Started off at Andrea Rosen to see two group shows. In the main gallery was Carol Bove, Sterling Ruby and Dan Schutz. There were some interesting pieces - Sterling Ruby created clean sculptures that mixed simple clear plastic with heavy metal lacework. It was a great organized combination of an everyday product with a protective armored material. The back gallery featured sculptural pieces, fitting for a show titled "Crystalline Architecture". My favorite was this piece which resembled a distorted baroque mirror from a Disney film -
I also was drawn to small spools of thread in the back gallery - not sure I completely understand the piece - but love the creativity.
Also in the back gallery was this great painting with small text that I just loved (that's my reflection in the glass, not some hidden image) -
The next stop was a personal fav - Luhring Augustine where Ragnar Kjartansson showed all 144 paintings he created last year at the Venice Biennale. I was lucky enough to see him create these pieces last year in Italy. The artist set-up residence in the ground floor of an Italian palazzo and painted a hired model on a different canvas everyday. It was great to see all the pieces hung professionally in a gallery, however the tragedy of the space and the timing of the global economy collapse is hard to capture a year later with just canvases.
In the back of the gallery was a great video made this year titled "The Man". It is a 49 minute continuous piece of Pinetop Perkins playing the piano and interacting with the artist/camera in a laid-back, playful way while he plays different songs on the piano. Not only is a a pure tribute to the genius and talent of Perkins but the landscape with which he is set speaks to the South, nature, farming, history and so much more I've even yet to process. The video seemed to be shot in hd (not confirmed) highlighting the texture of the landscape, especially the long, wild grass with which the piano was set. It was a great video and really brought a smile to my face
Finally it was a stop at Gladstone 24th Street to see The Mass Ornamental, a show curated by John Rasmussen. The most interesting piece was the first one - a collection of high school lockers squeezed together - it spoke to scale, tension and strength.
Otherwise, the show was very sculptural and specific - my other favorite were these crustacean-octopus pieces that appeared to be ceramic, just laying in the middle of the gallery floor. It was one of those pieces that stayed with you and was better with time...
Picture from Gladstone Gallery
