Category: Culture

Alejandro Diaz (selection from “Ongoing series of Cardboard Signs” 2003 – present) [installation view]

[additional signs from the series]


Guy Richards Smit study for front cover of “Grossmalerman Adventures” 2007 gouache on paper 30.25″ x 22.75″ [installation view]


Terrence Gower Display Modern II-1 (Hepworth) 2006-2007 Paper m�ch� 49.75″ x 38.25″ x 9″, Display Modern II-2 (Hepworth) 2006-2007 paper m�ch� 46″ x 18″ x 15″, and Display Modern II-4 (Hepworth) 2006-2007 paper m�ch� 48.5″ x 18″ x 15″, with Display Modern I (Hepworth) 2006-2007 12 Piezo pigment prints on phot rag 11″ x 14″ each (unframed) on wall to the rear [installation view]

Rachel Gugelberger and Jeffrey Walkowiak, co-directors of the gallery, are the curators of the current Sara Meltzer show, “Ceci n’est pas… (This is not…)“, featuring work by Tamy Ben-Tor, Cary Leibowitz, Peter Coffin, Michael Lindeman, Jennifer Dalton, Pam Lins, Alejandro Diaz, Reynard Loki, Charley Friedman, Edgar Orlaineta, Neil Goldberg, Laura Parnes, Terence Gower, Danica Phelps, Pablo Helguera, Jude Tallichet, Christopher K. Ho and Troy Richards, Guy Richards Smit, Nina Katchadourian, Michael Smith and David Kramer.
The press release is almost as amusing as this very amusing show itself. It begins with a statement warning us about what the installation is not:

Ceci n’est pas… (This is not…) an exhibition about painting. This is not an exhibition that defines a moment or a trend. This is not an exhibition that celebrates the emerging artist or the mid-career artist or those who have passed. This is not an exhibition about appropriation, subversive strategies or architectural interventions. This is not an exhibition about global warming, the war in Iraq, government corruption, Lindsey Lohan or Knut the polar bear.

And it goes on to describe what it is, in an explanation excerpted here:

The group exhibition Ceci n’est pas… (This is not…) presents works that approach various facets of the art world with irony and humor. Culled from artist’s observations and experiences as well as art world mythology, the far-ranging styles include self-deprecating anecdotes, commentaries on art and exhibition practices and critiques of art market trends.

Mark Schubert Merry-Jo 2007 epoxy resin, plastic lawn ornaments, chrome table, foam and enamel, approx. 69″ x 40″ x 42″ [installation view]

[detail]



Joey Fauerso If I’m Thinking I’m Probably Feeling 2006 video: 35-second looped animation made from 454 oil and acrylic paintings [two stills from installation]

I’m not surprised that one of my favorite things in the show is Mark Schubert‘s piece, or that it was already marked sold when we arrived at the gallery one week after the show opened. I’m talking about “Merry-Jo”, Schubert’s large sculpture occupying the physical center of the current exhibition, “Famous Adults as Children, Famous Children as Adults“, at Monya Rowe. Maybe it’s spoiler, but I’ll tell you anyway: The major elements of this sculpture started life as a plastic Mary and Joseph.
I was also fascinated by Joey Fauerso‘s “If I’m Thinking I’m probably Feeling”, a half-minute video animation assembled from hundreds of individual paintings.
The show was curated by José Lerma, and besides these works by Schubert and Fauerso there are excellent pieces by Evan Gruzis, Christopher McNulty, John McKinnon, Brendan Mulcahy, Jesus Bubu Negron, Joe Pflieger, Andrew Rogers and Chemi Rosado Seijo.
The press release states simply that the installation “examines themes of repetition, replication and the reformulation of existing works and ideas”. What a strange idea: a curatorial concept which doesn’t end up stuck in the ordinary art fan’s throat.

Sarah Braman Step Out 2007 found furniture, Plexiglas, paint 46″ x 53″ x 32″ [installation view]


Nicole Cherubini Amphora 2007 ceramic, terracotta, porcelain, luster, yellow crystal ice, wood, enamel and fake gold and silver chain 70″ x 64″ x 30″ [installation view]


Jacob Robichaux Concrete/Abstract 2007 color pencil, enamel, felt, glue, linen, parquetry tablets, string, wood 27″ x 25″


Ian Pedigo Temporary Image of the Exterior 2007 wood, counter top, Plexiglas, decals, found printed image 64″ x 63.5″ x 1.75″ [installation view]

The other reason of my excitement about D’Amelio Terras is the show in the larger space, “Circumventing the City“, curated by Rachel Uffner, with work by Sarah Braman, David Brooks, Jedediah Caesar, Nicole Cherubini, Valerie Hegarty, Yuri Masnyj, Ian Pedigo, Jacob Robichaux, Sterling Ruby and Erika Vogt.
Like “Heralds of Creative Anachronism”, this is a show of abstraction, and everything in this room too was created within the last year or so, but four of the ten artists are not men, and their medium is not just paint on canvas. In fact, there really isn’t anything here which might be called straight painting at all.
It’s a beautiful show.
I was already familiar with and enthusastic about the exciting work of Braman, Cherubini, Hegarty, Pedigo, Robichaux and Ruby, and now I’m also going to be watching for Brooks, Caesar and Masnyj.


This smallish piece on paper by Robichaux is not actually part of the show, but I saw it hanging in an office inside the gallery and I couldn’t resist sharing it.

Roger White Cloth 2006 oil on canvas 54″ x 38″


Chris Martin Mother Popcorn 2006-2007 oil and collage on canvas 64″ x 59″

D’Amelio Terras has two dynamite shows up at the same time, and they will both be running for almost four more weeks, until August 10. “Heralds of Creative Anachronism“, which occupies the gallery’s smaller space, includes five abstract works by four artists, Joe Bradley, Daniel Hesidence, Chris Martin [see also my July 17 post], and Roger White.
The gallery describes the choice of four male painters for this show as a deliberate reference to the 60’s art group known as BMPT (Daniel Buren, Olivier Mosset, Michel Parmentier, Niele Toroni), but admits that the exhibition is “a light-hearted attempt to create a movement, even a temporary one, for the duration of this exhibition”. In fact I think what they’re saying is that the idea here, very unlike BMPT’s, is to question the whole notion of movements or “schools” in the practice of contemporary abstract painting.
Whatever the show’s conceit, the work is terrific.
No curator is credited.

Mira Dancy Burning Flame 2007 oil on canvas 16″ x 16″


Mira Dancy Tall Table 2007 oil on canvas 42″ x 24″


Chris Martin Untitled 2005-2007 mixed media, insulation foam on wire mesh 32″ x26.75′ [installation view]


Eric Heist The Kingdom is Inside You and Outside You (From Interfaith Center) 2005 mixed media 40″ x 20″ x 26″ [installation view]


Aaron Williams Are We Dead? 2007 watercolor, enamel and spray paint on paper 27″ x 34.5″ [installation view]


Mike Cloud Chicken with Two Stars of David 2005 oil on linen with toy from children’s game 39.25″ x 37.75″ x 40″ [installation view]


Andrew Guenther The Slap of Bird Shit on Wet Pavement (green and yellow) 2006 acrylic and oil stick on paper 30″ x 22.5″ [installation view, of work inside frame]

It’s been a while since Mid-Chelsea looked as exciting as it does right now. I just counted nine “TOP PICKS” on ArtCal, and seven of them are Chelsea galleries; that may be a record. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that a number of artists are currently making an appearance there who have not previously been associated with our far-west-side, grown-ups-art scene. Barry and I headed west for a few hours this afternoon and much of the time it felt like we were actually visiting Williamsburg or the Lower East Side – except that our local big-deal galleries can afford excellent air conditioning, their market being rather demanding.
We encountered our first stash of treasures at “Unfathom“, the beautiful Max Protetch group show curated by the artist Aaron Williams and Stuart Krimko, the gallery’s Director of Exhibitions. The artists are Cameron, Nicolas Rule, Saul Chernick, Gary Stephan, Jessica Dickinson, Chris Martin, Byron Kim, Andrew Guenther, Alfred Jensen, Mira Dancy, Rico Gaston, Marc Handelman, Eric Heist, Katherine Keltner, Mike Cloud, Ed Blackburn and Aaron Williams.

Ju$t Another Rich Kid & Stuart Semple Teen Dream Chaos 2007 mixed media installation, dimensions variable [large detail of installation]

[further detail]

For those who haven’t yet seen the show on 21st Street Anna Kustera has fortunately extended the run of “The Black Market” until August 3. It’s something about the comodification of everything we think we may still have held simply dear until recently. Yes you may go shopping, and the stuff is attached to a huge range of price tags.
In addition to their rich collaboration shown above there are also individual pieces by Ju$t Another Rich Kid and Stuart Semple, who are jointly responsible for curating the show. Beyond that there’s work by Mattia Biagi, Carlo Zanni, Cory Ingram, Craig Wilson, Adham Faramawy, the (aural) collaboration of London Nu Ravers, Warboy and K-tron of All You Can Eat, as well as something called “The Playground”, described as an unbound collection of hand-made fashion and art prints produced and boxed in a limited edition.
It all looked like tons of fun to me, and when I was there the contents of The Playground’s striking box hadn’t even been revealed yet.

Eric Hairabedian Pitcher 2006 C-print 30″ x 24″ [installation view]


Eric Hairabedian Mr. Valentine 2006 C-print 30″ x 24″ [installation view]


Eric Hairabedian Pepe 2007 C-print 8.5″ x 11″ [installation view, including blogger’s reflection]


Tricia Zigmund The Church of the Cross 2007 C-print [no dimensions indicated; installation view]


Dana Gentile Dreamboy 2007 mixed media collage, wooden spool and cigar box 6.5″ x 11″ x 1.5″ [installation view]

It’s almost as much about the space as it is about the photographs, at least that’s what the press release for Pocket Utopia’s “Not Yet Utopic” seems to be saying. If you’ve been to the gallery and seen the show, you know what that’s all about. But you wouldn’t have to agree, since the work in this group show would shine in any environment, even a clean, white space.
The photographers are Dana Gentile, Terry Girard, Kristopher Graves, Eric Hairabedian, Jersey Walz and Tricia Zigmund. I’ve included in the shots above a bit of the ambiance of the evolving construction that currently defines this space and which is almost inseparable from each piece as presented here.
What follows is a bit more of the de-constructing gallery surfaces themselves, by way of a lagniappe:

Is it a riot scene, a political demonstration, a fire drill, an Improv Everywhere mission? No, it’s just the overflow crowd outside the new 31 Grand on Ludlow Street last night, welcoming the gallery in its move from Williamsburg (yeah, 31 Grand) to the Lower East Side.
The show was dominated by the gallery’s own artists, but there were some special guests as well. I think we’ll call it a corker and ignore the title. What follows is just a taste of the 28 works in the show (unofficially, 29 last night, since Carol Riot Kane made a stunning addition to the crowd).
More from Bloggy.
This is the complete list:

Claudine Anrather, Ursula Brookbank, Fanny Bostrom, Alessandra Exposito, Maureen Cavanaugh, Mike Cockrill, Jon Elliott, Rachel Frank, Helen Garber, Lauren Gibbes, Jeph Gurecka, Magalie Guerin, Karen Heagle, Jan Kotik, Jason Clay Lewis, Francesca Lo Russo, Ryan McLennan, Christa Parravani, Anthony Pontius, Tom Sanford, Adam Stennett, Kimi Weart, Barnaby Whitfield and Jeff Wyckoff

Tom Sanford David & Victoria Beckham 2007 oil, acrylic and fake silver on wood, 2 panels 28.5″ x 28.5″ each [installation view]

Barnaby Whitfield The Prestige (Ground Control) 2007 28.5″ x 36″ [installation view]


the artist and Erik Lindman admire Whitfield’s drawing


Karen Heagle Laocoon (Tom DeLonge) 2006 acrylic and ink on paper 51″ x 54″ [installation view]


Lauren Gibbes the Friendly Barbarian 2005 Astroturf, acrylic, ceramic, siolk flowers, diamond dust, dimensions variable [installation view[


Anthony Pontius The Great Rescue 2007 oil on panel [dimensions not provided, but approximately 16″ square]

Rob Pruitt Under The Cherry Moon 2007 acrylic and oil on panel 36″ x 30″ approx. [installation view, the rectangular shape of the panel distorted here by the camera parallax]

[detail including unicorn sticker]


Dana Carlson What Cats Think About 2006 embroidery, beadwork, applique and paint on peach satin 32″ x 25″

Even if the art weren’t so good – and so much good fun – the titles should probably be a sufficient draw for this group show at the new-ish Smith Stewart gallery on, once again, the Lower East Side. Some of the best, even away from the works themselves, are Jamie Warren’s “Untitled (Naoko/Squid teeth)”, assume vivid astro focus’s “Butch Queen 5 (Le Sport Sac)”, Michele O’Marah’s “Susie’s Rainbow (Valley Girl Prop)”, Marlene McCarthy’s “Annointed: Beeville, Texas”, and Jen DeNike’s “Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Top, Bottom” and J Penry’s “To Dream of Flying Papillon”.
The other artists are Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, Jim Krewson, Meredith Danluck, Ryan McGinley and Amy Carlson.
The title of the exhibition itself is “She Was Born To Be My Unicorn”, and it was curated by Amy Kellner [in her spare time, writer, photographer, VICE editor, blogger, bon vivant and teenage unicorn].
Barry has an image of Nicole Eisenman‘s piece.