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.

On The Road Again

So what was one to do over a week in Boca Raton, Florida?

Especially since I had to miss Second Saturday Staten Island this month. Deep Tanks features an amazing exhibit until June 4th; a retrospective of Island artist Arthur Williams. 

Arthur Williams at Deep Tanks, Installation View

Highly graphic, slightly hallucinogenic, this densely packed mini-retrospective includes over 100 works in painting and ceramics. Williams has a Pop sensibility, sometimes crossed with the retro checkerboard styling of the 80s. 

Arthur Williams at Deep Tanks, Installation View

The numerous canvases range from adept to truly surprising. I found myself oddly drawn to the objects over the two dimensional work, but all the works are infused with humor and compassion. 

Arthur Williams at Deep Tanks, Installation View

It will undoubtedly put a smile on your face. The show is up until June 3rd and if this doesn't get you up and off your ass and over here, well.......

I was fortunate to have picked up a copy of Alison Bechdel's "Are You My Mother?" from the New York Public Library before taking off to the sunny South. And could I have picked up a more appropriate book? This graphic memoir by the creator of "Dykes To Look Out For" follows up on her 2006 "Fun House". Where the latter dealt with her relationship to her homosexual, transvestite father, this current volume deals with her relationship with her mother, often focusing on the period of her developing "Fun House".  It is a big story contained in a slim volume, but Bechdel is a veteran of the panel concept and knows how to utilize the format to her advantage. Actually a study of the Mother-Daughter relationship at the turn of the century, the author pursues a multi-threaded approach; the story encompasses the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott and author Virginia Wolff with "sidebars" into the worlds of Sigmund Freud and Stephen Sondheim in a masterful slight of hand.


And I read it in under a week!!


So what DOES one do in Broward County? Well I called Girls' Club in Fort Lauderdale to see if they might be able to open up for me Saturday morning (official hours 12-5 Weds-Fri) on my way down to Miami. And sure enough, they accommodated me! 

Re-Framing The Feminine at Girls' Club, Installation View

"Re-Framing The Feminine" is an exhibit curated by Dina Mitrani, a Miami curator, of almost 50 photographic works from the organization's founder's collection. And it is an impressive collection; leaning heavily in works of the past 25 years, it does pay slight homage to earlier women photographers with unsurprising works by Ruth Orkin and Helen Leavitt. The general slant is the "female" eye but a large majority of the work features the female body. 

Re-Framing The Feminine at Girls' Club, Installation View

The show has a pleasant mixture of the familiar (Tina Barney, Vera Lutter, Sally Mann) and the unfamiliar (Courtney Johnson, Delia Brown, Ania Moussawei) that plays it fairly safe but has some definite high notes that include Lucinda Devlin's interiors of "fantasy" motels, Carrie Mae Weem's charmingly elegiac Untitled photograph, and Delia Brown's sly vamp on the Becher school grid in "Some of My Clothes". 
But where were Catherine Opie, Justine Kurland and Sarah Charlesworth? This may be the downfall of dealing with just one couple's collection when curating a "big" show.


I decided to breakfast in FTL and remembered a place called the Egg and You Diner on Rte 1 in Wilton Manors. I chalk it up to my New Jersey upbringing that made me sense this was a "serious" diner and I indulged in a sinfully delicious breakfast of biscuits with sausage gravy. Sitting at the counter I met other late morning diners who had journeyed 30+ miles just for their poached eggs with cheese sauce!! Yum yum yum!!!

According to friend and curator Dan Cameron, I missed a really good show at the Miami Art Museum while I was down that afternoon, but I did get to visit Scotty's Landing for a leisurely late afternoon meal. Lousy service took some time to acknowledge us, but they did offer Magic Hat #9, a personal hot weather fave. I also experienced my first fish taco!! Featuring fried grouper in a flour tortilla, I did wish the accompanying sides of guacamole, slaw and salsa hadn't arrived in covered #6 plastic containers, but the final composed product was not unsatisfactory.



Speaking of Magic Hat Brewery, I decided to forgo my usual vodka and whatever this trip for a six-pack of their Summer Elder Betty brew. To my luck it's an American Hefeweizen beer with a lovely dark color to it; the elderberries add a dark fruitiness that balances the sharp mustiness of the wheat beer. Nicely done.


Then came Mother's Day when I accompanied my Mother to CHOPS Lobster Bar in Boca Raton so we could split the Dover Sole entree. For high end eating down there it wasn't too shabby. Considering the date, the restaurant was humming but not overwhelmed and the service was attentive without being overbearing. The initial room is a bit dark but the main dining room has a vaulted tiled ceiling reminiscent of the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station and an ample view into the active kitchen. The bourbon ginger cocktail I had as a starter was excellent and set the bar for the rest of the meal. The Caesar salad was creamy and not overwhelmed by enormous croutons as it often is; here they were represented by thin small dark "crisps". The sole was prepared with care table-side and maintained the general level of richness the entire meal had. Sharing a slice of strawberry cheesecake for dessert, we both slowly rolled home remarkably full!!

Judi Dench and Friends in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

What do you do on a rainy Florida afternoon with your Mum? Why not go to the movies? My Mom had been pitching for the new British import The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, so off one rainy afternoon we went to the multiplex. Effectively directed by John Madden (Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love), a strong ensemble cast featuring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith as a group of "older" English-folk who find themselves trying to adapt to the ways of the sub-continent in a run-down "hotel" being run by a inexperienced but enthusiastic Sonny (Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionaire") is perfectly fine. Nothing really surprising unfolds here (the gay character dies and receives a full Hindu burial, the toxic couple separate healthfully, the "desperate" find "hope", Sonny stands up to his Mum, and old codger Maggie Smith ends up liking India!!!) but it is nice to see how competent actors deal with mediocre material. The cinematography does do a nice job of capturing the whirling kaleidoscopic of urban India. If you must.

Luscious Fog: A Walk Through Chelsea

Running errands on the West Side, we got lost in the fog and ended up in gallery territory. Here's what we saw:


Terry Winters "Cricket Music, Tessellation Figures and Notebook" @ Matthew Marks (522 & 502 W 22 St) - This month is a banner one for abstract painting and Terry Winters' show of large oil on linen canvases is a delight. Bright and happy, they expand on the artist's exploration of nature and the "micro as macro" sensibility that has been his trademark. Not quite psychedelic, these pictures swirl with the compression-expansion of a sunflower and each canvas works this tension masterfully. The paintings have well-worked surfaces that are pleasantly surprising close-up. They also make nice reference to earlier modern masters of color such as Matisse, Delauney and Redon. Accompanying these paintings, up the street, is Winter's "Notebook" installation, a series of notebook paged collages that appear deceptively simple and give us a peek into the artist's process. DEFINITELY WORTH A VISIT! 
Up until April 14th 2012.

Tessellation Figure 7

Dan Walsh @ Paula Cooper (534 W 21 St) - Another show of luxurious abstract work. Ranging from unbelievably bright and colorful to deep and brooding, Walsh's cumulative process of layers creates opulent surfaces that dazzle the eye. Structural formality is countered with small details that have the decorative  depth of Aboriginal art. Do not miss the drawings in the front gallery. As a confessed "gold slut", I loved theses drawings! Worth a visit!
Closes April 21th 2012.


Georg Baselitz @ Gagosian (522 W 21st St) - This German master presents his largest canvases to date in this Barn of Art. I was pleasantly surprised by this show. Eschewing his preferred "upside-down" orientation, these portraits a split horizontally with the upper half featuring a close-up of the subject done with large patches of color similar to the Color Field painters that are embroidered with fine lines that bring detail to the face, and the lower half the rest of their body, often in a combination of motion and memory. Also featured is a black wood sculpture of a man and a woman arm in arm. I've often found Baselitz's work aggressive and deliberately ugly, but I found a genuine love and delicacy in these works. Bravo.
Up until April 7th 2012.

Georg Baselitz, installation view

Jonathan Lasker "Early Works 1977 - 1985" @ Cheim & Read (547 W 25th St)  - Speaking of abstract painting, the title says it all. Early works by one our better know abstract painters today. And indeed these are early. One can see the artist struggling to find a way to confront the concept of painting NOT being dead yet finding a clear and viable voice. The show is set up nicely, so by the time you get to the last gallery there's some nice resolution going on with three very satisfying canvases.
Ends March 24th 2012.



Also seen:
Anne Truitt @ Matthew Marks (525 W 24th) - A nice survey show of drawings dating back to the early 60's. Truitt's minimalist nature is overshadowed by phenomenal sense of color and line. Deceptively simple, another luscious abstract show! Loved it!!
Until April 14th.


Catherine Opie @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) "High School Football - Opie continues her study of the structure of space and the development of community by turning to an all-American pass time. Large format landscapes dominate the back of the gallery while touching portraits of players grace the front. Don't miss Football Landscape #9: a masterpiece. Worth a peek. 
Until April 14th.


Sarah Charlesworth @ Susan Inglett (522 W 24) A show of new work entitled "Available Light" by a master of the photo-object. Light blue predominated especially in a charming striped piece. Nice to see her back.
Until April 14th. 



Melanie Willhide @ Von Lintel (520 W 23)  Mash-up meets Zen. Working with images retrieved from her stolen, formatted hard drive Willhide creates some very amusing and disturbing images. Think Lillian Bassman meets Weegee!
Closes March 24th.

NICELY NICELY: A Walk Through Chelsea

The thaw and the need to pick up art brought us to Chelsea today. While in the neighborhood we saw:


Joel Sternfeld "First Pictures" @ Luhring Augustine (531 W 24) - As the title announces, the photographs in this large exhibit all date from 1970 to 1986, many of which have never before been printed for exhibition, and set up the vocabulary the photographer would refine in later work. Nearly encyclopedic in volume, the prints themselves are modest in size; representing four separate "volumes" of work, there is a nostalgic, yet witty quality that makes you know you are looking at one man's work. I find the shore photos particularly charming and the show is a wonderful chronicle of some awful low-end fashion and styling. This show ends February 4th so catch it if you can!

Joel Sternfeld "First Pictures"

Shirin Neshat @ Gladstone (515 W 24) - Voluptuous large black-and-white photographs, mostly portraits, all inscribed with either text or drawings based on a classic Persian epic "The Book of Kings". A 3-channel video from 2010 entitled "Over-Ruled" runs in the back: A panoramic panel of a judge and his "assistants" is flanked by an oud player on one side and a singer on the other. I found the proportions of the work rather stunted and might work better as a larger projection. Closes February 11th.


Damien Hirst "The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011" @ Gagosian (all galleries) - The title says it all: a preposterous amount of dots shown in a preposterous way (the true Hirst-Heads can earn a free signed print if they make the effort to see all 11 exhibits before March 17th). Of the two downtown spaces the one on W 21 Street is the more intriguing selection; a wide selection of sizes and densities show the fun playfulness of this conceit (a small canvas packed with tiny spots is particularly giddy). The pretentiousness of the conceit comes to the forée on W 24th Street where too much of the same thing in the same room shows their vapid side. The most effective section here is the back gallery with the tondo paintings, circles on circles were a nice 60's flashback! In NYC until February 18th.

Hirst Spot Paintings on 24th St

Chris Martin @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) Paintings - The third show by this Brooklyn-based painter at this gallery is a provocative mix of some of the painters earlier tropes with newer ones, including a grid of newspaper on the surface of the paintings, a Jamaican flag color palette, and curious cut-outs. The contagious silliness that drew me to Martins work previously is lacking in these new works, but still on view in some of the largest canvases. Don't forget to pat the lucky lawn troll in the corner. Worth a peek.



Also seen:
Bosco Sodi "Ubi sunt" @ Pace (545 W 22) The unique signature style of this Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based artist is hard-worn ugly deep-pile shag carpet. This work reminds me of Arte Povera surface paintings or Yves Klein texture paintings in colors that go well with peoples sofas. Ugh!!

THE WEDDING (THE WALKER EVANS POLAROID PROJECT) WITH RONI HORN/A curatorial composition by Ydessa Hendeles @ Andrea Rosen (525 W 24) A high falutin' show for a lot of mediocre SX-70 nicely displayed. Roni Horn should register a protest. It's closing SOON!!


Clay Ketter @ Sonnabend (536 W 22)  Lush, large-format color photo show of decaying Spain. Nice work from this photographer. Worth a peek.

HAPPY NEW STUFF!!

Welcome to 2012, the year we all die, according to Mayan prophesy!!


In the meantime, let's live, laugh and love! Since it is Winter and cold we are staying close to home these days. But I was lured out for dinner last week at Bin 5 (1233 Bay Street at Maryland), the new establishment that took over the space occupied by long-time Island favorite Aesop's Table. The new owners are part of the Da Noi Italian Restaurant group and what they might turn this charming dining spot into was causing me great apprehension.


I'm happy to report my fears were unjustified. The interior has been totally revamped, replacing the bright pressed-tin walls with dark wood and paneling. The bar area has (rightly) been moved to the front of the main dining room and the areas once taken up with tacky window arrangements has made room for cozy, romantic seating. The room has been transformed into a warm, inviting boîte. The menu has a foothold in Italy, but is brave enough to venture into other culinary worlds. The duck and scallion rolls with hoisin sauce aren't the most imaginative thing on a menu, but they were crisp and hot, the duck was juicy and the sauce didn't overwhelm the dish. Salad greens were crisp and clean. My entree of Veal Cannellini, veal scalloppines stuffed with white beans, was simple and flavorful, as was the nightly special of Shepard's Pie! There is an extensive bottled wine list, and the by the glass selections were very good! Looking forward to a return visit soon.

Last night was the first Second Saturday Staten Island of the new year and if it was indicative of what's ahead for the arts on the Island, then I foresee an interesting and provocative year. We were finally able to find the DOORWAY gallery where Gayil Nalls had an installation called "The Smell of a Critical Moment". The few grids of photographs showing people silk-screening and wearing T-shirts designed by Nalls identifying the wearer as part of the 99% does not prepare you for the impact of the main part of the installation. Nalls worked with Occupy Wall Street protesters, providing them with white cotton T-shirts to wear and adorn. Each shirt hangs pristine on a rack in the rear gallery, along with a tag that shares some of the wearer's experience. Nalls is an artist who has been interested in olfactory experience as art and after two minutes or so in the rear gallery you begin to fully take in the invisible ambiance that takes over the space. I appreciated the effort to collect a moment in time; the idea that the 99% is characterized by sweat and perspiration may not be new, but the slightly antiseptic showroom quality of the display, along with (some of) the wearers' tags helps to brings a face and focus to a movement many in the Media call vague.


At Deep Tanks (150 Bay Street), Island artist DB Lampman performed a piece called "Brain Furniture". I had encountered some of Ms. Lampman's work out at the Freshkills Park not long ago, but I missed the performance she did with the strained bio-morphic figures she installed there. Here, working in a small confined space, she interacted with four torso-like light sculptures. Dressed in a youthful pinefore, Ms. Lampman interacted with these objects, controlling their light levels, raising them up and down and generally exploring and creating a neural network. Well scored, the piece was bright, fun, and concise, all positives in the world of performance. The piece had a strong feminist voice that was neither strident or clichéd. Drawings and paintings accompanied the installation and performance. Brava!! 

VETERANS OF ART: A Walk Through Chelsea

Autumn weather makes us want to wander. Since we had to pick up some catalogs, we strolled through Chelsea. While trawling through the galleries, we saw:


Joan Mitchell @ Cheim & Read (547 W 25) - Entitled "The Last Paintings", these twelve pictures are from the last five years of her life and show the artist at the top of her game. Large and ambitious, these giddy abstract canvases are both stark and bold. The innate presence of Nature in them is almost taken for granted (Mitchell moved to Paris, France in 1959 then to the outskirts of the city in 1967). But as with her other AbEx compatriots, her works seem deceptively simple but are actually rather complex. Walking up close to them you appreciate her mastery of the surface of her canvas and the complexity of her brushwork. A nice breath of Spring in NYC as Autumn approaches. Check it out!!



Richard Pousette-Dart @ Luhring Augustine (531 W 24) - "East River Studio" is a spectacular mini-retrospective of the youngest of the AbEx painters that he produced during the five years at his E 56th Street studio, an old brewery. Pousette-Dart exemplifies the post-WWII collision of art history with the fracturing of surrealism and abstraction. Sculptures that seem like rusting wires and metal plates are actually dreamy takes on Nature. Canvases are worked, cut apart, reworked, then tacked to stretchers. And many of these canvases are WORKED!! Another side of the AbEx obsession with surface, I can see their influence on artists like Terry Winters and the later work of Brice Marden. Curated by Christopher Wool, many of these works have not been seen in NYC since the early 1950s. Definitely worth a visit!!

Matta @ The Pace Gallery (534 W 25) - This "Centennial Celebration" focuses on the later years of this Surrealist master. Almost museum-like in its adoration, one see's the essence of his earlier work on a much larger scale. No work dates from before 1975, so all the canvases are large, yet the scrambled biomorphic blobs and explosions are all there. Like Mitchell's work, the surfaces of the pictures are even more intriguing viewed up close. And once again we see the artist's influence on others, not only AbEx artists but those of the Eighties' as well. There's nothing extremely surprising here but well worth a peek.



Yoko Ono @ Galerie Lelong (528 W 26) - Another titled installation, "Uncursed", is Ono's way of "re-creating" an action that she performed in Hiroshima. Just in time for Performa 11 and it's Fluxus Weekend, Ono provides a thoughtful and droll view of life in New York with large rubber centipedes crawling up the back corner. Large old doors without their locks stand and recline around the rear gallery with small glossy puddles of sky nearby. Random quartets of identical holes lead you to that gallery. Dramatic in its presentation, I didn't come out feeling blessed. Worth a peak.

Also Seen:


Peter Hujar @ Matthew Marks (523 W24) - "Three Lives: Peter Hujar, Paul Thek, & David Wojnarowicz" is a charming exhibit of mostly vintage prints Hujar took of his two best-known lovers along with self-portraits from as early as 1957. The loveliness of the prints is offset by the decay of the body. A very heartfelt installation.


Sarah Braman "Yours" @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W26) - In her first NYC show, the artist presents sculptural and wall works. The stars of the show are the sculptures, all of which meld large pieces of a mobile home with very formal modern boxes. I found the pieces very droll, sort of taking a home apart to create a series of garden follies. Be sure to check out the vanity mirror that's incorporated in the piece entitled "Coffin"!!

Anh Duong @ Sonnabend Gallery (536 W22) - An interesting and provocative exhibit of self-portraits. A queasy blend of Balthus, German Expressionism and Alice Neel, the artist peers out at us constantly in beguiling yet mundane scenerios. Paranoids should avoid, otherwise go!

Back in the saddle again: A Walk thru Chelsea

On a recent rainy Friday we found ourselves delivering art to W 26th St. While in the neighborhood we saw:


Deborah Butterfield @ Danese (535 W 24) - It took an artist of Butterfield's stature and reliability to get to go up to the top floor of this building to see this gallery's premier show. Elegant and austere, Butterfield continues to produce her equine sculptures from found wood. The pieces convey the strength and tenderness of these beautiful animals.

Agnes Martin @ Pace (524 W25 St) - A small survey of Grey Paintings from the 80's. Martin was able to captured the veiled quality of the second string color field painters and tie it into the Minimalist movement that the 60's and the earthworks of the 70's. Working in New Mexico, Martin's work reflects the majestic meditative landscape there. Most impressive are the canvases who's greys are lovely washes of blues.


Social Media @ Pace (510 W25 St) - This group show just closed but took an interesting look at the way social media is changing the artist's way of seeing. One got the sense of media overload and the virtual became visceral. Penelope Umbrico used thousands of images off of Flicker to create images of sunsets. Emilio Chapela's "According to Google" is a multi-volume collection of images gleaned off of the search engine, each volume titled singularly like "Sex" and "Love". While thumbing through these bound books one can't help but chortle at some of the unusual images that crop up. Christopher Baker's "Murmur Study" places thermal printers high on the wall and printing out reams upon reams of tweets referencing emotional sounds like "ooo" and "aahh". The output is funny and frightening.


Richard Serra @ Gagosian (555 W24) - Two enormous new works, Junction and Cycle. The artist continues to explore the juxtaposition and nesting of his huge cor-ten steel walls. Vertiginous and scary, Serra is at the top of his game.

Also seen:
David Byrne @ Pace (508 W 25) "Tight Spot" - An enormous inflatable globe stuffed into a tight spot under the High Line that emitted some low thrumming sound. Huh?


Paul Winstanley @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) Paintings - A second US show by this British painter. Using photography as a jumping off point, these pictures are too hazy to be photo-realistic and too real to be expressionist. A bit too mundane in their imagery, the most interesting works tend to come in pairs of similar images executed in slight variations in color and representation. Worth a peek.


Lari Pittman @ Gladstone (515 W 24) - As Pittman's "prestige" moves up, his paintings become more and more about less and less. Thin and flashy, the artist obviously took a trip to Brazil and these canvases are the result. Ho-hum.

Here, Abroad, & a Cup of Coffee: Reports from NYC and FL

Dear Reader,

Forgive my absence. February is a time of highs and lows. February 2nd brought good news from Staten Island Chuck that Spring was due early (again) this year. February 14th left an empty mailbox and an empty box of self-bought chocolates!

Family obligations (my mother's 85 birthday party) forced me to spend the President's Day weekend in Florida. But before I went, I did happen to take in a few shows before I left. Here are a few notables:

Christian Marclay @ Paula Cooper: "The Clock" was THE media event of February in Chelsea. Once more Mr. Marclay exercises his skill as editor and craftsman in this 24 hour long video. Seamlessly composed of film clips from the medium's earliest to most recent moments, Marclay not only chronicles the movement of time through cinema, but literally created a clock that takes the viewer through the history of cinema.

During the 48 hour non-stop screening of the video, people lined up down W 21 St in the freezing cold to experience this cinematic monument. An well worth it. But the piece definitely required return visits. And I did find it a bit strenuous to take in long stretches. By the end of 30-45 minutes I found I needed to stretch my legs and get some relief from the seamless editing! The piece strikes viewers in different ways at different times as clips become recognizable then vanish to re-emerge minutes later.

I must say that no matter how impressive this project is, I did not find it half as engaging and disturbing as his "Crossfire" piece which I saw at White Cube a few years ago (WC also screened "The Clock" to record crowds in London). That piece, which provided little escape from its onslaught, was more exacting and demanded a much more visceral response from the viewer

visually and aurally. Though I admired the technical and editorial savvy of "The Hours", I never felt bad about leaving it!

Tony Feher @ Pace Wilderstein - "Next On Line"

is Tony Feher's recent show. Tony was an artist I encountered early in his career at the Richard Anderson Gallery many moons ago. Richard had an uncanny eye for spotting new interesting work (Bill Jacobson's first blurry portraits were also displayed with Richard). I have a seminal memory of an early show of Mr Feher's there involving a grid of old milk bottles on the floor which contained a blue liquid portrait of a shark. Over the years Mr. Feher has toyed with various arrays of objects that were reminiscent of Barry Le Va with a post-modern twist. This show at Pace Wilderstein has the artist back in an element that he is most comfortable in: liquids. These witty, deliciously simple works return to the artist's most basic element: liquids and the line. It was infectiously fun yet scientifically precise. I loved these 'drawings' but would hate to have one in my collection!!

Martin Kersels @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash - "Charms. Stacks & Flotsam". The big man of CA art comes to NYC with an all out sensual assault! I've been a big Kersels fan from way back. His latest one-man show in NYC has him at a smart sassy apex! The artist's interest in weight and balance is still in the foree, but Kersels has used an fun and imaginative array of materials to intercede for the physical premise of the artist. The exhibit of beautifully rendered drawings and silly/serious objects dangling from the ceiling were lovely, but my true interests were in the "Stacks", small sculptural objects made up out of books. Hewn, cut, divided and re-assembled, these pieces showed the artist at great reserve yet working in his classic arena! I want two!!

Don't miss the Flotsam drawings along the back walls: delicate, intricate and negative, they show the artist as not merely material in a commercial sense but as a human one as well. Beautifully rendered, I never imagined this bumptious artist could produce drawings so heart-felt and delicate!

Fate (and family) brought me down to the Ivory

Coast of Florida this February (ie Fort Lauderdale) but fortune brought me to the Girls' Club of Fort Lauderdale. A private family foundation house in a fabulous home in the Las Olas Downtown art area. I stumbled upon two intriguing shows: Frances Twombly: Paintings and "Facsimile:, a group show. Beautifully designed, this alternate artists' space presented these two long-term installations that were both provocative and mutually stimulating. Ms. Twombley presented a series of canvases installed specifically in the Girls Club space.

Minimalist in their appearance, these canvases are all hand woven and develop a cultural dialogue between art and design. The more time I spent in the space, the more fascinating these monochromatic works became. Brava!! The group show upstairs collected a various and intriguing group of artists whose work mirrored Twombley's focus on production and the art of the material. Showcased in the gallery above Twombley's, it parallels the artists' fascination with material, production and art history. Stand outs include Tim Davis' "Rainbow Bread" and Jonathan Rockman's "Expand and Contract".

I was particularly smitten with Elaine Reichek "Swatches, Albers 1-3", 2007. Using programmed embroidery machines to recreate Albers' 'Homage to a Square', these works reflects upon art history while distilling it into a digital age. Ghada Amer, Orly Genger, and Jonathan Seliger add a sensible, sensual gravitas to an excellent group exhibit.

If in the FTL area, not to be missed!!

Search for Life on the UES

Last Tuesday I found myself beached on the Upper East Side, so I decided to take some time and re-explore the rarefied world of Madison Avenue.

With time to spare I was able to bag a table at my favorite eatery in this strata, Cafe Boulud. The room has been revamped AGAIN! The quasi-bar area that had replaced the original 'traditional' bar has been moved out all together and put it across the hall all to itself. This gives the room more table space. It maintains its calm neutral palette but has added some lovely warm dark wood that makes you want to linger over your after-coffee Madelaine longer than you should. I'm happy to report the kitchen and staff are still in peak form here. The Prix-Fixe lunch is a national treasure. I started with a potato-leek veloute with potato guaffette; a lovely warm blend of late season flavor. My skate with autumn veggies was a poem on my plate; the skate crispy yet moist, flavorful bits of cauliflower and turnip roasted and garnished with capers, bacon bits and one of the most amazing sauces I have ever eaten!! The Cafe has always made sure every course excels and the pastry chef continues the legacy with a milk chocolate parfait w/ candied hazelnuts.

After my four-star at two-star price lunch, I popped into the Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue to take in the new Gregory Crewdson show! Yes Gregory Crewdson at Gagosian on Madison!! These lovely delicate archival ink-jet prints were taken at the dilapidated Cinecitta Studio in Rome and are are as vapid and empty as the movie sets photographed. And there are a lot of them!! In search of an antidote I stumbled across the avenue to L+M Arts where I was told through the intercom that they were current installing a Damien Hirst Exhibit!! EGADS!!

Succor was found at Mitchell-Innes & Nash who have some small Lichtenstein drawings and studies up in their uptown sanctuary. Bright and concise, Lichtenstein continues to astound me with his proficiency!!

After that I took a more mercantile tact, enjoying the delicious treasures in Michael Kors and Caroline Herrara's windows. Then what should I stumble upon at the corner of E73 and Madison?

What happened to Soup Burg? The last refuge of the under-paid in a sea of high-priced sandwiches and coffee? GONE!!

"Changing... it keeps changing..." - Stephen Sondheim


I planned to stop in at the House of Lipshitz (aka Ralph Lauren) but the Baron of Bourgeois banality had the entire intersection of E 72nd and Madison cordoned off so the exterior of his latest fiefdom could be photographed! Ralph, honey it was Tuesday afternoon; where did you expect all the traffic to go to? Hmmmmm?

I was able to get into MALO where there were some elegant men's sweater. The teal blue zip-front cardigan I tried on was heaven and only $!,895!! Moving along quickly, I decided to see if anyone I know from my days in the basement at Giorgio Armani were still alive. Apparently not but I saw some amazing men's wool check pants for only $895!!

Praise __________!! Salih Salon is still in business. Salih is the only man I trust with my hair. This man can handle long men's hair and make it look great! I was fearful in these economic times if I would find him or not at 20 E 67 St, but its a testament to his skill with hair and his acumen for his clientele that I was able to book an appointment with him for the following Tuesday! Hail _______!!!

Feeling my oats at this point, I decided to check off a long-ago to-do list item and stop in at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in the Fuller Building at 57th & Madison to tell them to stop sending their dreck-mail to my mother. Which I did. Up on the walls were some black & white photographs by some man. Need I say more. If you are in this neighborhood though, stop in one floor below at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery where there is a great show up of Abelardo Morrell's work. GROUNDWORK features the artist's signature imagery (ie camera obscura, tent photos, piles of books) in large format color. The works are phenomenal as are the black and white cliche-verre prints on exhibit. BRAVO!!

A STROLL THROUGH CHELSEA

Since our invitation to a studio visit to the Upper East Side was rescinded we strolled the Hi-Line then took in some art. Here's what we saw:

JANET CARDIFF & GEORGE BURES MILLER @ LUHRING AUGUSTINE GALLERY -Fabulous fun. Cardiff and Miller continue to produce smart works that demand the visitor's attention. Aural and narrative exploration are the words-dejour here. Three 'antique' black telephones adorn the wall when you enter the gallery. Definitely sit in on the bleary dream Cardiff recounts on the rightmost of the three. Mid-Gallery contains The Carnie, a large loud carousel with two small children floating above it. Make your way through as quickly as you can and get your behind into the last gallery which contains a lovely old wooden library filing cabinet. The piece is called "The Cabinet of Curiousness". Open a drawer and a sound or a voice or piece of music emerges from the drawer. Drawers can be opened and closed in random order which made for great viewer interaction. This piece drew me in so deeply and contentedly that i never listened to the final telephone pieces. On my next visit, because I intend to come back!
I would love to concertize on this instrument!! GO NOW!!
Up until May 1, 2010 - DO MOT MISS! TOTO AND I BOTH SAY GO!!




URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD @ GALERIE LELONG - Large, raw wooden sculptures. A variety of inside-outside vessel objects are crafted with the artist's usual attention to rough-hewn detail. Impressive in a Teutonic-fetish way. Ouch!!

Up until May 1, 2010 - WORTH A LOOK!




DONALD BAECHLER @ CHEIM & READ - Baechler continues to institutionalize his naïf style. Large flowers, soccer balls and skulls float on enormous tarps of spattered paint and newsprint. Theses pieces are big! And absolutely nothing new.


Up until MARCH 27, 2010 - IF YOU MUST. DEFINITELY FOR PAINTHEADS!!




CATHERINE OPIE  @ GLADSTONE GALLERY- Beautiful butch lesbians. Opie's color work is rich and straightforward. Her small black and white are fiercely fetishistic and don't really dull their porno appeal. Opie is highly capable and highly over-rated.
Up until April 24, 2010 - HOT HOT HOT??


Also seen:


APRIL ROSS-HO:  "Somebody stop me" @ MITCHELL-INNES & NASH- A nice New York debut by this California based artist. Very girly, very gold. My hat is off to anyone who makes their own pegboard! And we love the enormous inverted gold clown pin and gold chain ornaments. WORTH A LOOK.


ANDRE BUTZER: "Nicht fürchten! Don´t be scared!" @ METRO PICTURES GALLERY - Large, thick lavish paintings. Messy and derivative. Standouts are Grablegung von Winnie Puh (Entombment of Winnie the Pooh) and Nicht fürchten! (3) (Don't be Scared! (3))!! WORTH A WALK-THRU.


WES LANG: "Smile, It's a Grey Day: @ ZIEHERSMITH GALLERY - More paintings, large and small. Memento Mori moments galore. The smaller works are more successful, especially the 'black' paintings, simpler and more evocative. FLIP A COIN.

WILHELM SASNAL @ ANTON KERN GALLERY - A talented Polish painter working in the German School of Everystyle. Dim, wishy-washy and uninspiring. IF YOU MUST.


BARBARA KRUGER @ MARY BOONE GALLERY - A large scale multichannel video of humorless humor "artfully" projected. SKIP IT.

A Stroll Through Chelsea

While all the Hottentots were busy with the Armory Show and its offshoots, Toto and I took time to take in a few shows in Chelsea. Here's what we saw:

KEN PRICE @ MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY - Fun, fun, fun. These witty ceramic works are finished with gorgeous painted surfaces that are channeling the spirit and voluptuousness of Austrian glass from the turn of the last century. We loved the deflated Macy's Thanksgiving Day float in luminous gold as we entered the front door and continued through the entire exhibit. A favorite: the tubular 360 tube in Loetz peacock blue!


Up until April 17, 2010 - VERY FUN! TOTO AND I BOTH SAY GO!!




JAN DIBBETS @ GLADSTONE GALLERY - Ellsworth Kelly meets Todd Hido. Deceptively simple photographs are juxtaposed at right-angles which combine the horizon lines contained in both photos. Varied photo sizes as well as placement on the larger paper field add enough variety to the mix while a perimeter line in graphite unite them. Fanciful and not unpleasant.


Up until January 16, 2010 - WORTH A LOOK!




BILL JENSEN @ CHEIM & READ - An 80's stalwart re-emerges as an apostle of abstract painting. Jensen has refined his palette and style to his benefit. His surfaces are less tortured then they once were and his color choices have brightened. Compact and well composed, many of these paintings are truly delightful. The show also features many black & white drawings that seem to reflect the artist's study of Chinese Philosophy, the escape hatch for most American Abstract Painters today.


Up until MARCH 27, 2010 - I APPRECIATED THE EFFORT MORE THAN TOTO! DEFINITELY FOR DIE-HARD PAINTHEADS!!



JOE BRADLEY & CHRIS MARCH @ MITCHELL-INNES & NASH - This two-man show juxtaposes the delicious painterly excesses of our city's foremost painters, Mr. March, with an acolyte of the Minimalist school, Mr. Bradley. The two play off each other well displaying a nice study in painterly composition and construction! Mr. March in particular shines with large exuberant paintings.


Up until March 27, 2010 - DON'T MISS!!

 Also seen:


WOLFGANG TILLMANS @ ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY - A sprawling photographic installation of Mr. Tillmans’ snapshots. I think Mr. Tillmans may have found his 'happy medium' in the large-scale photos in the smaller second gallery. These large vertical works seem to work best for his images. Lesson learnt, Mr. Tillmans? Let's hope so. WORTH A QUICK PEEK.


GARY SIMMONS @ METRO PICTURES GALLERY - These white on black images of movie palaces and drive-ins are nicely rendered and executed. The enormous wall drawing in the back gallery is a tour-de-force!! MAKE A WALK-THRU.


CANDIDA HOFER @ SONNABEND - More of the usual from Empress of the Interior. Cold and a bit more washed-out than usual. The standout image is in the rear gallery of the a wonderfully rococo interior littered with empty Phillip Stark Ghost Chairs. HEAD STRAIGHT TO THE BACK AND LOOK RIGHT. THEN LEAVE.


TONY SMITH @ GAGOSIAN GALLERY - A blue-chip show of America's grandfather of abstract sculpture. Simple, direct and nicely curated. IF YOU MUST.


PETER HALLEY @ MARY BOONE GALLERY - More Cells and Conduits in 80's day-glo and glitter. Does anyone still buy these? Does anyone still buy this? Hello Mr. Halley? 1988 is calling; it wants its hair scrunchy back. SKIP IT.

A WALK THROUGH CHELSEA

Dropping our postcard entry off at VisualAIDS, we took a quick peek at a few exhibits in Chelsea. Here's what we saw:

NORBERT SCHWONTKOWSKI "ANGSTRŒM" @ MITCHELL-INNES & NASH - A remarkably delightful show of paintings by this 60 year old German artist in his first New York solo exhibition. Schwontkowski has taught in Germany for years and he makes me want to enroll for my MFA over there. A gracious mix of fancy and simplicity, these are some of the most painterly paintings I've seen in NY in quite some time. A Balthus-like precociousness presents images that are disarmingly naive yet show a masterful hand in drawing and application of paint.

Up until January 9, 2010 - DON'T MISS!!

ANNA JÓELSDÓTTIR "priest chews velvet haddock" @ STUX GALLERY - A compelling installation by this Icelandic artist. A frantic, ecstatic energy charges through these works, especially the installation works that have a Mad Hatter quality. The work that provides the title for the show is a phantasmagorical cascade of mylar tattooed and tinted in a highly detailed fashion.

Up until January 9, 2010 - WORTH A LOOK!!




PETER FISCHLI/DAVID WEISS "SUN, MOON & STARS" @ MATTHEW MARKS - An encyclopedic work by the leader alchemists of the art world. A dizzying series of tables provide a chromatic study of magazine advertisements that also follow a bizarre uncanny narrative. Entertaining and engaging up close, I had wished there was a bit MORE room in the gallery to display their larger essence. "CLAY AND RUBBER" at the gallery's 24th St Outpost is another anthology, this of 24 everyday objects cast in one of the two title materials. Masterfully done, I couldn't help get the feeling I was in a really high-end Home Depot!
Up until January 16, 2010 - WORTH A LOOK!




LYNDA BENGLIS @ CHEIM & READ - Large scale bronze wall hangings and free-standing objects. I like the general drift of these pieces, especially the two "Swinburne" pieces which are cast in tinted polyurethane. I start to run into problems here with the general surface of the work, which can be best described as wormy scatological. The two pink pieces redeem an otherwise unremarkable show.
Up until January 2, 2010 - TAKE A QUICK PEEK!




Also seen:


CHARLES RITCHIE "BOOKS & PAGES: 2004 - 2009" @ BRAVINLEE PROGRAMS - A lovely show of works on paper. Beautifully illumined pages are peppered with spidery script-scrawl. Masterful watercolors. Worth a trip in the 526 W 26th St building. STRAIGHTFORWARD & HONEST.


MATTHEW RITCHIE @ ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY - A monumental multimedia installation. Ambitious in scope it doesn't hold together as well as ANNA JÓELSDÓTTIR Anna Joeldottir's installation @ Stux. Make a walk through to take in the small Gallery 2 show of Pop icons, most notably a soft Oldenburg clothespin! Philadelphia Freedom!! MAKE A WALK-THRU.


CLIFFORD ROSS @ SONNABEND - Ross continues his study of ocean waves, an oeuvre that I not taken to in the past. But the artist has given these new prints are wider horizontally, echoing a film screen, and printed the image with archival pigment inks which provie these works a depth and substance they lacked previously. AN IMPRESSIVE STEP FORWARD.


SEAN SCULLY @ GALERIE LELONG - Luscious unremarkable paintings by a major American painter. one painting, LANDBAR, struggles to break the mold. IF YOU MUST.


ERIC FISCHL @ MARY BOONE - An uneventful exhibition by a major player on the painting scene. Matadors and nemeses in flashy style. Wonder where Mr. F will vacation next. SKIP IT.