Beautiful churches always stop me on my track. Situated on a peaceful residential street, the Christ Church of Cobble Hill may not necessarily stand out next to all the brownstones, but the postcard that said “Playthings Of The Gods” caught my eye. This seductive title drew me to go see one of the shows on Thursday. Produced by the Vertical Player Repertory or VPR, the “Playthings Of The Gods” series is the vision of producer/director Judith Barnes. I had little idea of what to expect for the show except for what’s given in its title–Love’s Labyrinth: Music of the Spanish Baroque. It was a gracious excuse for me to take a respite from the heat and chaos. The music was performed by Anima Baroque Music Ensemble featuring a soprano singer. Thirty minutes into the performance, my mind began to drift to a different time and place. Or as my friend described it, the whole experience was timeless and placeless.
Yesterday was Mr. Marshall McLuhan’s birthday. Anyone who read the cult classic The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects knows that Marshall McLuhan is the godfather of philosophical media analysis. He did deep studies about how the media could effect an individual, and although those theories were written in the 60s it can easily by applied to what’s happening now. This video interview is a good introduction to Mr. McLuhan’s work and would perhaps inspire us to question our own role in today’s machine-obsessed world.
I’m really excited about launching this new “featured artists” series as it will bring a different focus on Artcards Review. There are so many talented artists here in New York, and it’s usually the fresh and emerging who need to voice out, which is where we will focus the spotlight. Our first Featured Artist of the Week is Kevin Cyr. For this fabulous encounter between Kevin and I, we met at his latest show entitled “Gimme Shelter,” a group exhibition currently at Mixed Greens Gallery.
When I first saw Kevin’s Camper Kart I was as excited as a child walking into a toy store. Not quite hippy, nor scientifically geeky, this installation hit me in a profoundly personal way. The exterior is only a fraction of the entire piece. First the combination of a shopping cart with a Chinese-Mongolianesque shaped tent is one of the craziest juxtapositions I’ve seen. Then reality starts to seep away as I peek inside the little windows and imagine a life inside this romantic place.
The anticipated LUSH LIFE opened this past Thursday in nine galleries spanning through the Lower East Side. The curators of this project Franklin Evans and Omar Lopez-Chahoud cleverly used the novel written by Richard Price as a connecting thread. Each of the nine galleries represent a different chapter in Lush Life (2008), which is a psychologically gripping tale about a murder investigation and concerning the gentrification of lower Manhattan. Basically it reveals some of the ugliness behind today’s yuppified Lower East Side. This is the neighborhood where I first landed as child, so I can definitely relate to those changes first hand. Now that the bodegas, hosiery and leather shops have moved on to be replaced by pricey wine bars and boutiques, it’s nice to see a new wave of galleries coming in. Which brings in a whole different dynamic to the area, and you can feel it while walking down the streets at any time of the day, it’s such a unique mixture of energies in the LES that is unlike anywhere else, because it has gone through so many layers of changes, just like those stickers plastered everywhere. And this exhibition is unique in a sense that these galleries have created a sort of ensemble, which attracted a flood of people, some who had never been to any of those galleries before. Of course the artists and the work matters just as much, but what’s more remarkable is the unity of the event as a whole–the bigger picture. Perhaps it is what the downtown galleries need right now, to generate some action, especially since those hungry sharks in the bigger art market usually gets all the attention. If you haven’t seen the show yet I advise starting from Chapter One: Whistle at Sue Scott Gallery. Closing dates vary depending on the gallery, but here’s the list: Sue Scott Gallery, On Stellar Rays, Invisble-Exports, Lehmann Maupin, Y Gallery, Collette Blanchard, Salon 94, Scaramouche, Eleven Rivington. Don’t be overwhelmed, there is a free map that you can pick up at any of those galleries. (more pics after the jump…)
The group exhibition appropriately entitled Shred curated by Carlo McCormick opened yesterday at Perry Rubenstein. This slightly informal exhibit houses an eclectic collection of collage work (i.e. Jess, Bruce Conner, Leo Fitzpatrick) mixed with edgy urban art (i.e. Swoon, Shepard Fairey). The show is definitely a stand-out, drawing downtowners (there is one Dash Snow piece) as well as skateheads from the Lower East Side. Although collage as a medium is not something new, lately it’s seems to be resurfacing and Shred exhibits a rare grouping of established artists together next to emerging local artists. I’m a fan of the ex-Beatnik Bruce Conner (1933-2008) who produced inspirational works in a diverse range of mediums from found materials collages to experimental film-making. Also drawn to the newcomer Leo Fitzpatrick’s subtle assemblages, which at first sight doesn’t seem like much, but on closer inspection they reveal a hint of wisdom.
Yesterday was a big day of openings. Despite the heat and humidity, people were enthusiastic about seeing art, cooling off inside galleries, while smoozing over wine. My favorites were Jack Pierson’s gorgeous photographs (nailed into the walls) at Bartolami and The Tell-Tale Heart (Part 2) at James Cohan curated by Elyse Goldberg. I just had to check out Andy Warhol’s Rain Machine (Daisy Waterfall) at Nicholas Robinson, which was surprisingly empty but offered a moment of comtemplation. Ended the warm evening to see friends’ works at Leo Kesting in a group show featuring street art called Dead Letter Playground. It was like a mini art fair happening in Chelsea, and so good bumping into you all! (more photos after the jump…)
By now, you’ve probably seen or heard about the super-hyped new reality series Work of Art put out by Bravo TV. I don’t watch TV or follow much on mainstream media, but this got me buzzing with curiosity. And recently on WNYC (yes, the radio) I heard an interesting and unexpected interview with Sarah Jessica Parker showing this other side of her being an art enthusiast. So that partly explains why she co-produced Work of Art and also why (other than it being a reality show) it has that Sex and the City flavor. When I got the news that they combined reality TV and art together, I was both shocked but excited. How “real” is it? The pitch is nothing new: competition-driven, opportunity-of-a-lifetime, artists becoming contestants playing this game, and one winner gets to have it all. Sounds a bit silly, but it must take a lot of guts to push yourself out in front of those cameras many hours a day, especially strange if you’re an artist used to working in solitude. Ultimately it is rewarding since the winner gets a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and cash. After all, the show is made for public broadcast entertainment but how much reality is it really? I guess it’s also up to the individual artists as well. As Jerry Saltz puts it “maybe being sick to one’s stomach comes from whatever it is that drives someone like me to even appear on a reality-TV show at all.” This crazy New York art world is a whole reality in itself and that’s what drives us to be thrilled by it.
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