Maria Petschnig "De Niña a Mujer" 2010 Digital video, 11:12 minutes (Video still)

I’ve had bad timing with viewing some recent exhibitions in the Lower East Side. I want to be able to write about the fantastic shows that I saw in order to encourage others to go and experience the same, however, they all seem to be closing this week!

I was lucky enough to catch Maria Petschnig at On Stellar Rays, which had already been extended through March 19. In the video, De Niña a Mujer, the viewer is invited into the apartment of Viktor, a Russian New-Yorker who produces elaborately-staged (yet with a low production value) softcore porn. His models, several thirty-something Russian women (who also include Petschnig), appear comfortable and relaxed with the gentle –even silly– man as he helps them put on, shall I say unique, costumes. Oddly enough, this is the sort of behind-the-scenes behavior I would expect on the set of a pornography, whether softcore or hardcore; the relationship between Viktor and the woman is desexualized, and almost familial. Viktor’s final product is a photograph, which seems cold and distant compared to the more intimate moments between producer and actress/model that Petschnig captures in this video.

Robert de Saint Phalle "Curtain Call" (installation view) Dodge Gallery

At Dodge Gallery, sculptures by Robert de Saint Phalle and pseudo-paintings by Jane Fox Hipple both delight and intrigue. The gallery press release describes Hipple’s work better than I could in that she “works with all of the familiar criteria that denote painting for painting’s sake: oil, egg tempera, rectilinear frames, flat surfaces, wall-hung pieces.” It is obvious through these canvases that Hipple is having fun. With shades of soft blues, hazy purples, and juicy pinks, she paints on the frame, outside of the canvas, and on top of objects that she places within them. Saint Phalle’s sculptures are on the other hand, are more structural and dynamic, yet they are not aggressive. In a way, seem to be three-dimensional literary devices, telling a story between their material and form. A glossy, black plane intersects a sleek, modernist bench. Within this plane is a oddly shaped chasm letting light in from one side, only to land upon a slack cloth already mimicking the possible reflection of the spectrum, were the sun to enter at a perfect angle. If that description seems abstract or ambiguous, then I have accurately described the formal aspects of the works on view. More mid-scale sculptural works are on view Blackston Gallery, where Rachel Beach presents a geometric collection of reconstituted, resituated wood sculptures. The strong verticality of the works, made of plywood and old wood beams, suggest statues or human forms.

Alison Knowles "If the Shoe Fits" 2011. Courtesy James Fuentes LLC

One exhibition that you’ll still have time to see is Alison Knowles, Clear Skies All Week, on view at James Fuentes LLC through April 3. Upon first view of the multimedia works on view (assemblages made of old shoes, pieces of driftwood, handmade paper, and other found materials), I was impressed that this young artist (I thought maybe in their 20s) was able to capture an authentic sense of nostalgia. It almost seemed West Coast, like the type of visual cues that could accompany a Brautigan novel. This is why I never read press releases or CVs before viewing an exhibition — for that element of surprise! I didn’t realize that these were new works by the Fluxus artist who is now in her late seventies. Knowing the age of this artist (rather than the history of her artistic career and her taste for tunafish & buttermilk shakes), rendered the works more gentle, genuine, and charismatic.