Courtesy Michael Werner Gallery (New York and Berlin)

An exhibition of twenty-eight truly incredible, even mind-boggling, drawings by an obscure outsider artist was hardly what I expected to find in the parquet-floored galleries of the Upper East Side. First of all, I must preface that I abhor the term “outsider art,” but Schroder-Sönnenstern certainly was never in the ‘front line’ of his contemporaries, and after a little research, I came to learn that he was socially obscure and ostracized. This is visible in his drawings on view (all pencil and colored pencil on cardboard), which are strange and fantastical. As Jean Dubuffet would describe Art Brut (or Outsider Art), these drawings were created from “unselfconscious imagery born of pure, uninhibited expression.” Continue Reading More »

© Trisha Brown, Walking on the Wall, 1971 at the Whitney Museum © Carol Goodden

Barbican (London) Opens New Exhibit: “Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark: Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s“

The work Laurie Anderson created while living in downtown New York City in the 1970s is inextricably linked to the place and time in which it was made. These are the focus of a new exhibit opening today at the Barbican Art Gallery in London titled Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark: Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s.

The new exhibit, which runs through May 22, is the first major presentation to examine the experimental and often daring approaches—from dancing on rooftops to cutting fragments out of abandoned buildings—taken by these three leading figures in the rough-and-ready arts scene developing in downtown Manhattan during the 1970s. Anderson, choreographer Trisha Brown, and artist Gordon Matta-Clark were friends and active participants in the New York art community, working fluidly between visual art and performance. Continue Reading More »

Mobile phones were made for convenience, and cellular technology has universally transformed our engagement with the world.  It is possible to remain completely solitary; physically, mentally, spatially, while simultaneously engage completely within your own mobile network. The notion of photography as an art form hasn’t changed but its mode of transmission and its potential for ubiquitous perception has with the rise of smartphones.

Since cell phones are constantly carried by their owners, they allow one to capture an image at any time, and with the undeniable prevalence of 3G internet connections, these images can be instantly shared with large audiences via social networking platforms. Mobile Uploads is an attempt to concentrate these images into a more intimate — yet still maintaining the live and constantly ‘uploading’ — environment. Continue Reading More »

Beginning March 29, The Bruce High Quality Foundation will take to the streets (and highways) on a five-week, 11-city, coast-to-coast road trip that crosses state lines and institutional boundaries to inspire and enable local art students to define the future of their own educational experience.

Traveling in a limousine painted as a school bus, BHQF will visit university art departments, art schools, art institutions, and alternative spaces across the nation, bringing together concerned educators, artists, arts administrators, and—most importantly—students to brainstorm on the future of art schools. What are they for? How should they be organized? If not for careers, what is the essence of art itself? These fundamental questions have long haunted artists, and the BHQF are interested in putting the questions back in the hands of students across America.

BHQF will kick off the trip on March 29 from 6:30–8:00pm at the Cooper Union in New York, and continue on to institutions in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Denver, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland.

More information here.

Biographical Dance of Combined Stories

Last week, I headed to Bryce Wolkowitz in Chelsea to chat with artist Jose Parla about his upcoming solo show. When I arrived Jose was busy attacking the front hallway of the gallery. The artist likened the space to an alleyway, one he had already begun to cover with a series of tags. Each signature had a story, a small remembrance of friends and writers from the past. Discussing the wall at hand, the artist smiled from ear to ear as he explained his homage with borrowed strokes of a paint marker.

A product of 80s Miami, Parla is possessed by the power of the paint encrusted street corner. There is an element of photorealism in his canvasses; each a re-exploration of a space once visited. The vivid and unruly paintings on display document and celebrate the beautiful underbelly of urban space. An avid traveler and long time resident of New York City, the artist pulls reference from a staggering mental and photographic data bank of urban facades. Brown tarnish mingles with the wriggling marks of phantom graffiti writers, conjured up from the depths of the artist’s mind. Each painting is a wall, each wall a port key to experience, a touch stone for memory. It is through this type of reflection that perception is given its layers. The artist speaks of painting as if it were theater; each work unfolding through a long process of remembrance. To ignore this is to ignore the high drama at play. Continue Reading More »

ARTPROJX CINEMA TO FEATURE OVER 90 ARTISTS’ FILMS & VIDEOS IN NEW POP UP CINEMA VENTURE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ARMORY SHOW AND VOLTA NY

The SVA Theatre in Chelsea, New York, Artprojx Cinema, a new collaborative venture with The Armory Show and VOLTA NY, will screen a program of over 90 artists’ films from over 20 participating galleries alongside a public program of artists’ films from leading international arts organizations and curators.

Full program here. Continue Reading More »

Isa Genzken's 28-foot "Rose II" on the Bowery

December is a time to get cozy with family and friends, and to give. With holiday season in the air, even workaholics need to take a break and enjoy what the city has to offer. We decided to share our wish list to help you start your holiday art hopping journey. Below are some of our quick picks, but you can see a full listing of shows and events here. Continue Reading More »