberate animation of text.
Peter Paul Chocolates
Maccarone
630 Greenwich Street
November 15 - Dec 24
The Los Angeles based multi media bad-boy has done it again. This time he has created an innocent and delicious product -- a chocolate santa-- that is not quite as innocent as it seems. Paul McCarthy has transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a functioning chocolate factory that produced just one product-- a 10 inch high dark chocolate santa who holds a butt plug in his hand. Each day 1000 santas are produced and packaged ready for consumption. The exhibition is open daily to visitors who can watch the chocolateers creating the figures, mixing the syrup and pouring it into the molds. The relationship between art and commerce is evident here. The artist has transformed a large scale sculpture he created into an accessible commodity that is available to all for $100. Adults and children alike can sample the chocolate and buy the sculpture. Yet the santa is holding a butt plug. How does one explain that to children? Perhaps that is not the point. Mass production, and the creation of excess as will the 30,000 santas produced during the show's duration find a home? What happens to them later? Will the product last forever? Once the 'wow" wears off one is left with many questions about McCarthy's endeavor, yet the endearing santa begs to be enjoyed, as food and as art.
Robert Beck
How am I to Sign Myself
CRG Gallery
November 10 - Dec 22
How am I to Sign Myself is an excerpt from a letter written to James Joyce in 1904. Using that as well as a variety of psychological tests used to understand the functioning of a subject's personality Robert beck presents the culmination of 10 years of drawings a suite of works that can be referred to as "Diagnostic Drawings."
Robert Barry
Art and War
Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert
148 9th Street
In the multi-roomed space that is the Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert Gallery, Robert Barry adheres a single word created in mirrored vinyl to each wall. The words dissect the space, and are oriented in all directions. The words resonate in numerous ways. How are they seen in relation to each other? What do they signify alone. How does the title "Art and War" direct our reading of them?
Yasumasa Morimura
Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th
November 24 - December 23
Using himself as subject, Yasumasa Morimura recreates iconic photographs that illustrate historical figures and political events from the 20th century. Che as well as Hitler are presented as is Lenin and Mao and Einstein. Using well know photographic images as his source Morimura carefully recreates the scene making himself up to look like the subject. His transformation is uncanny and his ability not only to be come another but who he chooses to picture creates an interesting portrait. In a three channel video entitled "A Requiem" Mishima, 2007" Morimura reenacts Yukio Mishima's speech from 1970 that was deliver to inspire a coup d'etat. Morimura 's speech was deliver to a group of young artists rather than soldiers where he encourages them to rise up and fight the so as to not become slaves of foreign culture.
Antony Gormley
Blind Light
Sean Kelly Gallery
Gormley brings aspects of his exhibition that was presented at the Hayward Gallery in London to Sean Kelly. While the Hayward show was inclusive, this exhibition features three sculptures and the evocative Blind Light, a smoke filled room in which one looses all sense of where they are.
Charles Ray
Matthew Marks Gallery
Charles Ray presents three sculptures. A toy plow with a driver painted green, a white sculpture depicting a naked boy who sits on the floor playing with a toy car and a life size egg cracked open to show the baby bird inside.
Jim Shaw
Metro Pictures
November 20 - December 22
Dismembered human forms are the common theme in Jim Shaw’s exhibition. Shaw also shows a group of sculptures that take the form of body parts as home décor. The hybrids include an ear couch covered in blue velvet, nose wall sconces, butt-head stools and a digestive-tract wall sculpture.
Eric Wesley
Bortolami
510 West 25th Street,
November 30, 2007 - January 5, 2008
For the exhibition, Wesley has created the Spa-ference Room, the latest installment of an ongoing project called Spa-fice. Half spa, half office this environment creates a mood of simultaneous relaxation and productivity. Originally designed as a functioning apparatus for a relationship between work and rest, otium and negotium, this social machine exists only at the aesthetic crossroads of sculpture and invention. Spa-ference Room takes a celestial form as one encounters an absurdly gigantic bathrobe suspended in the atmosphere of the gallery
Golan Levin
Bitforms
Golan Levin is well known for his work in audiovisual performance and interactive software art
Urs Fischer
Gavin Brown Enterprise
October 25 - Dec 22
A huge hole in the gallery's floor
Lisa Sigal, Tent Paintings
Frederieke Taylor Gallery
535 West 22nd Street
November 29, 2007 - January 12, 2008
Lisa Sigal has been conflating building with the act of making art. Architecture becomes surface and painting can become shelter. Questioning the way in which space is measured and mediums are defined, Sigal plays with the differences between color, line, signage and wall until all things are seemingly equal.
December 1, 2007–March 23, 2008
the New Museum
Well know for their online projects using rich rhythms and pulsating texts Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries has created a seven screen installation as part of the new New Museum's inaugural exhibition. The screens alternate between the vertical and horizontal formats as they span the wall. The work presents a disjointed narrative that can be read within each screen or across the seven. Using just black type on a white ground the words and letters fill the spaces as they flash on and off in time to the syncopated rhythm of the music. The carefully choreographed stories intersect one another. They begin and end in unison. These rich works are inspired by literary and cultural works as well as by film noir yet are reduced to their essentials. Using only the Monaco font the works have no images or color. Yet Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries creates an engagingly visual work through their deliberate animation of text.
Peter Paul Chocolates
Maccarone
630 Greenwich Street
November 15 - Dec 24
The Los Angeles based multi media bad-boy has done it again. This time he has created an innocent and delicious product -- a chocolate santa-- that is not quite as innocent as it seems. Paul McCarthy has transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a functioning chocolate factory that produced just one product-- a 10 inch high dark chocolate santa who holds a butt plug in his hand. Each day 1000 santas are produced and packaged ready for consumption. The exhibition is open daily to visitors who can watch the chocolateers creating the figures, mixing the syrup and pouring it into the molds. The relationship between art and commerce is evident here. The artist has transformed a large scale sculpture he created into an accessible commodity that is available to all for $100. Adults and children alike can sample the chocolate and buy the sculpture. Yet the santa is holding a butt plug. How does one explain that to children? Perhaps that is not the point. Mass production, and the creation of excess as will the 30,000 santas produced during the show's duration find a home? What happens to them later? Will the product last forever? Once the 'wow" wears off one is left with many questions about McCarthy's endeavor, yet the endearing santa begs to be enjoyed, as food and as art.
Robert Beck
How am I to Sign Myself
CRG Gallery
November 10 - Dec 22
How am I to Sign Myself is an excerpt from a letter written to James Joyce in 1904. Using that as well as a variety of psychological tests used to understand the functioning of a subject's personality Robert beck presents the culmination of 10 years of drawings a suite of works that can be referred to as "Diagnostic Drawings."
Robert Barry
Art and War
Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert
148 9th Street
In the multi-roomed space that is the Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert Gallery, Robert Barry adheres a single word created in mirrored vinyl to each wall. The words dissect the space, and are oriented in all directions. The words resonate in numerous ways. How are they seen in relation to each other? What do they signify alone. How does the title "Art and War" direct our reading of them?
Yasumasa Morimura
Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th
November 24 - December 23
Using himself as subject, Yasumasa Morimura recreates iconic photographs that illustrate historical figures and political events from the 20th century. Che as well as Hitler are presented as is Lenin and Mao and Einstein. Using well know photographic images as his source Morimura carefully recreates the scene making himself up to look like the subject. His transformation is uncanny and his ability not only to be come another but who he chooses to picture creates an interesting portrait. In a three channel video entitled "A Requiem" Mishima, 2007" Morimura reenacts Yukio Mishima's speech from 1970 that was deliver to inspire a coup d'etat. Morimura 's speech was deliver to a group of young artists rather than soldiers where he encourages them to rise up and fight the so as to not become slaves of foreign culture.
Antony Gormley
Blind Light
Sean Kelly Gallery
Gormley brings aspects of his exhibition that was presented at the Hayward Gallery in London to Sean Kelly. While the Hayward show was inclusive, this exhibition features three sculptures and the evocative Blind Light, a smoke filled room in which one looses all sense of where they are.
Charles Ray
Matthew Marks Gallery
Charles Ray presents three sculptures. A toy plow with a driver painted green, a white sculpture depicting a naked boy who sits on the floor playing with a toy car and a life size egg cracked open to show the baby bird inside.
Jim Shaw
Metro Pictures
November 20 - December 22
Dismembered human forms are the common theme in Jim Shaw’s exhibition. Shaw also shows a group of sculptures that take the form of body parts as home décor. The hybrids include an ear couch covered in blue velvet, nose wall sconces, butt-head stools and a digestive-tract wall sculpture.
Eric Wesley
Bortolami
510 West 25th Street,
November 30, 2007 - January 5, 2008
For the exhibition, Wesley has created the Spa-ference Room, the latest installment of an ongoing project called Spa-fice. Half spa, half office this environment creates a mood of simultaneous relaxation and productivity. Originally designed as a functioning apparatus for a relationship between work and rest, otium and negotium, this social machine exists only at the aesthetic crossroads of sculpture and invention. Spa-ference Room takes a celestial form as one encounters an absurdly gigantic bathrobe suspended in the atmosphere of the gallery
Golan Levin
Bitforms
Golan Levin is well known for his work in audiovisual performance and interactive software art
Urs Fischer
Gavin Brown Enterprise
October 25 - Dec 22
A huge hole in the gallery's floor
Lisa Sigal, Tent Paintings
Frederieke Taylor Gallery
535 West 22nd Street
November 29, 2007 - January 12, 2008
Lisa Sigal has been conflating building with the act of making art. Architecture becomes surface and painting can become shelter. Questioning the way in which space is measured and mediums are defined, Sigal plays with the differences between color, line, signage and wall until all things are seemingly equal.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Art in NY and in LA in NOV
ART IN LA November 17 - 24.
Back in LA I immediately went to see as many shows as I could catch up on. Unfortunately much of Culver City was closed after thanksgiving.
Glen Ligon's gold paintings line the walls of Regen projects, most have the same text stenciled in the center, yet a few offer something different. The black neon in the back room catches one off guard.
Jeffrey Vallance was at Margo Leavin. More shrines.
Anna Sew Hoy's installation at Karen Lovegrove really transformed the space and was one of the most interesting shows out there.
The show at 16:1 was Joella March
She made pieces with neon and language that was quite interesting
At Bergamot Station in Santa Monica
Thordis Adalsteinsdotter made quirky paintings at Shoshana Wayne Gallery
At Craig Krull Gallery Michael Light's images of LA from the sky are always amazing to look at. Lost of lush blacks.
Rosamund Felsen had photographs by Morton Bartlett who made pictures of dolls in the 1950's. His negatives were recently rediscovered and printed. The images sexualize these playthings in an unsettling way
Anton Henning's transformation of Christopher Grimes gallery painting the walls two toned and creating lighted frames for the paintings made one look at the work in a different way.
The show at Cherry was among one of the more interesting in LA at the time. Elad Lassry's work is formal yet also conceptual.
Before LA These were some of the shows that stood out in NYC
Kirstine Roepstorff at the Drawing Center
A berlin based artist who uses found and appropriated materials to make collages that both fill walls but also exist as stand alone works. She sews pins and glues disparate images creating new contexts and meanings from the political and social materials that flood the world.
Thomas Ruff (at Zwirner) continues to use appropriated JPG images from the internet blowing them up to large size photographs that maximize the pixelated nature of the the enlargements.
Miranda Lichtenstein at Elizabeth Dee photographs and video... enigmatic and interesting
Paula Scher makes painting of maps. She begins with a real place and enhances what is there by adding her own painted commentary. the colorful works define places in new and exciting ways.
Thomas Demand at 303... seemingly more of the same but this time the place is specific. The exhibition makes reference to the location where uranium was stolen from an embassy. The political and social overtones are there but sometimes they are masked by Demand's formal presentation.
At Lehmann Maupin Do Ho Suh fils the back space with a sculpture made of small figures creating the shape of a tornado.
The collaboration between John Baldessari and Alejandro Cesarco at Murray Guy is subtle but poignant. Images with just text and color line the gallery walls. What was quoted and how both artists reacted creates a conversation between all the works on the wall.
Robert Beck's drawings at CRG caught me by suprise as I don't know his work and I was immediately taken in by the work, The images are beautiful the text poignant. These pieces can be looked at over and over again.
Back in LA I immediately went to see as many shows as I could catch up on. Unfortunately much of Culver City was closed after thanksgiving.
Glen Ligon's gold paintings line the walls of Regen projects, most have the same text stenciled in the center, yet a few offer something different. The black neon in the back room catches one off guard.
Jeffrey Vallance was at Margo Leavin. More shrines.
Anna Sew Hoy's installation at Karen Lovegrove really transformed the space and was one of the most interesting shows out there.
The show at 16:1 was Joella March
She made pieces with neon and language that was quite interesting
At Bergamot Station in Santa Monica
Thordis Adalsteinsdotter made quirky paintings at Shoshana Wayne Gallery
At Craig Krull Gallery Michael Light's images of LA from the sky are always amazing to look at. Lost of lush blacks.
Rosamund Felsen had photographs by Morton Bartlett who made pictures of dolls in the 1950's. His negatives were recently rediscovered and printed. The images sexualize these playthings in an unsettling way
Anton Henning's transformation of Christopher Grimes gallery painting the walls two toned and creating lighted frames for the paintings made one look at the work in a different way.
The show at Cherry was among one of the more interesting in LA at the time. Elad Lassry's work is formal yet also conceptual.
Before LA These were some of the shows that stood out in NYC
Kirstine Roepstorff at the Drawing Center
A berlin based artist who uses found and appropriated materials to make collages that both fill walls but also exist as stand alone works. She sews pins and glues disparate images creating new contexts and meanings from the political and social materials that flood the world.
Thomas Ruff (at Zwirner) continues to use appropriated JPG images from the internet blowing them up to large size photographs that maximize the pixelated nature of the the enlargements.
Miranda Lichtenstein at Elizabeth Dee photographs and video... enigmatic and interesting
Paula Scher makes painting of maps. She begins with a real place and enhances what is there by adding her own painted commentary. the colorful works define places in new and exciting ways.
Thomas Demand at 303... seemingly more of the same but this time the place is specific. The exhibition makes reference to the location where uranium was stolen from an embassy. The political and social overtones are there but sometimes they are masked by Demand's formal presentation.
At Lehmann Maupin Do Ho Suh fils the back space with a sculpture made of small figures creating the shape of a tornado.
The collaboration between John Baldessari and Alejandro Cesarco at Murray Guy is subtle but poignant. Images with just text and color line the gallery walls. What was quoted and how both artists reacted creates a conversation between all the works on the wall.
Robert Beck's drawings at CRG caught me by suprise as I don't know his work and I was immediately taken in by the work, The images are beautiful the text poignant. These pieces can be looked at over and over again.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Art from Nov 3/4
Skipping Chelsea this weekend I saw the shows that were in Soho--Ronald Feldman had Keith Cottingham who digitally created tree-like objects as photographs and videos, Deitch projects had a painting show of work by Micah Ganske, Team had a show of works by Mathew Cerletty and a video installation in the basement by Slater Bradley. The Drawing Center and Spenser Brownstone were closed for installation. I went to PS1 on Sunday and enjoyed the large piece by Tunga, The video by Francesco Vezzoli about his life and death-- a true hollywood story. The installation of the 14 segments of Berlin Alexanderplatz was a good solution to how to display it all at once, although daunting to think about watching. None of the individual works really stood out this time.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Art 10/20/07
I finally made it to the Whitney and the Guggenheim museums. Usually I see new shows as soon as they open but thats in LA. The Richard Prince show was fantastic. I had hear from other that if you saw one joke painting, you knew them all but I disagree. The formal aspects of his endeavor takes over and the installation within the small sections of the museum work incredibly well. The work layers up and down within the installation as well as within each work. While most of the work is not new to me, seeing groups --like the nurses all together gave them greater impact. As a lover of 90's appropriation it was confirming to see the early work as well as the sketches and source materials. Even the cars which are not my favorites made sense in this show.
Kara Walker at the Whitney was another show I was looking forward to and was not disappointed in. While I think her early work is stronger, especially the silhouettes on the walls, I am also interested in the animations as there i think the shapes and her narratives take on new life. The textual aspects of her work, and her willingness to open her journals or notations as art is also curious. There is a lot there to see. She also has a new show at Sikkema Gallery in Chelsea where new works--paintings and works on paper are on view. Perhaps seeing both is a bit overwhelming but the scope of her endeavor continues to impress.
The early photography show at the MET was also worth while. MOMA is in between new shows, the annual photography show was a disappontment, as none of that work seems especially new or innovative. Also fewer pieces by each artist seemed to be on view than what I remember from the past.
As for Gallery shows:
Amir Zaki
October 19 - November 21, 2007
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23rd St
New York, NY 10011
www.perryrubenstein.com
Amir Zaki at Perry Rubenstein. Zaki continues to use the landscape of southern California as his inspiration. These works appear to be less digitally manipulated than those from recent shows, yet his digital transformations are still there. This time the take place as signage. Using the vernacular landscape of Los Angeles and its funky architecture as his source, Zaki presents churches, gas stations and other isolated buildings. At first glance everything seems normal until you look closely at the neon signs, the posters on a building's face and realize that the insignias are not what you'd expect. They are ambiguous icons that are abstract forms. The sink into the landscape and become part of the facades. What is equally interesting is what Zaki looks for, then adds to his compositions, and how he extrapolates...in this case by making sculptures based on the logos and signs in the images. These pieces, while not all that successful to me, show me that Zaki an artist who always is reaching for something more.
Joseph Zito
September 20 - October 27, 2007
Tomorrow The Birds will Sing
Lennon Weinberg
514 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
www.lennonweinberg.com
Joseph Zito's sculptures have a nasty edge to them. Some are mechanized, and many involve children or children's playthings. A seesaw is made with an electrical current running through it. A swing has a seat that is a bed of sharp nails. Cast Iron replicas of the blow up pillows that surround children's arms so they will not drown are left to rust in an abandoned pool. The work is sinister, yet playful.
Ugo Rondinone
Big Mind Sky
September 15 - October 27
Matthew Marks Gallery
523 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
Ugo Rondinone is a swiss artists whose large sculpted head and small paintings on canvas of urban setting are a curious juxtaposition but one inspiring to me. The paintings on burlap leave the edges exposed so the painting only take splace in a small area. The line drawings are sketchy and delicate.
Wolfgang Tillmans
Atair
october 20 - November 24, 2007
Andrea Rosen Gallery
525 West 24th Street
new York, NY 10011
www.rosengallery.com
Wolfgang Tillmans' photographs some frames, some taped to the wall, some of people some of places work together in ways the individual images do not. There is content that is often explained through context. Yet there is the pure pleasure of looking as well.
Carlos Motta
The Leningrad Trilogy
October 19 - November 17
Winkleman Gallery
637 West 27th STreet
New York, NY 10001
www.winkleman.com
Carlos Motta's exhibition is formally elegant and conceptually complex. In a 3-channel video installation and a series of 36 photographic diptychs, Motta presents a thought-provoking meditation on the history and the monuments of Lenigrad. The photographs juxtapose the past and the present while the videos range from a poetic meditation to interviews with people on the streets.
Isaac Julien
WESTERN UNION: Small Boats
26 October - 17 November 2007
Metro Pictures
519 West 24th Street
New York NY 10011
www.metropicturesgallery.com
Isaac Julien’s film installation is a multi room multi channel meditation on migration and the hope for a better life.
Kara Walker at the Whitney was another show I was looking forward to and was not disappointed in. While I think her early work is stronger, especially the silhouettes on the walls, I am also interested in the animations as there i think the shapes and her narratives take on new life. The textual aspects of her work, and her willingness to open her journals or notations as art is also curious. There is a lot there to see. She also has a new show at Sikkema Gallery in Chelsea where new works--paintings and works on paper are on view. Perhaps seeing both is a bit overwhelming but the scope of her endeavor continues to impress.
The early photography show at the MET was also worth while. MOMA is in between new shows, the annual photography show was a disappontment, as none of that work seems especially new or innovative. Also fewer pieces by each artist seemed to be on view than what I remember from the past.
As for Gallery shows:
Amir Zaki
October 19 - November 21, 2007
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23rd St
New York, NY 10011
www.perryrubenstein.com
Amir Zaki at Perry Rubenstein. Zaki continues to use the landscape of southern California as his inspiration. These works appear to be less digitally manipulated than those from recent shows, yet his digital transformations are still there. This time the take place as signage. Using the vernacular landscape of Los Angeles and its funky architecture as his source, Zaki presents churches, gas stations and other isolated buildings. At first glance everything seems normal until you look closely at the neon signs, the posters on a building's face and realize that the insignias are not what you'd expect. They are ambiguous icons that are abstract forms. The sink into the landscape and become part of the facades. What is equally interesting is what Zaki looks for, then adds to his compositions, and how he extrapolates...in this case by making sculptures based on the logos and signs in the images. These pieces, while not all that successful to me, show me that Zaki an artist who always is reaching for something more.
Joseph Zito
September 20 - October 27, 2007
Tomorrow The Birds will Sing
Lennon Weinberg
514 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
www.lennonweinberg.com
Joseph Zito's sculptures have a nasty edge to them. Some are mechanized, and many involve children or children's playthings. A seesaw is made with an electrical current running through it. A swing has a seat that is a bed of sharp nails. Cast Iron replicas of the blow up pillows that surround children's arms so they will not drown are left to rust in an abandoned pool. The work is sinister, yet playful.
Ugo Rondinone
Big Mind Sky
September 15 - October 27
Matthew Marks Gallery
523 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
Ugo Rondinone is a swiss artists whose large sculpted head and small paintings on canvas of urban setting are a curious juxtaposition but one inspiring to me. The paintings on burlap leave the edges exposed so the painting only take splace in a small area. The line drawings are sketchy and delicate.
Wolfgang Tillmans
Atair
october 20 - November 24, 2007
Andrea Rosen Gallery
525 West 24th Street
new York, NY 10011
www.rosengallery.com
Wolfgang Tillmans' photographs some frames, some taped to the wall, some of people some of places work together in ways the individual images do not. There is content that is often explained through context. Yet there is the pure pleasure of looking as well.
Carlos Motta
The Leningrad Trilogy
October 19 - November 17
Winkleman Gallery
637 West 27th STreet
New York, NY 10001
www.winkleman.com
Carlos Motta's exhibition is formally elegant and conceptually complex. In a 3-channel video installation and a series of 36 photographic diptychs, Motta presents a thought-provoking meditation on the history and the monuments of Lenigrad. The photographs juxtapose the past and the present while the videos range from a poetic meditation to interviews with people on the streets.
Isaac Julien
WESTERN UNION: Small Boats
26 October - 17 November 2007
Metro Pictures
519 West 24th Street
New York NY 10011
www.metropicturesgallery.com
Isaac Julien’s film installation is a multi room multi channel meditation on migration and the hope for a better life.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Art update
Last weekend the best Art I saw was not created by any person but was nature. The change in weather, the cool temperature and the color of the fall leaves was awe inspiring. The deep blue of the sky and the formation of birds in flight as well as the dark of the night and the illumination of the sky by the stars was really a work of art.
Before going to the country I saw Jillian McDonald's show at Moti Hasson Gallery that is up through Nov 11. Jillian inserts herself into horror films. Its really worth a trip to the gallery to see the work 535 W 25th street. Click here for Jillian's page at the gallery.
I also went to the shows that opened on 27th street. More about that soon.
Before going to the country I saw Jillian McDonald's show at Moti Hasson Gallery that is up through Nov 11. Jillian inserts herself into horror films. Its really worth a trip to the gallery to see the work 535 W 25th street. Click here for Jillian's page at the gallery.
I also went to the shows that opened on 27th street. More about that soon.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Art for the first week of October
Daniel Joseph Martinez
DIVINE VIOLENCE
October 5 – November 3, 2007
The Project
37 W 57th Street
3rd Floor New York, NY 10019
www.elproyecto.com "In “Divine Violence,” Daniel Joseph Martinez presents 128 gold paintings from a continuing research project aimed at naming all the groups in the world currently attempting to enforce politics through violence. In direct reference to religious icons, where the gilded background serves as a sign of divine grace, the paintings in “Divine Violence” are gold-colored panels featuring the hand-painted names of the radical political groups.
The transformation of the gallery space into a secular space of contemplation brings to mind Rothko’s chapel, and the installation functions as a commemoration and a record. Neither is the series encyclopedic, but instead it is an ever-growing rhizome of political terror. The artist acknowledges that the ongoing project is quixotic: his list currently runs to 1700 such groups, and the names are in a constant flux, so a final list is impossible. In that sense, “Divine Violence” is like a frozen glimpse of a chaotic process, and a view of aesthetics existing hand in hand with fear."
Lida Abdul
What We Saw Upon Awakening
October 4–November 17, 2007
Location One
http://www.location1.org/
'In What We Saw Upon Awakening the artist has created a surreal vision of the de-construction of a ruin. Remarkable for its compositional beauty and restraint, this film is a meditation on the aftermath of war, exposing the tangled after shocks of destruction, acceptance and renewal. In six minutes of classically framed and beautifully conceived cinematic shots, we watch as a group of men pull in a united effort on long white ropes, straining under this Herculean task. Slowly we grow aware that the ropes are tied to the stone walls of an actual house destroyed by a recent bombing in Kabul, which the men are striving to pull down. At first their efforts seem puny and ineffectual against impossible odds; their actions become a metaphor of all survivors’ attempt to deal with the devastation of war. Later the film ends with a burial ritual, symbolizing closure and a moment of communal healing when the ruins are finally put to rest so that life can begin anew."
Carsten Nicolai
Static Balance
October 5 - November 3, 2007
Pace Wildenstein
www.pacewildenstein.com
"In static balance (2007) ambient noise bounces off the surface of parabolic mirrors producing an acoustic field of varying density according to your location within the installation. A second work, fades (2006), mixes mathematical equations—primarily sine functions—and computer-generated images into a gradual increase and decrease of light intensity. White noise fills the space, and the light beams’ three dimensional qualities are accentuated by lingering stands of mist. static parabol 1 and static parabol 2 are two large horizontal wall works measuring 6 ½ feet by 13 feet. Without sound these static works evoke the pure pattern of their mathematical design."
Chiem and Read - I Am As You Will Be The Skeleton in Art
September 20 - November 3, 2007
www.cheimread.com/current
This is a group exhibition featuring works by more than 30 artists in which skeletons are the main subject. Included are drawings, paintings photographs and sculptures.
Paul Noble
Dot to Dot
September 20 - October 27
Gagosian Gallery
www.gagosian.com
Paul Noble was born in 1963 and lives and works in London. His large scale drawings often made by linking numerous pieces of paper depict fantasy worlds and abstract landscapes. In this installation he also exhibitions ceramic sculptures, and rugs but it is the drawings that stand out for their intricacy and depiction of both real and imagined places
DIVINE VIOLENCE
October 5 – November 3, 2007
The Project
37 W 57th Street
3rd Floor New York, NY 10019
www.elproyecto.com "In “Divine Violence,” Daniel Joseph Martinez presents 128 gold paintings from a continuing research project aimed at naming all the groups in the world currently attempting to enforce politics through violence. In direct reference to religious icons, where the gilded background serves as a sign of divine grace, the paintings in “Divine Violence” are gold-colored panels featuring the hand-painted names of the radical political groups.
The transformation of the gallery space into a secular space of contemplation brings to mind Rothko’s chapel, and the installation functions as a commemoration and a record. Neither is the series encyclopedic, but instead it is an ever-growing rhizome of political terror. The artist acknowledges that the ongoing project is quixotic: his list currently runs to 1700 such groups, and the names are in a constant flux, so a final list is impossible. In that sense, “Divine Violence” is like a frozen glimpse of a chaotic process, and a view of aesthetics existing hand in hand with fear."
Lida Abdul
What We Saw Upon Awakening
October 4–November 17, 2007
Location One
http://www.location1.org/
'In What We Saw Upon Awakening the artist has created a surreal vision of the de-construction of a ruin. Remarkable for its compositional beauty and restraint, this film is a meditation on the aftermath of war, exposing the tangled after shocks of destruction, acceptance and renewal. In six minutes of classically framed and beautifully conceived cinematic shots, we watch as a group of men pull in a united effort on long white ropes, straining under this Herculean task. Slowly we grow aware that the ropes are tied to the stone walls of an actual house destroyed by a recent bombing in Kabul, which the men are striving to pull down. At first their efforts seem puny and ineffectual against impossible odds; their actions become a metaphor of all survivors’ attempt to deal with the devastation of war. Later the film ends with a burial ritual, symbolizing closure and a moment of communal healing when the ruins are finally put to rest so that life can begin anew."
Carsten Nicolai
Static Balance
October 5 - November 3, 2007
Pace Wildenstein
www.pacewildenstein.com
"In static balance (2007) ambient noise bounces off the surface of parabolic mirrors producing an acoustic field of varying density according to your location within the installation. A second work, fades (2006), mixes mathematical equations—primarily sine functions—and computer-generated images into a gradual increase and decrease of light intensity. White noise fills the space, and the light beams’ three dimensional qualities are accentuated by lingering stands of mist. static parabol 1 and static parabol 2 are two large horizontal wall works measuring 6 ½ feet by 13 feet. Without sound these static works evoke the pure pattern of their mathematical design."
Chiem and Read - I Am As You Will Be The Skeleton in Art
September 20 - November 3, 2007
www.cheimread.com/current
This is a group exhibition featuring works by more than 30 artists in which skeletons are the main subject. Included are drawings, paintings photographs and sculptures.
Paul Noble
Dot to Dot
September 20 - October 27
Gagosian Gallery
www.gagosian.com
Paul Noble was born in 1963 and lives and works in London. His large scale drawings often made by linking numerous pieces of paper depict fantasy worlds and abstract landscapes. In this installation he also exhibitions ceramic sculptures, and rugs but it is the drawings that stand out for their intricacy and depiction of both real and imagined places
Monday, October 1, 2007
Art 9/29/07
Since most of the shows for September have already opened this weeks art viewing was limited. I went to 47 Orchard Street to see Sadie Benning's show hoping to see the large drawings that were in her film "Press Play" but they were not on view. Somehow I got that wrong. What was on the walls were small drawings made with color pencil or crayon with rounded edges, they were (to me) simultaneously abstract and figurative.
I also stopped in to see Chris Marker's photographs in Soho at Peter Blum Gallery. The photographs all from a series called "Staring Back" are images of people Marker has encountered over many years. Its a collective portrait of chance encounters and vacant stares, of strangers caught unaware.
I spent more time with Eddo Stern's show at Postmasters as I am reviewing it for Art Papers.
The exhibition at Eyebeam Interference includes works by:
Forays | Angie Eng | Jill Magid | Carrie Dashow | Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg | Trevor Paglen | neuroTransmitter | Robert Ransick | Yury Gitman | Carlos J. Gómez de Llarena | IAA | Graffiti Research Lab | Caspar Stracke | Eyebeam R&D Lab | Michael Frumin | Jonah Peretti
Like many of the shows I have seen at Eyebeam they are more didactic than visual. This falls into that category. Viewing requires time and patience and quite a bit of reading.
The NY ART Book Fair hosted by Printed Matter held at the Dia Foundation was like a trip down memory lane where the hand made was presented along side the mechanically produced. This is an annual fair of contemporary art books, art catalogues, artists' books, art periodicals, and 'zines offered for sale by over 120 international publishers, booksellers, and antiquarian dealers. Each press or artist set out their publications on tables that covered two floors of the space. The modest crowd was able to look at and even touch the works of art. Something that makes books so special is that they are tactile. Its also a small community where everyone seems to know each other and is open to looking and talking about what they love--artists books of all kinds.
I also stopped in to see Chris Marker's photographs in Soho at Peter Blum Gallery. The photographs all from a series called "Staring Back" are images of people Marker has encountered over many years. Its a collective portrait of chance encounters and vacant stares, of strangers caught unaware.
I spent more time with Eddo Stern's show at Postmasters as I am reviewing it for Art Papers.
The exhibition at Eyebeam Interference includes works by:
Forays | Angie Eng | Jill Magid | Carrie Dashow | Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg | Trevor Paglen | neuroTransmitter | Robert Ransick | Yury Gitman | Carlos J. Gómez de Llarena | IAA | Graffiti Research Lab | Caspar Stracke | Eyebeam R&D Lab | Michael Frumin | Jonah Peretti
Like many of the shows I have seen at Eyebeam they are more didactic than visual. This falls into that category. Viewing requires time and patience and quite a bit of reading.
The NY ART Book Fair hosted by Printed Matter held at the Dia Foundation was like a trip down memory lane where the hand made was presented along side the mechanically produced. This is an annual fair of contemporary art books, art catalogues, artists' books, art periodicals, and 'zines offered for sale by over 120 international publishers, booksellers, and antiquarian dealers. Each press or artist set out their publications on tables that covered two floors of the space. The modest crowd was able to look at and even touch the works of art. Something that makes books so special is that they are tactile. Its also a small community where everyone seems to know each other and is open to looking and talking about what they love--artists books of all kinds.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Art 9/21/07
In soho I visited a few galleries:
Deitch Projects that had a group painting show
Team, whose new space (or new to me) is just beautiful. They had a conceptually based show by Gardar Eide Einarsson
Location 1 had an interesting participatory installation by Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese that invited you to draw the moon. Visit www.location1.org for more information.
In Chelsea I went BravinLee's temporary space where there was an amazing video installation that is only up a few more day by Michael Somoroff called Illumination
I also saw the electricity show at Exit Art. Its a bit of a free for all, and although not much stood out for me visually there were numerous projects that used sensors and were based on user input.
Deitch Projects that had a group painting show
Team, whose new space (or new to me) is just beautiful. They had a conceptually based show by Gardar Eide Einarsson
Location 1 had an interesting participatory installation by Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese that invited you to draw the moon. Visit www.location1.org for more information.
In Chelsea I went BravinLee's temporary space where there was an amazing video installation that is only up a few more day by Michael Somoroff called Illumination
I also saw the electricity show at Exit Art. Its a bit of a free for all, and although not much stood out for me visually there were numerous projects that used sensors and were based on user input.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Sadie Benning at Dia
Sadie Benning’s video “Press Play” is a split screen 28 minute film using drawing. She was in conversation with Lynn Cooke at Dia Friday Sept 14. Benning began by making drawing of images as well as from her imagination and edited these images into a 40 minute video. She collaborated with a sound artist and the pulsating music, coupled with urban noises paces the video. The imagery is for the most part static but the narrative moves along showing glimpses of urban life.
September 15 Art Log
This is a log of the art I saw on Saturday September 15, in Chelsea.
Rather than keep track of everything, I am going to try to post the media oriented show, as well as those by people I know, and whatever stands out as worth remembering. I will try to include the gallery information and images where possible.
EDDO STERN September 8 - October 13, 2007
Postmasters Gallery
459 W 19 Street
New York, NY 10011
212 727 3323
http://www.postmastersart.com
http://www.eddostern.com
Eddo Stern is well known for his work in video and online gaming. In his current exhibition at postmasters he has extracted elements from online gaming culture and presented them in the gallery as an installation of shadow puppets and video displays where elements from the games have been collaged into a Medusa's head, or mask-like object that ebbs and flows and the elements move together. The works are playful and successfully combine low and high technologies.
SHIGEKO KUBOTA
My Life With Nam June Paik
September 6 - October 20, 2007
Maya Stendhal Gallery
545 West 20th St.
New York, NY 10011
212.366.1549
www.mayastendhalgallery.com
Shigeko Kubota video installation is an environment full of projections and video sculptures. "Conceived of as one video environment, the exhibition presents a landscape of Kubota's magical video sculptures, which at once disorients and transfixes the viewer. It is a dreamland filled with massive crystalline mirror growths, dynamic metal sculptures, and video screen projections that pulsate colorfully like living organisms. Kubota describes the sculptures as a means of communication with another world." Kubota was Nam June Paik's wife and collaborated with him on numerous projects. There is a similarity with their styles and the object nature of their works.
DANIEL ROZIN
September 8 - October 6
Bitforms Gallery
529 West 20th Street
NY, NY 10011
www.bitforms.com
Daniel Rozen's interactive works are sculptural object that respond to the presence of the viewer. Crafted out of a variety of materials ranging from wood to photographic prints to digital images these motorized and mechanized elements work together to capture the viewer's movements, and in time delay presenting a trace of those activities.
JEON JOONHO
September 6 - October 13
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23rd Street
NY, NY 10011
www.perryrubenstein.com
Jeon Joonho's projected works are short animations that work in concert with each other. The drawn line in a number of the works is contrasted to the digital effects in others.
JEFF SHORE AND JON FISHER
September 6 - October 6
Clementine Gallery
623 West 27th street
NY NY 10001
www.clementine-gallery.com
Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher have been working together to create electro-mechanical installations that display the circuitry all over the wall as an abstract composition while carefully constructed boxes conceal the mechanized motion that are subsequently projected on the wall to tell a story that unfolds from piece to piece over 10 minute duration in the gallery. The space darkens, and an object begins to move a sound fills the gallery. It is hard to discern what is happen as the viewer oscillates between the screen and the objects. Often the movement can be detected other times it is hidden from view but viewers can imagine a small camera filing a model. Fisher and Shore's work is durational, narrative and sculptural simultaneously.
JUN NGUYEN-HATSUSHIBA
September 6 - October 20
Lehmann Maupin
540 west 26th street
NY NY 10001
www.lehmannmaupin.com
Using high and low technologies, in the darkened front gallery space Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba creates a series of interrupted projections where shadows of objects capture disrupt the flow of the news.
ADAM HELMS
Hinterland
September 6 - October 6, 2007
Marianne Boesky Gallery
509 West 24th street
NY, NY 10011
www.marianneboesky.com
This installation begins with a series of silkscreens where black masks have been screened over found images of historical and contemporary conflict. In these works images of torture and masked identity are given an equivalence through the juxtaposition of images that span different conflicts and different time periods.
In the back space are large drawing of mountainous landscapes that suggest the changes in the climate. These are juxtaposed with a taxidermy buffalo and a sculpted structure that resembles a remote outpost. The relationships between these works become evident as one looks back and between the pieces.
ALSO OF NOT BUT NOT NECESSARILY MEDIA OR INSTALLATION:
SOL LEWITT
September 6 - October 20, 2007
Paula Cooper Gallery
534 West 21 Street
NY NY 10011
www.paulacoopergallery.com
LeWitt who died this spring graces the Paula Cooper Gallery with a large cube that has scribbled lines on each of its surfaces.
EUAN MACDONALD
September 6 - October 13, 2007
Cohan and Leslie
138 Tenth Avenue
New York, New York 10011
www.cohanandleslie.com
INGRID CALAME
September 6 - October 13, 2007
James Cohan Gallery
533 West 26th Street
New York NY 10001
www.jamescohan.com
D-L ALVAREZ
September 6 - October6, 2007
Derek Eller Gallery
625 West 27th Street
NY, NY 10001
www.derekeller.com
MARCO BREUERSeptember 5 - October 6, 2007
Von Lintel Gallery
555 West 25the Street
New York , NY 10001
www.vonlintel.com
Rather than keep track of everything, I am going to try to post the media oriented show, as well as those by people I know, and whatever stands out as worth remembering. I will try to include the gallery information and images where possible.
EDDO STERN September 8 - October 13, 2007
Postmasters Gallery
459 W 19 Street
New York, NY 10011
212 727 3323
http://www.postmastersart.com
http://www.eddostern.com
Eddo Stern is well known for his work in video and online gaming. In his current exhibition at postmasters he has extracted elements from online gaming culture and presented them in the gallery as an installation of shadow puppets and video displays where elements from the games have been collaged into a Medusa's head, or mask-like object that ebbs and flows and the elements move together. The works are playful and successfully combine low and high technologies.
SHIGEKO KUBOTA
My Life With Nam June Paik
September 6 - October 20, 2007
Maya Stendhal Gallery
545 West 20th St.
New York, NY 10011
212.366.1549
www.mayastendhalgallery.com
Shigeko Kubota video installation is an environment full of projections and video sculptures. "Conceived of as one video environment, the exhibition presents a landscape of Kubota's magical video sculptures, which at once disorients and transfixes the viewer. It is a dreamland filled with massive crystalline mirror growths, dynamic metal sculptures, and video screen projections that pulsate colorfully like living organisms. Kubota describes the sculptures as a means of communication with another world." Kubota was Nam June Paik's wife and collaborated with him on numerous projects. There is a similarity with their styles and the object nature of their works.
DANIEL ROZIN
September 8 - October 6
Bitforms Gallery
529 West 20th Street
NY, NY 10011
www.bitforms.com
Daniel Rozen's interactive works are sculptural object that respond to the presence of the viewer. Crafted out of a variety of materials ranging from wood to photographic prints to digital images these motorized and mechanized elements work together to capture the viewer's movements, and in time delay presenting a trace of those activities.
JEON JOONHO
September 6 - October 13
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23rd Street
NY, NY 10011
www.perryrubenstein.com
Jeon Joonho's projected works are short animations that work in concert with each other. The drawn line in a number of the works is contrasted to the digital effects in others.
JEFF SHORE AND JON FISHER
September 6 - October 6
Clementine Gallery
623 West 27th street
NY NY 10001
www.clementine-gallery.com
Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher have been working together to create electro-mechanical installations that display the circuitry all over the wall as an abstract composition while carefully constructed boxes conceal the mechanized motion that are subsequently projected on the wall to tell a story that unfolds from piece to piece over 10 minute duration in the gallery. The space darkens, and an object begins to move a sound fills the gallery. It is hard to discern what is happen as the viewer oscillates between the screen and the objects. Often the movement can be detected other times it is hidden from view but viewers can imagine a small camera filing a model. Fisher and Shore's work is durational, narrative and sculptural simultaneously.
JUN NGUYEN-HATSUSHIBA
September 6 - October 20
Lehmann Maupin
540 west 26th street
NY NY 10001
www.lehmannmaupin.com
Using high and low technologies, in the darkened front gallery space Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba creates a series of interrupted projections where shadows of objects capture disrupt the flow of the news.
ADAM HELMS
Hinterland
September 6 - October 6, 2007
Marianne Boesky Gallery
509 West 24th street
NY, NY 10011
www.marianneboesky.com
This installation begins with a series of silkscreens where black masks have been screened over found images of historical and contemporary conflict. In these works images of torture and masked identity are given an equivalence through the juxtaposition of images that span different conflicts and different time periods.
In the back space are large drawing of mountainous landscapes that suggest the changes in the climate. These are juxtaposed with a taxidermy buffalo and a sculpted structure that resembles a remote outpost. The relationships between these works become evident as one looks back and between the pieces.
ALSO OF NOT BUT NOT NECESSARILY MEDIA OR INSTALLATION:
SOL LEWITT
September 6 - October 20, 2007
Paula Cooper Gallery
534 West 21 Street
NY NY 10011
www.paulacoopergallery.com
LeWitt who died this spring graces the Paula Cooper Gallery with a large cube that has scribbled lines on each of its surfaces.
EUAN MACDONALD
September 6 - October 13, 2007
Cohan and Leslie
138 Tenth Avenue
New York, New York 10011
www.cohanandleslie.com
INGRID CALAME
September 6 - October 13, 2007
James Cohan Gallery
533 West 26th Street
New York NY 10001
www.jamescohan.com
D-L ALVAREZ
September 6 - October6, 2007
Derek Eller Gallery
625 West 27th Street
NY, NY 10001
www.derekeller.com
MARCO BREUERSeptember 5 - October 6, 2007
Von Lintel Gallery
555 West 25the Street
New York , NY 10001
www.vonlintel.com
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