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.

Damien Hirst

The New York glitterati were in full effect on Saturday night for the Damien Hirst opening at Gagosian at 980 Madison.  Luckily, I started from the 4th floor and worked my way up - which was a great way to see the show (hopefully the curators planned it this way).

On the 4th floor were Hirst classics - a room of butterfly prints, another room for pharmacy sculptures and finally a room of dot paintings. Up one level were a few interesting sculptures and more butterflies.

Finally, the sixth floor is where the new pieces from Damien were unveiled. Centered in the largest room of the gallery was "End of a Era" -  a bulls head set in formaldehyde in a glass box. Directly behind it was "Judgment Day" a 30-foot long gold cabinet filled with very tight shelves holding 30,000 man-made diamonds. The juxtaposition between the horror of the bull head set against the beautiful glowing gold box was fantastic.

On our way out of the madness we noticed by the reception desk stood Damien Hirst and Larry Gagosian - hanging out, making calls and air kissing the select few people they knew coming in (like Aby Rosen).

The crowd was disappointing as, per usual, they were there to be seen. There seemed to be few people who were there just to see the work, which in the end was beautiful, provocative, though-provoking, and political. However, there was nothing I haven't seen before (nothing he didn't sell at auction last year - a move that still leaves me unsettled since he bypassed his dealers and went straight to Sotheby's).

If you are not familiar with his work, this is a great collection of the different themes that have been prevalent in his work. The show runs through March 6th at 980 Madison at 76th Street - more info can be found here.

 

  

 

Leopards in the Temple: Sculpture Center

Somehow in 20 degree weather I managed to make it out to LIC for the Leopards in the Temple opening. The space was the most crowded I've ever seen it, which was very surprising especially at 6pm on a cold, dark Sunday. The show at first seemed amateur and as I walked through there were some things that seemed just ridiculous- pieces of rubber in rectangle shapes on the floor. Plus it was too crowded to fully understand what was going on.

Other pieces were fascinating and captivating. The pieces that drew me in on the ground floor, even through the masses, were both Nina Canell's. They were "Flat Earth", 2009 and "Perpetuum Mobile", 2009. Both pieces seemed like middle-school science projects but were at once dark, mysterious and seemed to be telling more then just the mechanics of electricity. I need to go back for further inspection. Nina Hoffmann's "Untitled(KS)", 2009 was the only other piece on this floor that caught my attention  (again it was very crowded and most pieces were not in full site). The piece, a 35mm slide projection of a single image reminded me of a Lee Friedlander picture.

The lower level at times allowed for space to take in the work, but the video pieces were mobbed and you could barely walk by, let alone see the video. My favorite artist on this level was Strauss Bourque-LaFrance. A young, Philadelphia-based artist who created at once simple and seductive pieces. He had seven pieces in one gallery that included a blue tarp installation, a candlestick sculpture and a foam crater piece with a picture of Mikhail Baryshnikov. There were also stalagmite sculptures that were another favorite as they seemed location specific.

 

The overall outcome from this visit was a reminder that LIC is really the center for experimental art - especially this show coupled with the current historical exhibition on performing art at PS1. Hopefully, the neighborhood will be able to keep this energy going. Excited to get a second look at these pieces in at a less crowded time.

Link to Sculpture Center
Link to PS1

Choice New Artist: EV Day

We've recently been taken by EV Day, a New York- based artist who currently has a show at Otero Plassart in West Hollywood. She's been creating beautiful work for more then a decade, her mummified Barbie dolls graced the cover of Art News in 2001. Her work explores themes of feminism and sexuality. What caught my eye was this image from her current show in LA- 

The piece, titled Saarinen's Mother 2, 2007, is made with silk crotchless panties, resin, blown glass, monofilament, plexiglass case and steel hardware. This is not her first work using woman's clothing as a medium. In fact, she is probably known most for her work at the NYC Opera with this installation at the Koch Theater- 

Her work has been all over New York and traveled to Art Basel with Deitch Projects (who represents her in New York), so it's a surprise this is the first time we are hearing about her. Her current show in Los Angeles is open through January 23rd.



More images and information can be found at the following links - 
The artist's website

Otero Plassart Gallery, West Hollywood 

NY Times article on the Koch installation

Gerhard Richter at Marian Goodman

I finally made it to MG for the Gerhard Richter show, which just closed Saturday.

The show was fantastic, even though I only stayed for 15 minutes. I am not familiar with Richter's work and from the images I saw I was expecting a collection of banal prints. However, I was blown away by the beauty and detail in what often appear at first as simplistic, one-tone canvases. There were also very complex works, where vivid colors bleed into one another. My favorites were actually the most simple, which caused the viewer to pay close attention to the unique color of the prints, such as sea green and lavender in these two prints:

The show was fairly well curated, although I did have significant issues with the fact that in this large space there were more then 7 employees visible and a fairly crowded gallery, for 1pm on a Thursday, yet the main woman behind the desk was eating a rather funky smelling lunch - not the image I want in a stark white gallery with millions of dollars of work on the walls.

Other great prints included this installation, prints between two pieces of glass hung together, as a friend reflected,  looking almost like DNA code or some other genetic make-up -

The complex or detailed canvases that looked almost destroyed by a fire or from age were the most beautiful up close. Only there could one see the details and layers Richter implemented -

The above picture does not do the work justice, neither do any of the pictures. Wish I could have made it back for a second glance.

For more info on Richter can be found here.

Recent News - 

Brief article in the NY Times regarding the Chicago Photography Collective's Pop-up Gallery in the Loop. In total three art spaces have opened through the Pop-up program, more info can be found here.

Link to CPC
Link to NY Times 

artLA is canceled due to lost of exhibitors to competitive Art Los Angeles Contemporary (a fair name I really cannot get behind)
Link to LA Times

Although it is old news, Art in America was along with Mera Rubel as she hit 36 DC artist studios in 36 hours, requiring some artists to show her their work at 5:30am or past midnight. Why she couldn't spend longer in town to tour the studios is beyond me and while Art in America raves about her curatorial ability, I imagine anyone would be glazed over by midnight if they had been touring artists studios for the past 18.5 hours. The full story is here.

Later this week, we'll be reporting on the Dress Codes show at the ICP in New York, which closes on January 17th  (Link).  In addition this weekend were off to see Peter Fischli and David Weiss who have large scale installations in all three of Matthew Marks Chelsea galleries (Link), a show also closing soon on the 16th (picture below).

Other shows we're running to before they close-
The Looking Back show at White Columns closes this Saturday (Link)
Two shows at 179 Canal Street are closing next weekend with a closing party on Sunday the 17th (Link)
Finally, if we can make it to the LES, we are also hoping to see Michael Dean's show at Scaramouche (Link)

Salon 94 and Paula Cooper also have shows closing next weekend, but we can't do it all in 20 degree weather!