Spring 2010 Gallery Update (part two)

Chelsea Part 2 - 

Pace Wildenstein, Yancey Richardson, 303 Gallery, Paula Cooper, Tanya Bonakdar, Anton Kern and David Zwirner 

I had already peeked into Pace Wildenstein to see Sterling Ruby’s sculptures 'Bus' and 'Pig Pen', two massive, oppressive, apocalyptic pieces that seemed simultaneously hot and scary. They were hot as I could see them as part of an S&M session- the interlocking cages seemed perfect for some sex slave games. The hardware all seemed very sexual. Scary as it seemed prison-like and very controlled, almost against one’s will. In the end I found them very fun, albeit terrify and intoxicating. 

Pig Pen (Pace Wildenstein)

Next up was a quick pop-in to Yancey Richardson gallery to see the Esko Mannikko photographs, which were almost all animal profiles. The most interesting was the human-like stare of the gorilla, but the prints overall celebrated the beauty and perfection of wild animals. Highlights included the symmetry of a zebra’s behind, the grey tounge of a presumed bull and the way a flamingo can twist its neck. It was a great small show and worth stopping by. 

 

Untitled, from the series Harmony Sisters (Yancey Richardson)

Mike Nelson’s massive interactive sculpture at 303 Gallery was fantastic. Thankfully I have friends who have more patience then I do so we waited five minutes to go into the sculpture which was a collection of four travel trailers. It wasn't until later that I realized how haunting the experience was and I then felt like I had trespassed into someone else’s home. You did walk away feeling a little dirty and also very voyeuristic. It was great to see the piece, as I realized Nelson was the artist who transformed the Essex Street Market into fairytale funhouse of sorts on the Lower East Side in 2007, a piece called ‘A Psychic Vacuum’.  Once I made the connection it was clear to see the similarities. 

Quiver of Arrows, 2010 (303 Gallery)

A Psychic Vaccum (Creative Time)

Up next was Sam Durant’s huge platform sculpture at Paula Cooper titled “Dead Labor Day”. The platform was elevated 7 feet above the floor with nothing but a water cooler and trashcan which visitors were welcome to ascend to retrieve a cup of water. I, of course, was too cool for school to sign the waiver and go up there, but luckily one of my companions did. Again, at the time the piece didn’t really move me, but in hindsight, the more I think about the title, the homemade feeling of the platform and the presence of the water cooler, it makes me think of all those breadwinners in the suburbs who take on a big project over a holiday weekend instead of actually enjoying the holiday. It reminded me to enjoy those few holidays granted in corporate America. 

We totally missed Tanya Bonakdar, but I made everyone walk back to see Olafur Eliasson as I was blown away by his show last year at the MCA in Chicago. Even though the gallery workers, of which there were a dozen, were acting like self-important snobs, the main piece on the ground floor – a play on light/reflection/shadow/color was fun and engaging. The rest of the show was mostly research pieces for more of his well-known works. The employees turned me off, so we did not stay too long. It’s ok; I still love his work and often close my eyes and picture ‘Beauty’ and smile. 

The John Bock show at Anton Kern was not at all what I expected. From the picture below I expected intricate small sculptures, but instead the space was very DIY with fabric, sculpture, videos and even loose everyday items like pepto bismol bottles. I think I missed some performance element to the work, so further investigation is needed. Also, the video piece in the back of the gallery seemed odd and cliché for no reason I can point to. The whole show seemed a little immature, so I am looking forward to learning more the artist and hoping to change my mind.

 

Finally, and definitely not required was a stop at David Zwirner to see Marlene Dumas paintings that seemed interesting. Being the last stop on our tour, we needed to be wowed, and I know I was definitely underwhelmed, and ready for a cocktail. The pieces seemed interesting, and I would like to learn more about the artist, but was too tired by that point in the day to make the effort.

Spring 2010 Gallery Update (part one)

I aggressively scheduled to tour 16 galleries in West Chelsea for Saturday; mostly because I could not make it to the openings during the week. The one opening I did  get to was Ryan McGinley at Team gallery on Thursday. I didn’t actually see the show as it was so packed the hipsters were pouring out onto Grand Street and I was in no mood to push through a seemingly self-important crowd to see photographs of skinny naked gay boys - I can just look in the mirror. Anyway, my aggressive schedule proved feasible and I ended up touring 20 galleries with three friends in tow.  It was much easier than expected as some shows were duds and easy to hit in under 10 minutes.

We started the day on the very northern fringes at 29^th Street with Peter Blum to see three video pieces by Superflex. The highlight was “Flooded McDonald’s”, a fantastic 20-minute video where the inside of a presumed staged McDonald’s is flooded with crystal clear water. What starts off colorful and commercial quickly turns dark, oily and disturbing. With fries, cups, napkins and even coffee pots and chairs floating in the flooded waters the mood slowly turns from comical to disgust. It was only more brilliantly conceived, as the only noise was the calming/soothing sounds of the running water.  We stayed for the whole video, which made me nervous as we had a schedule to keep to.  Highlights from the videos in the show can be found at Vimeo. 

Up next was David Nolan to see the Visible Vagina group show. Although most of the work did not catch me, two highlights were Sarah Davis' painting of Brittney Spears and Allyson Mitchell's crocheted room that actually did feel like the inside of a vagina. We all felt the need to get into fetal position and I thought about lighting a joint… if I had one or even smoked pot. 

Unlike the Superfelx show, the Visible Vagina was good for a pop-in but not a destination show. Nari Ward had an interesting show at Lehmann Maupin, using interesting textures to creature dark mysterious pieces.  Luckily the video in the back of the gallery was both interesting and thought-provoking, as the white ambulance parked in the front of the gallery was honestly dull.

Continuing the boring section of the tour was a stop by Nicole Klagsbrun for the “lean” show, the works here are severely minimalist and lacked any sign of talent or significance. I usually support all kinds of contemporary art, but this show felt lackluster and amateur.

And again more uninteresting pieces continued at Cheim & Reid with Bill Jensen’s show, which had several beautifully crafted paintings, but most were uninspiring and flat. The surprise hit was the Flag Foundation’s show “Size Does Matter”, which was curated by Shaq. It was, as expected, a lot of mainstream pieces, but it was nice to see some classics such as Robert Therrien, Charles Ray and Ron Mueck. Plus as much as I hate 545 West  25^th Street for being noncontextual, it is a great space for art.

However, the disappointments continued with the Robert Adams show at Matthew Marks. While some of the photographs were very appealing, their small size in such a large space played down any significance they might have otherwise portrayed.

Thank god for the Gladstone gallery, Catherine Opie and her $10,000 photographs of bull dykes and power lesbians. There were so many that inspired me and disgusted me and made me smile – all at the same time. Although there were some great color photos in the front gallery, a room with smaller black and white prints really got me. Specifically, the gender-bending photographs, the beautiful images of androgynous women from different angles and of course the few S&M shots that felt classic Opie.

Shortly after Gladstone, the excitement continued for me at Luhring Augustine with new works by Janet Cardiff and George Bures. The phones and cabinet sculptures were great, but I am definitely heading back to spend more time with their creepy, beautiful, curious carousel. The group I was with did not enjoy the carousel, but I found it oddly comforting and highly entertaining. It brought a smile to my face as I anxiously anticipated the next movement, light and sound that would come out of it.

If you go, hit these four:

Peter Blum

Flag Foundation  

Luhring Augustine

Gladstone Gallery

That’s 9 of 18, the rest will come in part two.

Opening Tomorrow (March 18th)

Great openings tomorrow 6-8pm

Marlene Dumas at Zwirner 533 West 19th Street 

Catherine Opie at Gladstone 515 West 24th Street

Ryan McGinley at Team 83 Grand Street 

James Welling at Regen Projects, LA

Upon landing at LAX, I rushed to Regen Projects to see James Welling’s show before it closed at 6pm. Enticed by one bright photograph of Philip Johnson’s Glass House in Art Forum was the cause for the rush. I started at Regen II and found the gallery full of images from PJ’s Connecticut masterpiece. The pictures were sharp, blurry, color soaked, scary, inspirational and soothing. The mood and feeling of a photograph was completely dependent on the colors used in manipulating the landscape.

In the main Regen space was a four minute film that dreamily floated over the “boathouse”, sometimes at very close distances to the concrete and others zooming out to see the entirety of the structure. This video seemed odd, especially given the subject matter and the time. I would have expected (and maybe had hoped) to see more of the compound outside of just the boathouse. In general I was hoping to see Welling’s interpretation of other structures on the property.

The photographs were quite beautiful, the shots of the Glass House were the highlights for me. To my surprise, there was no need for the rush at it seems the same work by Welling is opening at Zwiner on March 24^th in New York. 

Regen Projects

David Zwirner

Pulse 2010 Recap

This year’s Pulse art fair was in the same location as last years… sort of. Although it took a minute to realize it was not next to the soccer fields like last year. It was in a considerably smaller space across West Street. It seemed to be only a handful of galleries, but I was in a much better place to tour these spaces, which included some great new work. The highlights included:

Caren Golden had two photographs from the Sanchez Brothers, who are still creating highly disturbing settings that make the viewer very uncomfortable. Although the two she had were not my favorite (see Pink Bathroom, Misuse of Youth, and a Motive for Change). The prints are large, especially for my little Hell’s Kitchen apartments, making them even more stunning and provocative.  Prices were not insane for a limited run and also considering the size: in the $5,000 range. Some have said the pictures are too staged, but I see them more cinematic then trying to be realistic. A comprehensive look at their work can be found here - http://www.thesanchezbrothers.com

The aperture foundation had some very interesting photographs in a very compromised space near the café in the back of the space. Although I didn’t stay more then a minute to appreciate some of the work, I am interesting in learning more about the organization and to see their upcoming show. The organization appears similar to Lumas, only with a focus on the art of photography instead of the sale of it. http://www.aperture.org/

In one of the back corners of Pulse there was a fantastic collection from a Pilipino gallery. They had fun playful images that were over the top and kitsch, but still beautifully produced and conceived. http://silverlensphoto.com/main.html

There were a couple of Los Angeles galleries with interesting pieces including Kopli Del Rio out of Culver City with new pieces by Kerry James Marshall, who I forgot was a man (but the gallery girl quickly reminded me in a mildly bitchy tone). I first saw Marshall at the Art Institute in Chicago where he has a whole room of four massive pieces that feel similar to Kara Walker but with colors and hidden imagery but that also deal with issues of race and gender. The Chicago-based artist is went to school in Los Angeles and for this gallery he had both new and older pieces that were fantastic. Prices ranged up to $150,000, if not more for his work. More info on the gallery and additional images can be found here http://www.koplindelrio.com/

 Canada also had a strong showing with intriguing work from both Toronto and Montreal. The first great find was Stephen Abbly-Barr and his petite paintings at the Nicholas Metivier gallery. The artist is inspired by fraternity culture and takes an old-school approach to his paintings that seem like updated versions of classic paintings.  Of the two, this work of a small boy in a very large chair with a vey suggestive eye mask was my favorite, both for its style and texture.  The title “Little Lord Dulac” made it perfection. 

The Montréal representation was Laurent Craste who created “affordable”, beautifully smooth yet damaged pottery. The pieces were playful, imaginary and beautifully conceived. My two favorites were the main piece – a large vase damaged by the impeding hammer that caused graceful folds in the drying process. Another favorite was a video within a plate located on top of a bookshelf filled with books and other knickknacks.  I felt I had been transported to the Haunted House ride in Disney World. And the price, under $10,000, seemed reasonable even though it was still well beyond my reach.

It was also refreshing to see a new medium in pottery; as a lot of taxidermy was going on this week in New York (Damien Hirst, I am blaming you). So it was a nice reprieve to see a more visually pleasing texture. Not that I wasn't loving the walrus head covered in enameled beetles wings shinning on Spinello’s white walls. (btw- how interesting is their upcoming show, reason enough for a quick Miami weekend) http://www.spinellogallery.com/

Other highlights: 

Armory Show: New York

This year I spent $100 to get into the Armory Show's Vernissage thanks to an upcoming flight to Los Angeles (look out for an upcoming report - very excited to catch James Welling at Regen Projects before it closes).  The Vernissage is the official private opening of the fair and I assumed it would be quieter than other nights. To my surprise and dismay it really was the worst of New York: culturati who go to be seen and probably don't know who Doug Aitken is - not to sound pretentious but just seriously annoyed! If I wasn't feeling so horrible, thanks to a seasonal cold,  I might have been able to fight off the crowds and actually look more closely at the art
There were a couple of highlights that did grab my attention through my frustration and body aches. The first was Joachim Schonfeldt's sculptural piece at Goodman Gallery out of Johannesburg - a little creepy that it was taxadermy but no less moving:

 

Another highlight were all the works at Galeria Filomena Soares.  Red sequence sneakers hanging from a rope - like a gay ghetto where we would through shoes over a powerline. Also, an animated chicken surrounded by golden eggs in egg creates. 

I also stopped at Anthony James' light box from Nicolas Robinson Gallery. Of course there were tons of light boxes in Miami in December, so I wasn't suprised to see it, but always a fan of aspen trees, loved the mixture of nature/glass/mirror/light. 

 

And again, not to sound pretenious or jaded, but it really was more of the same and I cannot stress how crowded it was even for a New Yorker who lives in Midtown. I was seriously tripping over people on every step. This is the second year in a row that travel plans limited my time at the Armory Show. For next year I will have to schedule a day off work to really experience the art and decide if the show competes with Miami; beacuse after today the Armory show cannot hold a candle to the level of work and the inspriation found at Art Basel Miami Beach. Hitting the Pulse and Scope shows tomorrow and Friday, respectively - hopefully they will change my feelings about this fair.