Mar 102017
 

Katharina Grosse‘s current exhibition at Gagosian, consists of dynamic brightly colored canvases and one cast metal sculpture. Unlike traditional painting, these works are created using a spray gun which creates the unique effects.

Her process is described in the press release-

Embracing the events and incidents that arise as she paints, Grosse opens up surfaces and spaces to the countless perceptual possibilities of the medium. While she is widely known for her temporary and permanent in situ work, which she paints directly onto architecture, interiors, and landscapes, her approach begins in the studio. With calculated focus, she allows new patterns and procedures in her paintings to emerge from action, further multiplying this potential with stencils cut from cardboard and thick foam rubber—tools with which to develop further cuts, layers, and perspectival depths. Grosse’s gestures unfold all at the same time in unmixed acrylic colors, engulfing the viewer in a toxic sublime.

In this exhibition, selected works from several interconnected suites of untitled paintings produced during the last twelve months demonstrate this constant interaction of process and material. Base shapes migrate from one painting to another, appearing in new layers or fusing into clusters that advance and retreat. The paintings record Grosse’s ongoing choices about color, density, and velocity. In one group, monadic forms proclaim their specific hues within larger zones of color. A red shape takes its place amidst expressive jewel-toned streaks. A plane of cerulean blue opens, or perhaps closes, to a black and yellow void. In other more complex orchestrations, these coloristic moments become so compelling that the canvas, which supports it all, is easily forgotten.

Grosse also made news this past summer with her installation for MOMA P.S. 1, titled Rockaway!. Located at Fort Tilden, she used a similar technique to paint an abandoned and soon to be demolished building (due to being structurally unsound after Hurricane Sandy).

 Grosse’s gallery exhibition closes this weekend, 3/11/17.
Feb 182017
 

For Cory Arcangel and Olia Lialina’s exhibition at The Kitchen, Asymmetrical Response, the early days of the internet come to life in various artworks. The carpet is made of a diamond plate pattern that used to be a common background on 1990s websites and the wallpaper uses patterns from early Yahoo templates. One of the most interesting pieces is Lialina’s Give me time/This page is no more, a slide projection of former popular hosting site Geocities’ members home pages that promise a site they will create or come back to in the future. It’s hard not to look at these pages and wonder how soon what we are seeing now on the web will seem as antiquated as these images.

From the press release-

In military parlance, the terms asymmetrical and symmetrical are employed to refer to political provocations and diplomatic démarches, escalation and tension, and power dynamics of the highest order. Not specific to war, these terms also refer more generally to a set of relations that define our connections to power.

On the eve of Y2K, Russian­-born Olia Lialina—who is among the best-known participants in the 1990s net.art scene—first met American artist Cory Arcangel. Ever since, the artists have been deep in dialogue about the social and cultural impact of the Internet’s historical shift from a tool for military communication to an “information superhighway” promising open and equal exchange, and, finally, the increasingly asymmetric “content delivery system” we experience today.

This show closes 2/18/17.

Dec 222016
 

terrywintersatmatthewmarks

terrywintersyellowmatthewmarks

To keep these posts a little shorter, I have split them up into two parts. The following continues the list of Chelsea exhibitions-

Terry Winters‘ vibrant paintings at Matthew Marks Gallery are made up of layers of marks in oil, resin, and wax.

From the press release-

“These recent paintings are a series of accumulations,” Winters says. “There’s a range of paint application in terms of both material and technique. Each color is a marker, a stage of development. I’m moving across the surface, modulating the material in different ways. That inflection produces an amplification of colors, both physical and chemical. But color is basically wild and full of surprises.”

padraigtimoneyatandrewkrepsgallery

Pádraig Timoney‘s work in The Deedle Eye, at Andrew Kreps Gallery, is a diverse combination of painting, photography, and installation.

From the press release-

Despite the visually distinct results, at the work’s core is a focused inquiry into the mechanics of images. Timoney conversely works in both directions – creating new images from abstractions (the captivating results of processes achieved in the studio), or rebuilding them part-by-part from photographs or observation. In each, he acknowledges the inherent flaws of these constructions, from the faultiness of recognition, the errors of translation, and further, the subjectivity of both viewers and the artist.

These in turn become generative openings in Timoney’s work as they are distanced from their original context. The images exist within thrilling, new visual constellations, allowing for the introduction of artifice and illusion, and the question of not only what they depict, but why? Each work records an index of decisions that determine its final state, materially and cognitively, displaying a history that is intentionally left open-ended. Figuration appears to hover only a hair away from abstraction, as if the movement of a line would cause one to collapse into the other. The narrowing of this gap suggests that the works’ initial disparate appearance may lead to an alternate understanding of their connections; a net that widens only to close anew, though what’s caught within it is left for the viewer to decide.

Also make sure to go to the space next door to see Klaus Weber’s sculpture Emergency Blanket.

klausweberatandrewkreps

Ai Weiwei has four shows up in NYC right now. Two of which are in Chelsea, at Mary Boone Gallery and Lisson Gallery, one is at the Mary Boone Gallery uptown, and one is at Deitch Projects in SoHo. Mary Boone Gallery and Lisson are both showing Weiwei’s Roots and Branches work, which includes large scale sections of dead trees, sometimes like the one seen below in cast iron at Lisson, and a 25 foot sculpture made up of tree parts bolted together. The uptown gallery includes a circle made up of 40,000 spouts broken off from Chinese teapots. Deitch Projects gallery has Laundromat, in which Weiwei has arranged items of clothing left behind by Syrian refugees (after they were forced to leave camps near the border of Greece) that he collected and laundered.

aiweiweilissongallery

Dec 102016
 

 

todd-murphy-nov2017-stag

todd-murphy-murmuration-12016

Marc Straus gallery on the Lower East Side has two great sculpture shows closing this weekend (12/11/16). Todd Murphy’s mixed media sculptures are gorgeous creations which glow on the walls of the upstairs space.

On the first floor of the gallery, are Chris Jones’ intricate pieces created with images from discarded magazines and books. The details within these worlds become more and more apparent the longer one looks at them, including plants growing into other spaces and laundry tumbling out into other frames.
joneschris-after-they-had-left-2015

joneschris-portrait-1-14-25-x-11-5-x-1-in

jones-chris-of-vanished-alphabets-2016-05

(images via Marc Straus)

Mar 182016
 
amyyaoatvsfgalleryroomview

Doppelgangers (in foreground)

amyyaovsfricedetail

Detail of Doppelgangers

amyyaovsfhomeiswhereyouarehappy

Home is Where You Are Happy, No.1

At Amy Yao’s solo exhibition, Bay of Smokes, at Various Small Fires, the fear of a polluted and harmfully modified environment plays a central role. An industrial manufactured scent fills the gallery, lead blankets are on towel racks, and a mountain of rice reveals on closer inspection that it has bits of plastic and pearls (real and fake) mixed in.

In this time of GMO’s, toxic water in Flint, and the gas leak at Porter Ranch, it’s hard not to be paranoid about what is really happening to our natural surroundings and how poisonous our daily lives really are, especially in ways we cannot discern. Yao’s exhibition is a creative and at times playful examination of these issues- but the darkness of the theme, like the scent, remains a constant presence.

This exhibition closes 3/18/16.

 

 

Mar 122016
 
aaronfowlermomdianerosenstein

Mom Knows

aaronfowlerflagdianerosenstein

Black Flag

aaronfowlerdetail

Detail from Black Flag

The mixed media assemblage paintings in Aaron Fowler‘s current solo exhibition, Blessings on Blessings, at Diane Rosenstein gallery, are large, highly detailed, and dense with imagery.

From the press release-

Aaron Fowler, who was born in St. Louis and currently lives and works in Harlem, creates mixed-media assemblage-paintings that depict his experiences and the lives of his family and friends in both a personal narrative and an epic journey through contemporary America. The title of this exhibition, which includes twelve portraits, tableaux, and medallions created in the past year, refers to lyrics from “Blessings”, a 2015 song by American rapper Big Sean.

In these sculptural tableaux, Fowler depicts himself as a “mirror character” called The Pilgrim. He employs oils, acrylics and collage – often pixilated ‘photo print-outs’ based on 18th C. American historical painting – alongside objects like Adidas sneakers, CDs, T-shirts, and plastic bags.  The dynamic, large-scale compositions are enacted on discarded domestic materials including shutters, mirrored doors, windows, and card tables.

This show closes 3/12/16.

 

Dec 192015
 

zemerpeledmarkmooregalleryorange

zemerpeledmarkmooregallery

Work by Zemer Peled

Art Culver City, the group exhibition currently at Mark Moore Gallery, was created in response to the current state of art fairs- which have become more about celebrity and parties than the art itself. The focus here is on the art. Standouts include Zemer Peled’s sculptures created from hand-crafted shards of porcelain (pictured above), Kim Rugg’s maps recreated using only city names and regions and Christopher Russell’s photo prints that have images scratched into them with a razor. This show closes 12/19/15.

jeffcolsonstacksmaloneyfineart

While in Culver City make sure to stop by Maloney Fine Art to see Jeff Colson’s incredibly realistic sculpture, Stacks (pictured above), created from carved wood. This show closes 12/19.

Also closing 12/19 in Culver City and worth checking out-

Rosson Crow’s multimedia exhibition at Honor Fraser Gallery Madame Psychosis Holds a Séance, “explores the fictional world of Madame Psychosis, an aging showgirl obsessed with the assassination of John F. Kennedy.” The center piece is Crow’s first film, which stars Kelly Lynch as Madame Psychosis in outfits designed by Jeremy Scott.

At Anat Egbi Gallery is Jen Denike’s show ‘If She Hollers” which consists of three films and still images from them. “The show’s three protaganists feature “The Boxer”,“The Cat” and “The Pimp” interweave elements adapted from references ranging from Joe Lewis to Alice in Wonderland and RuPaul’s Drag Race”.

Cheryl Louise Humphreys’ embossed paper images at her premier solo exhibition “I Just Have This Feeling…” explore visual communication in a digital age at Paul Loya Gallery

Nov 272015
 
aaronfowlerhewasatdianerosenstein

Aaron Fowler

genevievegaignardthegirlnextdoorandheadinthecloudsshoesdianerosenstein

Work by Genevieve Gaignard

The New New, at Diane Rosenstein Gallery in Hollywood, is an exhibition of painting, drawing, mixed-media, and collage by six emerging artists from New York and Los Angeles- Ray Anthony Barrett, Aaron Fowler (pictured above), Genevieve Gaignard (pictured above), Tschabalala Self, Michael Shultis, and Jason Stopa.

From the press release

The works in this show are multi-dimensional, with some artists using heavy impasto, collage, or flirting with the intersection of painting and sculpture. Connecting the varied practices in The New New is an explicit use of text – song lyrics, art theory, slogans, and commercial branding – in a formally exciting interplay between word, image and painting.

The New New brings together emerging artists with distinct approaches – but all with a shared engagement with the aggregate of received imagery and personal narrative.

This exhibition closes tomorrow, 11/28/15.

Oct 242015
 

josealvarezgavlakgallery

josealvarezgavlakgalleryroom

Today (10/24/15) is the last day to see Jose Alvarez’s multi-colored, multi-textured wonderland– (D.O.P.A.) “We’re All Made of Star Stuff” at Gavlak Gallery.

Oct 032015
 

markjenkinscastaniergallery

markjenkinsbirdhousecastaniergallery

When you first open the door of the Fabien Castanier Gallery you are confronted by a life size figure clad all in black that appears to be looking at you through binoculars from the back of the gallery. This is one of many ominous sculptures at Mark Jenkins’ current solo exhibition Still Life.

From the press release

Akin to traditional notions of the “still life,” his sculptures capture moments that conjure their own realities, presenting tableaus that challenge one’s sense of what is real and what is not. Jenkins constructs his people, animals, children – entities commonly filled with life – into inanimate objects, frozen in bizarre postures and scenarios. By creating these unconventional situations, he re-contextualizes commonplace ideas or things and inserts them into a new landscape in which the viewer plays an integral part.

Jenkins’ sculptures, whether placed in the street or in the gallery, alter perceptions of the ordinary and create surreal settings that infallibly elicit an alternative experience. The placement of his artwork always creates a new form of discourse central to space and audience. For the pieces he situates in the urban environment, the artist intentionally leaves the sculptures unattended to fulfill their life cycles to whatever end, may it be natural deterioration or confiscation. The viewer’s reaction to his pieces becomes part of the sculptures, turning the street into a stage. The theatricality of Mark Jenkins’ work remains a central theme, and in this solo exhibition he uses the gallery space as the performance platform, incorporating the viewers not only as spectators but as actors themselves.

The second paragraph references Jenkins’ extensive outside work which has been placed in different areas around the world. The images below (via his site) were in Malmö, Barcelona, and Rome, respectively.  More of these sculptures as well as the rest of his work can be seen here.

This show closes 10/3/15.

image
image
image