For his third solo exhibition at Triple Base in San Francisco, Jay Nelson has masked the entire gallery floor with hand cut, custom shaped panels of ACX plywood. He’s divided the space with a new wall, and installed two separate arrangements of recent works in traditional, consciously transparent orderings. Nelson’s constructed all the necessary tools of perception (the wall, the work, even the floor) and pieced it all together to create an abstraction that according to the artist, was developed “with as little intention as possible.” Continue Reading More »

When I walked into Thierry Drefus’ aged mirrors firmly planted on the wooden floors of the Invisible Dog – it was during the opening of (naked) absence – (blinding) presence, which also coincided with their holiday dinner party back in December. The entire space being spliced by these large reflections, instantly drew me to knowing who was the artist behind the installation. Eiji Sumi soon joined the party, and over a bowl of homemade cocktail, the artist Thierry Dreyfus introduced himself and advised us to see his other piece in the back of the gallery. Walking through the door, the room opened up to something of a lucid dream. The diffused light changed the dimensions of the air, and without knowing what to expect, I became in sync with the heartbeat that was intensely thumping in the background. Peaking in and out of the white shadows is a godly figurative sculpture. Then, hearing muffled voices from other human figures, the magic spell was broken. A few weeks later, after the artist returned to Paris, I decided to investigate Sir Thierry Dreyfus, an internationally renowned and respected artist, through the eyes of a New York based emerging lighting artist, Eiji Sumi. Both artists, living in influential cities, tell their stories using the element of light. Continue Reading More »

Courtesy of the New Museum

George Condo was born in 1957, meaning he is 53, the same age as my mother.

The artist’s newly opened retrospective “Mental States” at the New Museum, was exceptional in part for this reason. It was refreshing to see an exhibition of this weight and vitality at the New Museum. It was especially exciting considering the artist is not “younger than Jesus” but 4 decades into his mature career.

At the risk of seeming vague or trite, or both, there is something timeless about George Condo’s Work. During the 1980s, while friends like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Mary Heilmann were developing their own signature styles, Condo wasn’t. Rather, he was constructing his toolbox. The artist has become a master of appropriation, not of material but of style. He has an uncanny ability to pull inspiration and support from across art history. An avid museum visitor, the artist constantly footnotes artists as disparate as, Picasso, Bacon and Fragonard. Continue Reading More »