Chelsea November 2010

THE BIGGEST LET DOWN OF THE YEAR 


This was not an uplifting or inspiring gallery tour. It was a lot of misses and disappointments on a brisk Saturday afternoon. 




KOFMEHL AT LOMBARD FREID 

  

William Earl Kofmehl III at Lombard Freid Projects. Surprisingly, this show titled “Dear Father Knickerbocker, I Just Googled You” was probably the best of the day. The show is a mix of sculpture and painting with a large squirrel in the middle of room. The wooden sculpture was probably 12’ tall and 10’ long and visitors were able to walk through the squirrel’s arched tail. The small embroidered works collected on the walls were vignettes with little sayings and playful situations. The final piece in the show was a life-size sculpture of the artists on a bench with several squirrels with him. Instead of having a normal bushy tail, thes squirrels appeared to have zucchini and ears of corns for tails.  The show is a nod to the squirrel as a Trojan horse, to squirrel advocates in New York and to the City’s history. It seems the artist and the gallery are trying to make odd and unclear connections with these different elements. Not sure any If it really makes any sense or any significant statement.

To me, I would not make a stop in again, although it was playful. I would suggest doing a pop-in on the way to Brice Marden at Matthew Marks.

http://www.lombard-freid.com/home.htm

http://www.matthewmarks.com/exhibitions/2010-10-29_brice-marden/

MOON BEOM AT KIM FOSTER

Moon Beom at Kim Foster Gallery had several bright and surreal paintings that were both earthy and ethereal at the same time. The Korean-based artists had bold and significant inspiration behind these works and it was clear to see the beautiful tactile quality of the works. However, since the gallery was filled with these works in different shades of both bright and muted colors, no one piece really stood out and the works became watered down and almost one-note. It was a shame, because on their own, these pieces are great. I felt the curating hurt the viewers perceptions and reaction to the artist’s work.

http://www.kimfostergallery.com/artists/Beom.htm

MIRANDA LICHTENSTEIN AT ELIZABETH DEE

I was super excited to get to Elizabeth Dee, where I don’t think I’ve ever been before. This is crazyness as I love so many of the artists she represents, including current obsessions “The Ryans” : Ryan Trecartin and Ryan McNamara. However, I was not feeling any of the works in this show, by Miranda Lichtenstein. When I look now at the installation images, I hardly recognize any of the works. I did like the two ghostly photographs above. They were expressive and intoxicating yet soft and almost deathly. The gallery’s press release doesn’t say much either about the artists inspiration or her ideas or what’s she’s trying to express. It all seems haphazard and a little slapdash.

http://www.elizabethdeegallery.com/exhibitions/view/font-size-2-545-west-20th-street-font

UNO RONDINONE AT GLADSTONE 21ST ST

Ok, so what I haven’t confessed yet, is that I was about three Bloody Mary’s in when I started this tour. I am sure this explains my lack of attention span and also general haziness for some of the work and shows. This is good to know as I am kicking myself for being slightly buzzed when I walked into Uno Rondinone’s show at Gladstone 21^st Street. The large square gallery contained only 6 life-size sculptures that at first just seemed like mannequins sitting on the floor. But upon further investigation, you saw how the painstaking detail in these works created haunting life-like sculptures. All of us were waiting for the works to open their eyes as every detail was so precise and executed wonderfully. The show just opened last week and is up until Christmas, so I am hoping to make it back to revisit these lovely creatures.

http://www.gladstonegallery.com/rondinone.asp


WANGECHI MUTU AT GLADSTONE 24TH ST

We then hit the Gladstone gallery on 24^th Street to see Wangechi Mutu’s “Hunt Bury Flee” exhibition. The show had some interesting pieces, but by this point in the tour, I really needed something amazing to put a smile on my face. I found it in the rear space of the gallery where a large collection of what I am calling “fallen angels” were mounted to the three sides of the gallery walls. In horizontal bands these beings seemed to be waiting for battle, or fallen from heaven or up from hell – I wasn’t sure where they were from or where they were going. However, the scale and tactity of this piece was transportative (what I am usually looking for in West Chelsea).The other works of art in the show included banal burlap sculpture and collage paintings that were haunting yet beautiful in their materiality and expressionism. 

http://www.gladstonegallery.com/mutu.asp?id=2133


ELAD LASSRY AT LUHRING AUGUSTINE 

     

I was very hopeful going into Luhring Augustine as they have held some amazing exhibitions recently that really impressed me. However, I was further disappointed to find more banal, immature and unsophisticated works that didn’t seem worthy of the space. Basic photographs of cats, people kissing, half-naked hunks and green tomatoes didn’t really seem to be fitting in a space that a few months ago housed a mind-blowing carousel that still haunts me to this day (in a really great way).

Per the gallery’s press release: In his staged photographs, collages made from found material, and intimately crafted films, Lassry employs seemingly mundane subject matter such as publicity shots, portraits of animals, nondescript landscapes, and still lifes of vegetables. The artist liberates each image from its existing visual history by negating origin, authorship and intentionality. At once disquieting and mesmerizing, Lassry’s compositions are emptied of their associations and compel the viewer to consider a new conceptual space for the picture.

Well this is where the pragmatic side of this journal is at it’s best. Majority of the pictures on the wall of my favorite Chelsea gallery could have been taken by anybody and seemed so amateur as to be laughable. I am a huge advocate for up and coming and new art and going against the mainstream, but here is where even I have to draw the line. http://www.luhringaugustine.com/exhibitions/elad-lassry#

RAUSCHENBERG AT GAGOSIAN 

And finally, I was really hoping for a powerhouse collection by Robert Rauschenberg at Gagosian and boy did I get it. However, I realized as I walked through the massive collection, that I really don’t like Rauschenberg. It’s just not my style, but for those that do, it was a great sample of the artist’s work and some really interesting pieces. My favorite was Untitled (Runts), 2007 (below). A great collage of what I consider true American imagery. However, when I asked for more info from the gallerist I got dismissive and pretentiousness at its best. Really was a great way to end a horrible tour.

http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-10-29_robert-rauschenberg/