The phrase “They Knew What They Wanted” poses countless questions, especially when placed as the title of a collaborative exhibition between four galleries across the city of San Francisco. As it turns out “They” are artists chosen by each gallery to curate a show comprised of artwork from the backrooms of all four galleries. Altman Siegel Gallery chose Los Angeles based photographer, Shannon Ebner to curate their portion of the show. She chose a series of thirteen random objects ranging from glasses of water to photographs to a baby incubator in an attempt to show that “reality is comprised of basic units.” The show at Altman Siegel is successfully disjointed with pieces that are singularly intriguing. Tom Otterness’s ‘Broken Humpty Dumpty’, a bronzed Humpty Dumpty situated on the floor, creates a vibrant dialog with the viewer because of its surroundings. Ebner knew what she wanted from the back rooms of these galleries, but you will have to look to Fraenkel Gallery, Ratio 3, and John Berggruen Gallery to see what their selected artists wanted.
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.
The first U.S. exhibition of German painter Otto Dix, at the Neue Galerie is long overdue, and after a recent visit, I have discovered a newfound admiration for a painter whom I only thought of as creating Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden. This exhibition proves Dix to be an incredibly self-aware artist who dedicated his life to the study of painting, and in turn, the study of the human condition as seen in his many variations on portraiture. The exhibition at the Neue Galerie begins with a small gallery full of his work made during World War I, a body of work that ultimately sets the tone for his entire artistic career. Continue Reading More »
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.
If you haven’t already noticed the MTA has just put out the new subway map to replace the previous one, which has constantly been updated for the past 10 years. This new map shows more defined routes compared to the previous map, which had a lot of unfinished business. The new map that launched this month is graphically cleaner with finer attention paid to the color scheme, although I think the bright blue is a tad loud. The New York Subway system must be the oldest in the world, you can witness this history at the Chambers Street station, where you can still feel the grit of New York’s past times. Updating the map is a sign that the city is putting an effort for these improvements, and evidently they are enhancing some of the stations, albeit at a slow rate. I think there are still lots of technological advancement that we can learn from other cities such as the London Undergound, which has a superior information design navigational system (online and onsite), and Berlin with its time table that is precise to the second, and other cities in Asia such as Tokyo and Hong Kong that are admirable for their service to riders. And perhaps even Barcelona, that gives riders an ad-free commute.
The NYTimes did a great article comparing the map of MTA’s present and past here.
Summer vacation seems to have started a bit earlier in the Chelsea gallery world than the rest of us. This past Thursday, it was nearly empty in Chelsea. The weather was perfect for gallery hopping, but I suppose that the beach is more exciting than looking at art. I randomly walked into ATM gallery to be caught by surprisingly fresh work. The group exhibition appropriately titled Summer Survey are works by Anne Eastman, Virginia Martinsen, Noam Rappaport, Miguel Angelo Rocha, Eric Sall, Peter Sutherland, and Vince Rourke. You may already be familiar with some of the names, such as Peter Sutherland who is renowned for his photographs. Here he shows his recent video Ice Cream and Tacos (2010). The works are a dry yet interesting showing of urban minimalist grit and raw that is usually more of an LA thing than in Chelsea, NY. I really enjoyed this off-the-beaten-path of a Summer Survey.
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