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| Sarah Charlesworth, Pipe, 2002 |
JTLR and the Neue Merzhalle are sadden by the news of artist Sarah Charlesworth death.
We are happy to have this piece in our collection!
Le Rêve Américain
8 years ago
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Memento Mori : Sarah Charlesworth
JTLR and the Neue Merzhalle are sadden by the news of artist Sarah Charlesworth death.
We are happy to have this piece in our collection!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
L'Chaim, To Life: Adventures in the Holy Land Pt 1
Well, according to a certain "friend" I would be amiss if I didn't come to Israel and the Holy Land for the 10th anniversary of "Gay Pride" there in Tel-Aviv.
And Pride in Tel-Aviv is certainly an "event". Not one to spend 4 hours in the prime afternoon heat on the beach, I will say the parade itself was festive, manageable and a gregarious mix! In fact, it brought back pleasant memories of what the 10th annual parade was like here in NYC.
Otherwise, Tel-Aviv being a cosmopolitan seaside center, it's not even spitting distance from its sister city, New York where attitude and circuit sisters are concerned!
But if you are resourceful and curious there were plenty of things to take in without being caught in Pride Fever!
I can't say how happy I was to take an afternoon off and checked out the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art. This mid-sized institution has enough room to provide a derivative history of Israeli art. However, the pleasant surprise here is the strong engaging collection of late-19th and early-to-mid-20th century art. Strong impressionist works are provided by two major donations that combined include important works in Fauvism, Cubism and Abstract Impressionism.
The great surprise was an excellent survey show of the Berlin-based, Scottish artist Douglas Gordon. The museum dedicated a great amount of space to display an intriguing collection of video installations. It was nice to see some of this artist's major video works played in context to each other. Personal favorites were "24 Hour Psycho" and "Play Dead; Real Time". They also dedicated a large amount of space to large, text-based installations.
It was also a delight to encounter some queers who weren't in leather and tweaked out of their gourd at the Tel-Aviv LGBT Film Festival. We took in two late night screenings at the beautiful and well-appointed Tel-Aviv Cinemateque; James Franco & Travis Matthews "Interior. Leather Bar." and the fabulous bio-doc "I Am Divine".
Let's start with the latter which is a charming sensitive biography of Divine (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), born Harris Glenn Milstead, an American actor, singer and drag queen. An appropriate 90 minutes is dedicated to the subject and the film-makers are able to provide some great early material along with intriguing bits and pieces that remind us of what a diverse career "Little Glennie" had! The original soundtrack is also a lot of fun!!
The Franco/Matthews project is much more troubling. Proposing to "reimagine" a lost 40-minute leather bar sequence from William Friedkin's 1980's "Cruising" with Al Pacino, the film dips its toe into the deep-end of the fetish pool, but in typical Aptow-era homophobia dares you to jump in while pointing rudely at you and snickering. Each man, less gay than the next, "opens up" about their heterosexuality and their discomfort with homosexuality. After a while you have to question the sincerity of anything or anyone involved in this film, except for a brief pornographic scene between a genuine gay couple (ooo shocking). Does toeing the homosexual line really make straight men feel more "complete"? Did anyone really think James Franco was going to take off his clothes for this film? Does anyone really care??
And Pride in Tel-Aviv is certainly an "event". Not one to spend 4 hours in the prime afternoon heat on the beach, I will say the parade itself was festive, manageable and a gregarious mix! In fact, it brought back pleasant memories of what the 10th annual parade was like here in NYC.Otherwise, Tel-Aviv being a cosmopolitan seaside center, it's not even spitting distance from its sister city, New York where attitude and circuit sisters are concerned!
But if you are resourceful and curious there were plenty of things to take in without being caught in Pride Fever!
I can't say how happy I was to take an afternoon off and checked out the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art. This mid-sized institution has enough room to provide a derivative history of Israeli art. However, the pleasant surprise here is the strong engaging collection of late-19th and early-to-mid-20th century art. Strong impressionist works are provided by two major donations that combined include important works in Fauvism, Cubism and Abstract Impressionism.
The great surprise was an excellent survey show of the Berlin-based, Scottish artist Douglas Gordon. The museum dedicated a great amount of space to display an intriguing collection of video installations. It was nice to see some of this artist's major video works played in context to each other. Personal favorites were "24 Hour Psycho" and "Play Dead; Real Time". They also dedicated a large amount of space to large, text-based installations.
It was also a delight to encounter some queers who weren't in leather and tweaked out of their gourd at the Tel-Aviv LGBT Film Festival. We took in two late night screenings at the beautiful and well-appointed Tel-Aviv Cinemateque; James Franco & Travis Matthews "Interior. Leather Bar." and the fabulous bio-doc "I Am Divine".
Let's start with the latter which is a charming sensitive biography of Divine (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), born Harris Glenn Milstead, an American actor, singer and drag queen. An appropriate 90 minutes is dedicated to the subject and the film-makers are able to provide some great early material along with intriguing bits and pieces that remind us of what a diverse career "Little Glennie" had! The original soundtrack is also a lot of fun!!
The Franco/Matthews project is much more troubling. Proposing to "reimagine" a lost 40-minute leather bar sequence from William Friedkin's 1980's "Cruising" with Al Pacino, the film dips its toe into the deep-end of the fetish pool, but in typical Aptow-era homophobia dares you to jump in while pointing rudely at you and snickering. Each man, less gay than the next, "opens up" about their heterosexuality and their discomfort with homosexuality. After a while you have to question the sincerity of anything or anyone involved in this film, except for a brief pornographic scene between a genuine gay couple (ooo shocking). Does toeing the homosexual line really make straight men feel more "complete"? Did anyone really think James Franco was going to take off his clothes for this film? Does anyone really care??
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Talley Ross-Ho!: or What We Saw in Chelsea This Week
We dropped in on our friend and dealer Daniel Cooney to drop off some work and check his new space at 508 W 26th St. The space is great and a new show of Dan Estabrook's work opens on May 9th. So instead we took in the following shows:
Amanda Ross-Ho, GONE TOMORROW @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash: Ms Ross-Ho continues her exploration of the iconography of girlhood. The show derives its title from the enormous gold earring hanging at the back of the gallery, but the show is dominated by a series of Black Rag pieces, enormous black t-shirts that have been slashed, cut and gathered and each subtitled (I Hate ____ ) where the blank is a day of the week. Four Untitled Still Lifes complete the exhibit and their collaged surfaces help bring the large t-shirts into art history with photographs that seem to document performances of Yoko Ono's Cut Piece and bring some sobriety to a rather goofy grin of a show. I look forward to seeing more of the artist's work. Open until May 18th.
Tim Hawkinson and Richard Misrach @ Pace Galleries: Be advised! These are two very separate shows but once you're in for one you might as well take in the second. Mr. Hawkinson continues to explore the crossroads of nature and creation Worth seeing for the enormous foot with roller toes and heel, but dive all the way into the back for Tagalong, a charming poly-resin sculpture of a sea horse with air bubbles. Mr. Misrach has headed back to the beach for more of his large-format aerial view photographs of lone figures on the beach or in the ocean. Even though the isolated figures create the desired sense of alienation, it's the images of just water I found most fascinating. New digital technology has allowed the artist to capture fleeting moments of light and color that become engrossing abstract prints at this scale. Walk up to one and don't see if you fall in! I dare you!! Both shows up until June 29th.
Sara VanDerBeek @ Metro Pictures: I'm very glad I stopped in to see this debut solo show at Metro Pictures. Ms. VanDerBeek's photographs are large, bold and shiny; minimalist studies of the photograph as an object. She then takes that objects and has us question it more through both subject matter and format. The back gallery is turned into a luscious monument, to what exactly is hard to say. The light gray stacks the artist uses throughout the installation harked back to Greek temples, but the large photographs of an oxidized wall that are then mounted under Mirona glass creates an artist's temple to self-reflection. Some delicate smaller works close out the show with subtle elegance. I want to see more! Open until June 8th.
Jannis Kounellis @ Cheim & Reade: Worth a peek. Kounellis is associated with the Arte Povera movement and these works reflect it. I find the choices interesting since they were "sourced" locally in Brooklyn for this site specific installation; large slabs of metal welded together to created "paintings" , many of which are turned into shelving units stocked with glass pieces one might find in a second hand store. I'm not sure if it's all that acreage of old glass, the hard dullness of the sheet metal, the coal, the train tracks or the many, many old Singer sewing machines, but I couldn't help get the impression I was viewing some sort of Holocaust chic. Or is it just a large-scale rehash of work we've seen done better by others? You decide!! Open until June 22nd.
Also seen:
Philip Taaffe @ Luhring Augustine: Philip Taaffe?!? I thought he was dead!! Well, no such luck Virginia, the onion man is still at it. Layers and layers of patterns and patterns. Hats off to the artist for donating the proceeds from the sale of prints covering the rear wall to Visual AIDS! until June 15th.
Tim Hetherington @ Yossi Milo: Gorgeous silver gelatin prints documenting the artist's work with young men and women at the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Sombre but gorgeous. until May 18th.
Untitled Hybrid @ Robert Miller Gallery: The gallery continues their desire to upscale Lee Krasner's estate by grouping her with a number of contemporary women. Check out Alisa Baremboym's Useless Tool, Communal Cup, and Friends in the front left gallery. until June 1st.
Marisa Merz @ Barbara Gladstone: More Arte Povera from a female perspective. I liked the big flower piece on the floor! Do you have to have a fountain in your work to show at this gallery? until June 8th.
Amanda Ross-Ho, GONE TOMORROW @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash: Ms Ross-Ho continues her exploration of the iconography of girlhood. The show derives its title from the enormous gold earring hanging at the back of the gallery, but the show is dominated by a series of Black Rag pieces, enormous black t-shirts that have been slashed, cut and gathered and each subtitled (I Hate ____ ) where the blank is a day of the week. Four Untitled Still Lifes complete the exhibit and their collaged surfaces help bring the large t-shirts into art history with photographs that seem to document performances of Yoko Ono's Cut Piece and bring some sobriety to a rather goofy grin of a show. I look forward to seeing more of the artist's work. Open until May 18th.
Tim Hawkinson and Richard Misrach @ Pace Galleries: Be advised! These are two very separate shows but once you're in for one you might as well take in the second. Mr. Hawkinson continues to explore the crossroads of nature and creation Worth seeing for the enormous foot with roller toes and heel, but dive all the way into the back for Tagalong, a charming poly-resin sculpture of a sea horse with air bubbles. Mr. Misrach has headed back to the beach for more of his large-format aerial view photographs of lone figures on the beach or in the ocean. Even though the isolated figures create the desired sense of alienation, it's the images of just water I found most fascinating. New digital technology has allowed the artist to capture fleeting moments of light and color that become engrossing abstract prints at this scale. Walk up to one and don't see if you fall in! I dare you!! Both shows up until June 29th.
Sara VanDerBeek @ Metro Pictures: I'm very glad I stopped in to see this debut solo show at Metro Pictures. Ms. VanDerBeek's photographs are large, bold and shiny; minimalist studies of the photograph as an object. She then takes that objects and has us question it more through both subject matter and format. The back gallery is turned into a luscious monument, to what exactly is hard to say. The light gray stacks the artist uses throughout the installation harked back to Greek temples, but the large photographs of an oxidized wall that are then mounted under Mirona glass creates an artist's temple to self-reflection. Some delicate smaller works close out the show with subtle elegance. I want to see more! Open until June 8th.
Jannis Kounellis @ Cheim & Reade: Worth a peek. Kounellis is associated with the Arte Povera movement and these works reflect it. I find the choices interesting since they were "sourced" locally in Brooklyn for this site specific installation; large slabs of metal welded together to created "paintings" , many of which are turned into shelving units stocked with glass pieces one might find in a second hand store. I'm not sure if it's all that acreage of old glass, the hard dullness of the sheet metal, the coal, the train tracks or the many, many old Singer sewing machines, but I couldn't help get the impression I was viewing some sort of Holocaust chic. Or is it just a large-scale rehash of work we've seen done better by others? You decide!! Open until June 22nd.
Also seen:
Philip Taaffe @ Luhring Augustine: Philip Taaffe?!? I thought he was dead!! Well, no such luck Virginia, the onion man is still at it. Layers and layers of patterns and patterns. Hats off to the artist for donating the proceeds from the sale of prints covering the rear wall to Visual AIDS! until June 15th.
Tim Hetherington @ Yossi Milo: Gorgeous silver gelatin prints documenting the artist's work with young men and women at the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Sombre but gorgeous. until May 18th.
Untitled Hybrid @ Robert Miller Gallery: The gallery continues their desire to upscale Lee Krasner's estate by grouping her with a number of contemporary women. Check out Alisa Baremboym's Useless Tool, Communal Cup, and Friends in the front left gallery. until June 1st.
Marisa Merz @ Barbara Gladstone: More Arte Povera from a female perspective. I liked the big flower piece on the floor! Do you have to have a fountain in your work to show at this gallery? until June 8th.
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