Artcards New York Weekly Update

After seeing several hundred galleries in the past week, there is much to report and I might be the first happy user of our newest feature: Artcards brings you maps! To get your custom art map, go to www.artcards.cc, add shows to your list by clicking the arrow next to each show and then click on "print" below your list on the right. Artcards will then format your list and add a map with all your shows plotted on it! One tip: you can click cancel before the printer starts up, and zoom/center the map if necessary (or remove the map completely if you like).

My mega-gallery-run this week brought me to most of the galleries south of Chelsea (Soho, LES, etc). I'll use a tired cliche to group my observations:

The Good:
Contrary to any doom-and-gloom talk, there are some great shows that really impress and move to something new in a worthwhile way. At Harris Lieberman Gallery, Alexandre Singh's installation/diagram presents an enjoyably challenging creative logic that ultimately serves no ostensible purpose other than to tell a story which underlines a subtle humor at play (disclosure: we were in the same SVA MFA class). Perfectly timed (if a bit nostalgic) in the midst of our cultural climate where the majority seems to say "the party must slow down," Marc Camille Chaimowicz shows us the party extravagantly lit at Artist's Space. For works that are not too gimmicky, but are more than what they first appear, see Michael Najjar at Bitforms. The "Objects to be Created or Destroyed" show at Yvon Lambert has now closed, but was better than one might have anticipated. Heather L. Johnson intricately hand stitches old diagrams of the Holland Tunnel at Glow Lab. Finally, watercolors by T.V. Santhosh at Jack Shainman captured my focus and had an impact on me -- perhaps it had to do with personal timing on that day -- would be interesting to get other opinions on this show.

The Bad (well, maybe not altogether bad, but not great):
This section could be called "worth seeing, but not the absolute best shows" -- Michael Williams at CANADA (a solid show of paintings, but below average for CANADA's consistently good program), Alex Katz drawings at Peter Blum (Alex Katz is under-rated by many artists who might not like how highly-rated he is; however, this show feels like he needed to grab some old extras to put together a show -- drawings can be more intimate than this). Swiss Institute has a "very good show" according to my initial quick notes, but what seemed new at first, later sat firmly within a highly defined/known genre. My friend Ted O'Sullivan has seductive new oil paintings at DCKT, and Barbara Ess has a solid show entitled "You Are Not I" at Thierry Goldberg Projects.

And, The Ugly:
Underwhelming were Kurt Kauper's "Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama" at Deitch Projects (as much as I expected to and wanted to like this show, it was disappointing). Nicola Pellegrini / Ottonella Mocellin at Participant, Inc. continues a string of shows that are neither inviting nor interesting -- since moving to East Houston Street, the gallery seems to have lost its way. Save for details in the hanging objects, Stephane Calais is not very great at ZieherSmith.

You have my suggestions for ongoing shows above (not to be taken too heavily --the bottom line is that gallery lights are still on and it is great to see so much art alive on the scene). Check out all the new work this week especially on Thursday & Friday: openings galore to see for yourself -- hope to see you out there!

Tuesday, October 27

Annie Wildey, Matthew Miller, Philip Thomas "Social Curiosities" at New York Academy of Art
Downtown: 111 Franklin street, 6-8pm

MeKaniKdolls, Sheryl Oppenheim "Strangelight" at Sapphire Lounge
Chinatown/LES: 249 Eldridge street, b/w houston & stanton, 7-10pm

Lecture: Marina Abramovic "Performing the Gallery/Performing the Museum" at Location One
Soho: 26 Greene street, 7pm

Ai Jing "ai want to love" curated by Sally Wu at BoConcept (Soho)
Soho: 69 Greene street, 6-9pm

Lecture: Carroll Janis, Richard Brilliant "Style and Meaning" at New York Studio School
8 street: 8 W 8 street, 6:30pm

Benefit: Tristan Perich "1-Bit Symphony" benefit concert at Bitforms
20 street: 529 W 20 street, floor 2, $100, 6:30pm

Lecture: "Blind Handshake" David Humphrey, Geoff Kaplan and Molly Nesbit with Gloria Kury at SVA
21 street: 133 W 21 street, at 6 avenue, 6:30pm

Screening: "New York Stories" curated by Matt Keegan at Light Industry
Brooklyn, Misc.: 220 36th Street, floor 5, $7, 7:30pm

Artist Talk: Naeem Mohaiemen organized by Arte East at Cabinet
Brooklyn, Misc.: 300 Nevins street, 7-8:30pm

Wednesday, October 28

Jason McLean "Aunt Jean's Buns" at LaViolaBank Gallery
Chinatown/LES: 179 East Broadway, 6-9pm

? Jonas Mekas "Destruction Quartet" at James Fuentes LLC
Chinatown/LES: 35 St. James place, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

Lecture: Ruth Butler "The Artist and the In-house Model" at New York Studio School
8 street: 8 W 8 street, 6:30pm

Emily Jacir "dispatch" at Alexander and Bonin
18 street: 132 10 avenue, at 18 street, 6-8pm

David Colosi "Imaginary Numbers and Other Calculated Fictions" at Cueto Project
21 street: 551 W 21 street, 6-8pm

Kaz Oshiro at Yvon Lambert Gallery
21 street: 550 W 21 street, 6-8pm

Lynn Koble "Capacity" at venetia kapernekas gallery
26 street: 526 W 26 street, floor 8, 5-8pm

Regina Silveira at Alexander Gray Associates
26 street: 526 W 26 street, floor 10, 6-8pm

Artist Talk: Ellie Brown "A Chronicle of Lovers" at Center for Book Arts
27 street: 28 W 27 street, floor 3, $10, 6:30pm

Lecture: "Institute for Aesthetic Research" at Exit Art
36 street: 475 Tenth avenue, at 36 street, 6-8pm

Performance: Hilary Hawke, Ian M. Riggs, Jake Tilove "Duets: Compositions by Joseph Ellis and Essye Klempner" at Old Made
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 441 Metropolitan avenue, 8-11pm

Thursday, October 29

Phillip Toledano "America: The Gift Shop" at Hous Projects
Downtown: 31 Howard street, floor 2, 6-8pm

Guy Benfield, Rancourt/Yatsuk, Shana Moulton "Erratic Anthropologies" at Art in General
Downtown: 79 Walker street, b/w Broadway & Lafayette, 6-8pm

Barry X Ball "Masterpieces" at Salon 94
Chinatown/LES: 1 Freeman alley, 6-8pm

David Scanavino, Ethan Greenbaum "Mastercraft" at Gallery Satori
Chinatown/LES: 164 Stanton street, 6-8pm

Craig Manister "Recent Paintings" at The Painting Center
Soho: 52 Greene street, floor 2, 6-8pm

R.M. Fischer at KS Art
Soho: 73 Leonard street, b/w broadway & church, 6-8pm

+ Helmut Federle "Scratching Away at the Surface" at Peter Blum (soho)
Soho: 99 Wooster street, b/w Prince & Spring, 6-8pm

+ "The Art Handler Show: Featuring the artwork of New York's unsung art world heroes" at Niagara Bar
7 Street: 112 Avenue A, at 7 street, $3 beers, 9pm-2am

"Home Is Where The Art Is: Fine Craft and Alternative Folk Media" curated by Stacy C. Hollander at The Pen & Brush
10 street: 16 E 10 street, 4-7pm

Performance: Andy Comer, Sue de Beer "Radio Play" at The Kitchen
19 street: 512 W 19 street, $10, 8pm

? Florian Sussmayr "Interieurs" at Nicholas Robinson Gallery
20 street: 535 W 20 street, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

? Joshua Gage "Tragedy in Pop" at CHC Gallery
20 street: 511 W 20 street, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

"User Generated" MFA Computer Art Department curated by Charley Lewis at SVA
21 street: 133 W 21 street, at 6 avenue, 6-8pm

Simon Starling "Red White Blue" at Casey Kaplan
21 street: 525 W 21 street, 6-8pm

"Josh Smith Books" at Printed Matter, Inc.
22 street: 195 Tenth avenue, at w 22 street, 5-7pm

? Michael Wolf "Real Fake Art, Transparent City and Architecture of Density" at Julie Saul Gallery
22 street: 535 W 22 street, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

David Weiss, Peter Fischli "Sleeping Puppets" at Matthew Marks Gallery
22 street: 526 W 22 street, 6-8pm

+ David Weiss, Peter Fischli "Sun, Moon and Stars" at Matthew Marks Gallery
22 street: 522 W 22 street, 6-8pm

Lecture: "Paul Virilio: The Itinerary of Catastrophe" Sylvere Lotringer at SVA (Visual Arts Theater)
23 street: 333 W 23 street, 7pm

Yao Lu "New Landscapes" at Bruce Silverstein Gallery
24 street: 535 W 24 street, 6-8pm

+ Olaf Breuning "Small Brain Big Stomach" at Metro Pictures
24 street: 519 W 24 street, 6-8pm

John Wood "Collages, 1955 - 2006" at Bruce Silverstein Gallery
24 street: 535 W 24 street, 6-8pm

Maya Gold "Wake" at Mike Weiss Gallery
24 street: 520 W 24 street, 6-8pm

David Weiss, Peter Fischli "Clay and Rubber" at Matthew Marks Gallery
24 street: 523 W 24 street, 6-8pm

"On Love? On War?: Prominent Contemporary Chinese Artists" at Stux Gallery
25 street: 530 W 25 street, 6-9pm

"Altered States of Reality, Elements of Abstraction, Portals of Perception" at Agora Gallery (chelsea)
25 street: 530 W 25 street, 6-8pm

Dotty Attie "What Would Mother Say?" at P.P.O.W.
25 street: suite 301 W 25 street, 6-8pm

David Hockney "Paintings 2006-2009" at PaceWildenstein
25 street: 534 W 25 street, 6-8pm

Touhami Ennadre "Under New York" at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art
27 street: 547 W 27 street, floor 2, 6-9pm

Curtis Mitchell "Personas" at Martos Gallery
29 street: 540 W 29 street, 6-8pm

? Ruven Afanador "Mil Besos" at Throckmorton Fine Art
57 street: 145 E 57 street, floor 3, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

Doug DuBois "All the Days and Nights" at Higher Pictures
66 street: 764 Madison avenue, b/w 65th & 66th street, 6-8pm

? Juan Gomez at Charlie Horse Gallery
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 28 Marcy avenue, 6-8:30pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

Ryan V. Brennan "Close Your Eyes and Look as Far as You Can See" at Work Gallery
Brooklyn, Misc.: 65 Union street, 7-9pm

Friday, October 30

Barb Choit "Nagel Fades" at Rachel Uffner Gallery
Chinatown/LES: 47 Orchard street, 6-8pm

"House of Horrors" Featuring bands: Traveling Circle, Demon Lover, AcHT(eN), DJ JayVee at NY Studio Gallery (NYSG)
Chinatown/LES: 154 Stanton street, at Suffolk street, cash bar, 8pm

+ Performance: "Variety: Berlin-based collective VVORK present a contemporary variety show" at New Museum of Contemporary Art
Soho: 235 Bowery, $12, 7pm

Performance: Andy Comer, Sue de Beer "Radio Play" at The Kitchen
19 street: 512 W 19 street, $10, 8pm

+ Mark Manders at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
21 street: 521 W 21 street, 6-8pm

Nicole Eisenman "New Paintings" at Leo Koenig, Inc.
23 street: 545 W 23 street, 6-8pm

Carroll Dunham at Gladstone Gallery
24 street: 515 W 24 street, 6-8pm

Daniel Buren "To Cut Out: Situated Words 1969-2009" at Bortolami
25 street: 510 W 25 street, 6-8pm

"A Foot In The Grave" at ICO Art and Music Gallery
26 street: 606 W 26 street, 7pm

"reThink: 21st Century Bronze Sculpture" at Dalia Lucia Carvaggi Fine Art
26 street: 696 W 26 street, 7-10pm

+ Marco Boggio Sella "Virtual America; New Painting from L'Atelier Rouge" at John Connelly Presents
27 street: 625 W 27 street, 6-8pm

Ivin Ballen "Sleepless in Seattle at Winkleman Concert Hall" at Winkleman Gallery
27 street: 637 W 27 street, 6-8pm

? Dan Fischer at Derek Eller Gallery
27 street: 615 W 27 street, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

+ Sighn "When All Is Said & Done" at Possible Projects
Brooklyn, Dumbo: 68 Jay street, suite 510, 6-9pm

Tour: "Collect Dumbo: Artlog & Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) present a special one night Halloween themed art crawl" at Dumbo Arts Center (DAC)
Brooklyn, Dumbo: 30 Washington street, 6:30-9pm

Agathe de Baillencourt, Carlo Vialu, Jennifer Sullivan, Kylan Spayski, Margit Raczkowski, Melinda Yale, Michael Krumenacker, Sandra Eula Lee, Shana Moulton "Collage: Collage" curated by Jackie Klempay at NURTUREart Gallery
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 910 Grand street, 7-9pm

Open Studio: Avi Spivak, Wes Duvall "Eve of Destruction" curated by Natalie VanLandingham at UnionDocs
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 322 Union avenue, at south 1st street, 7-10pm

Matt Miller at Jon Frum Art Foundation
Brooklyn, Misc.: 66-68 Washington avenue, suite 2, 5-8pm

"Pseudonymous" at the dirty dirty
Brooklyn, Misc.: 672 Westminster road, 6-11pm

Saturday, October 31

? "High Contrast" curated by Caroline Schmidt, Lori Spector at Max Lang
24 street: 229 Tenth avenue, at W 24 street, 6-8pm, (event & time not confirmed, check with gallery)

Closing reception: Qi Zhilong at Pace Prints (Chelsea)
26 street: 521 W 26 street, floor 3, 4-6pm

The Urban Individualists "Masquerade: False Faces" curated by Gloria Howerda-Williams, Helene Ruiz at Casa Frela Gallery
119 street: 47 W 119 street, $10 suggested donation at door, 7-10pm

Artist Talk: Susan Wanklyn "Paintings in a Room Part II" curated by A.M. Richard at A.M. Richard Fine Art
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 328 Berry street, floor 3, 4-6pm

Allan Packer, Amanda Alic, Edie Winograde, Emily Roz, Erik Guzman, Ethan Crenson, Mark Stilwell, Melissa Pokorny, Patricia Smith, Philip Simmons, Sasha Bezzubov, Sean Hemmerle, Stephen Mallon, Thomas Broadbent "10th Anniversary Exhibition" at Front Room Gallery
Brooklyn, Williamsburg: 147 Roebling street, 7-9pm

Sunday, November 1

Screening: Tommy Hartung "The Ascent of Man" at On Stellar Rays
Chinatown/LES: 133 Orchard street, 4-6pm

Monday, November 2

Benefit: "Aperture Foundation 2009 Benefit and Auction" at Aperture Foundation (The Lighthouse, Pier 61, Chelsea Piers)
23 street: West street and 23rd street, tickets $350 - $1500, 6:30-10pm