Art Chicago and Next 2010, Chicago

For my first Art Chicago, I was more rushed than expected and only had two hours to get through both fairs. I was happily surprised to see the scale of Art Chicago as it spread across an entire massive floor at the Mercantile Mart. I was also happy to see some of the controversial pieces at the Next Art Fair. I wish I had more time and more coffee, but I pushed through as I only had two hours before I had to leave for the airport.

I hit Art Chicago first, which was a smart move as there was a lot to see there and it was by far the better show to see more established artists. There was, as expected, some cross over from the Armory Show and Basel Miami, but there were some new artists I was really happy to learn about.

First up was Daniel Gonzalez who sewed sequence onto large canvases to create beautiful and delicate pieces that shimmered and shined in the light – total eye candy. When I realized that these seemingly “pretty-only” pieces were actually inspired by other artists (see Cy Twombly below), they became more profound and more fun.

Marc Trujillo painted mundane American scenes that looked to be inspired by photographs and definitely harkened back to Andres Gursky work. My favorite were a shot of a Target or Wal-Mart aisle set up for Valentine’s Day as well as 200 East Cypress, below, which captured a typical suburban mall setting. The paintings were expensive - $45,000 – but really fantastic in their realism and the way they capture the everyday America. 

I was happily surprised to see White Cube made the trip to Chicago to exhibit (and to that point, I’ll be looking forward to seeing how the galleries did in this unique time in the market). They had a lot of the superstars, including some great Damien Hirst, who usually bores me. They had a great Nauman study and some Irwin light sculptures, but my new find was large photographs by Gregory Crewdson. The pictures seemed staged, Id be shocked if they weren’t. They were beautiful, mystical landscapes that had a great voyeuristic quality – like a kid on a hill overlooking a fascinating situation. I loved the moose standing in a suburban neighborhood and the couple “caught” in the action under an overpass. 

Speaking of Hirst, David Datuna seemed to have a full show that was either inspired by or knocking off Hirst classics. The booth was filled with medicine cabinets all filled with needles standing straight up, most filled with a blood-red liquid. There were even some butterflies in some of the cabinets. I was surprised to see pieces that I assume were clearly dreamed up in Hirst’s mind, but created by an artist I never heard of – further investigation required. 

Jean Wells had fun, poppy sculptures that I wish I had the $1500 for – my favorite were the Kisses (probably for their affordability) but the ice-cream cone was great too. I would love to have taken one back to New York with me. 

Again, the photograph love continued with Naoki Honjo’s photograph of the Millennium Bridge in London – shot in a new style where the focus and lens allow the landscape to feel like scale models. It’s a great interpretation and play on a scale and the way we are able to read a photograph. 

David Drebin also took amazing large photographs both of cityscapes and also portraits. My favorite was a shot of Hong Kong that showed the trees of the hills bleeding into the towers of the city – the glow and the juxtaposition between city and nature was really beautiful – the price was astronomical. The print, “Girl in Orange Dress” was another favorite  (not shocking since I have some cardinal draw to photographs of women in undescribable situations”). The setting is the new Standard Hotel in New York and the “girl“ is dressed to hit the town, but she sitting on the floor looking at the window – I assume she was stood up or maybe she’s just drunk from a night out and just got in. The pop of color against the hard rainy landscape of the city was the best part.

Finally, the affordable mountain pictures from Thomas Kneubuhler were the final highlight. It was great to see someone capture the extreme light that glows from mountains for night skiing against the extreme darkness since most of the resorts are part of national parks. 

Overall it was a really great show and since I have family in the area and hope to have stronger funds next year hopefully to add some pieces to my “collection”. There were a lot of $7500 pieces, but also some really great $1500 pieces that I would have loved to have been able to afford and look at all day. Maybe next year.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Modern Century at MoMA

Sharing the sixth floor with Marina is the newly opened exhibit of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. I was running super later to the curator-lead tour, but apparently didn’t miss anything. It was great to get the background on the artists from the curator, who has been at MoMA forever, but after a crazy workday I couldn’t handle too long a lecture. The photographer has a very interesting past, born in France just after the turn of the century; he began photographing in the 1930s before he was drafted into the French army in the 1940s. He was then a German prisoner of war for almost three years. After the end of the war, he continued to photograph as he traveled the world. The way he captured people in everyday life was the most profound. This is especially true as his photographs were taken before globalization and you can still see individual culture in a single snapshot. The curating was amazing at times but a letdown at others. Smaller photographs are always hard to appreciate at an institution as popular as MoMA, as I always feel pressure not to lag too long in front of a particular photograph. And even those moments when I loose myself in a photo, some child or entitled Upper East Sider starts hovering right beside me and the moment transitions to frustrating.

One wall feature these fabulous elderly women in Lincoln Nebraska, looking their finest for the State Legislature beside a picture of a similar set of women in Salamanca, Spain – both from the 1960s. It was great to see the similarities between two worlds that presumably couldn’t be more different. The show more than anything feels like a fantastic view of the past and therefore was appropriately named A Modern Century.  From Wall Street bankers to the growth of Asia, the show feels like a great look back. Furthermore, the way Besson captured people in the everyday pushes the pictures beyond historical to romantic. I especially loved “Jean-Marie Le Ciezio with His Wife” as Jean-Marie looks like the modern day son from a Patek Philippe ad but his wife is giving you ‘60s – hardcore. It was great pairing of trendy and timeless.  Another love was “Home Economics Show, La Defense” – the idea that a home ec show was held 50 years ago in a neighborhood of Paris that is the new symbol of modern commerce and finance. 

It’s a great show, definitely worth seeing and a clear departure from recent highlights at the MoMA that were much more contemporary.  I would go back to see the pictures again, but it has to be an off day when the crowds aren’t swarming – hopefully it wont be such a madhouse now with Time Burton gone (great show but good riddance)!

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: