Art Hag

Lynda Benglis | Cheim & Read

Cheim & Read currently has on view sculptural works by Lynda Benglis, an artist who has explored the "physicality of sculptural materials" throughout her career and whose current works "challenge through their materials and forms the basic categories that artists, patrons, and critics rely on to understand and evaluate art" (from the exhibit's press release).  Her "wall hangings are neither painting nor sculpture, but a hybrid of the two, maintaining a frontal orientation while projecting outwards into space"  Typical of the artist's work, these pieces "display attributes" of "the body in motion," and reveal "the artist's own physical engagement with the wire and foam, from which the bronze casts are taken."  As the press release states, "[O]ne can no more easily decide as to whether these pieces are light or heavy, soft or hard, fugitive or stable, than one can label them definitively painting or sculpture."  Benglis "bring[s] the processes of artistic production into the interior of the aesthetic end-product."

The large-scale, abstract wall hangings feature energetic twists and curves along with porous and/or bumpy surfaces that are evidence of the artist's manipulation and touch.  The black bronze pieces look like large, soft, tangled skeins of yarn. The black and red polyurethane orbs resemble fuzzy pom-poms, while the two pink, polyurethane pieces remind me either of cotton candy or of the pink mouth-piece of orthodontic retainers.

The Louisiana-born Benglis relocated to New York City in the late 1960's.  Shortly after her arrival, Benglis began to challenge the male-dominated art movement, Minimalism, as well as the art world as a whole.  Perhaps her most famous and infamous protest was the November 1974 advertisement she placed in Artforum promoting an upcoming exhibit of hers.  In the ad, Benglis stands naked, wearing only sunglasses, and brandishing a dildo between her legs.  The defiant move was met with criticism and Cindy Nemser of The Feminist Art Journal accused Benglis of possessing "so little confidence in her art that she had to resort to kinky cheesecake to push herself over the top" (from Wikipedia).

A traveling retrospective of Benglis' work just opened at the Dublin Museum of Modern Art.  It will travel to Dijon, France, Providence, Rhode Island and to the New Museum in New York in early 2011.  Learn more about Lynda Benglis' current exhibit at Cheim & Read at Cheimread.com.  Learn more about the artist at artnet.com.  Through January 2, 2010.

Figure 5, 2009

Swinburne Figure I, 2009

Figure 6, 2009

D'ARREST, 2009

Swinburne Egg I, 2009

Gobble, Gobble | Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Art Hag readers!

More on Monday...

Richard Serra | Gagosian

I don't know why, but I'm usually a bit blase when going to a Richard Serra exhibit, thinking I'll see just another gigantic, rusty-looking, slab of steel, but then, I always leave awed by the magnificence of his work.  The same thing happened again when I went to check out Blind Spot (2002-2003) and Open Ended (2007-2008) at Gagosian's West 21st Street gallery last week.  These two massive "concentric structures, each consisting of six weatherproof steel plates" (from the press release) are awe-inducing, as well as a tad vertigo-inducing.  Each piece is a maze within that leads you to its center via inner-coiling, narrow passageways with high, slightly askew walls.  I felt like a hamster in a maze and wouldn't recommend entering these structures if you are claustrophobic.  Also, it being a Gagosian gallery, I kept getting reprimanded by security - "No pictures!", "Don't touch!" - yet I swear I smelled wafts of pot and suspect some sneaky visitors must have sparked up a joint inside one of the sculptures!  That's another thing I wouldn't recommend doing, though it must have intensified the feeling-like-a-hamster and claustrophobia for the tokers.  Learn more at Gagosian.com.  Through December 23rd.

Open Ended (2007-2008)

Andreas Kocks | Winston Wachter Fine Art

Winston Wächter Fine Art has on view Current Events, a solo exhibit of German sculptor Andreas Kocks' paper works.  Kocks cut and sculpted heavy watercolor paper into varying shapes and sizes and installed the pieces throughout the gallery, transforming the “'contained architectural box' into a territorial surface" (from the exhibit's press release).  "The entire gallery feels physically activated as he redefines existing boundaries. The walls of the architecture no longer define the space. Instead, Kocks modifies the conventional cube by removing its innate banality and replaces it with an immediate cerebral experience."

At first glance, the pieces look as if somebody took buckets of black paint or ink and hurled them against the walls.  They also resemble violent explosions or liquid-y oozing or melting.  The works are beautiful, delicate, and amazingly crafted. I also saw another one of Kocks' works recently at the Museum of Arts and Design's current exhibition Slash: Paper Under the Knife. His large-scale, whimsical contribution was one of the best in the show featuring about 50 artists from all around the world.  Definitely try to check out Kocks' paper sculptures at these shows.  You can see Current Events at Winston Wachter until November 28th and Slash: Paper Under the Knife at MAD through April 4, 2010.  Learn more about the artist at his website Andreaskocks.com.

Andreas Kocks at Winston Wächter

Andreas Kocks at Winston Wächter

Andreas Kocks at Winston Wächter

Andreas Kocks at Winston Wächter

Rashaad Newsome | Ramis Barquet Gallery

Ramis Barquet Gallery in Chelsea currently has on view Standards, the first solo exhibition of New Orleans-born artist, Rashaad Newsome.  The exhibit features collage, sculpture, and a video work by Newsome that examine "the visual language of power and status, juxtaposing high and low references to challenge received notions of social protocol and hierarchy" (from the show's press release). 

The first thing you notice when stepping into the gallery is Ice Grill (2009), tall,ornate, shiny, aluminum/chrome gates similar to those found at the entrance of posh estates and/or mansions.  Hanging on the walls are Newsome's vibrant, colorful collages created with imagery culled from "discarded music magazines and auction catalogues." By combining images of gaudy, over-the-top jewelry, luxury cars, fashion brands/logos, bikini-clad women, the artist "fashions the coats-of-arms of a bling-centric culture, elevating 'ghetto' imagery to the highest status level."  In a back room The Conductor (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi) and The Conductor (Primo Vere, Omnia Sol Temperat) (2005-2009) are screened.  These are the "first and second parts of an ambitious 6 part video installation that sets Carl Orff's Carmina Burana against a video montage of expressive hand gestures, extracted from popular rap videos, and a musical background of hip-hop beats," making it appear that the array of hip-hop stars and rappers are conducting the musical piece.

While the video is amusing and the collages are bold, lively, and packed with detail, I felt that it all just regurgitates stereotypes of blinged-out hip-hop culture and doesn't challenge, dispel, or transcend these notions or add any insight.  Standards felt a bit like watching an episode of MTV's Cribs - an entertaining yet superficial and meaningless peek into a status and wealth-obsessed world.  Learn more about Rashaad Newsome: Standards at Ramisbarquet.com.  Check out the artist's website at Rashaadnewsome.com.  Through November 25th.

Ice Grill (center), 2009

Status Symbols

Status Symbols

Status Symbols

Status Symbols

Honorable Ordinaries, 2009

Who Shot Rock & Rock | Brooklyn Museum

I went to the First Saturday event at the Brooklyn Museum earlier this month with what felt like at least half the population of Brooklyn.  It was insanely packed!  With good reason, the Brooklyn Museum always plans a fun-filled night for visitors of all ages every first Saturday of the month free of charge.  To properly inaugurate its terrific, new exhibition, Who Shot Rock & Roll, the museum scheduled a handful of local indie bands (including Crystal Stilts) to play, screened the cheese-tastic movie Purple Rain, and planned a dance party (which I believe they have every month).

The exhibit Who Shot Rock & Roll is really great, though unfortunately there were so many people at the museum that night, it was really difficult to get up close to the photographs and read the info cards.  I wasn't able to snap pics or even take notes (it was that packed!) so I unfortunately can't provide too much detail here.  The show's curator, Gail Buckland, did an impressive job of collecting images of a variety of music stars from various generations and genres.  The exhibit is divided into six parts:  photos of artists early in their careers; behind-the-scenes images; concert/performance photos; pictures of crowds and fans/ groupies; portraits; and conceptual images/album covers.

A gigantic, color photo of David Lee Roth oddly and unexpectedly greets you to the show. Then, more appropriately, it begins with a series of photos of a young Elvis Presley.  Images of other musical pioneers included the infamous pic of Johnny Cash giving the finger; several images of the Rolling Stones; Bob Gruen's famous shot of John Lennon and the New York City skyline as well as stunning portraits of each of the Beatles shot by Richard Avedon; Janis Joplin; Jimi Hendrix; Jim Morrison; and a hole corner devoted to (I feel unfairly) Bob Dylan.  There was one terrific, large-scale collage of Michael Jackson and a couple of great shots of Tina Turner in action, a reminder of how photogenic and charismatic she is.

Some of my favorite pics featured bands I grew up listening to (I know I'm dating myself here) like The Clash, Blondie, B-52s, Queen, Talking Heads, The Police, and Joy Division.  There was a print of Pennie Smith's iconic shot of The Clash bassist, Paul Simonon, smashing his guitar as seen on the cover of London Calling, as well as a number of other wonderful shots she took of the band (particularly Joe Strummer).  Other bands featured from around this period include, The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Bow Wow Wow, The Ramones, and Kiss.

The section featuring fan shots included a shot by Ryan McGinley of Morrissey's always reverent audience; an amusing shot of rabid Morrissey fans tearing up one of the performer's shirts; big-haired New Kids on the Block fans waiting anxiously for the band; and an Andreas Gursky shot of a Los Angeles Madonna concert where the singer is dwarfed by her thousands of fans (Madonna is also featured in shots from the 80's taken by Marisol). 

One small room is devoted to iconic images of Grace Jones shot by Jean-Paul Goude.  Anton Corbin's portrait of U2 for the cover of Joshua Tree is featured and Stephane Sednaoui's lively video for Bjork's Big Time Sensuality is screened on a loop.  Surprisingly, there is only one shot of Kurt Cobain, a backstage photo of the singer looking forlorn, and one pic of Courtney Love during her "Kinder Whore" days.  There's also a black-and-white shot of Radiohead with the band looking typically somber. 

For the youngins, more contemporary artists include a small wall devoted to hip-hop legends including Jaz-Z, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.  Other shots of more recent performers include Amy Winehouse, MIA, and the White Stripes.  Who Shot Rock & Roll is a fun exhibit that shows the pivotal role the photographer plays in creating and selling a musician's "image".  Learn more at brooklynmuseum.com.  Through January 31, 2010.

Sun Xun | Max Protetch

Max Protetch presents the first American gallery exhibit of Beijing-based artist Sun Xun.  Animals is an extensive and beautiful show featuring drawings, light boxes, and "installations with drawings done by the artist directly on the wall."  Most of these works were incorporated into Sun's new, mesmerizing animation, People's Republic of Zoo, which can be seen in the back of the gallery.  Sun's "animations are made up of thousands of meticulously drawn images in a variety of media, often encompassing text and images from world history, politics, the natural sciences, and his own personal iconography" (from the exhibit's press release).

People's Republic of Zoo was inspired by George Orwell's 1945 classic tale Animal Farm.  The animation is "[a]t once a critique and a celebration of political allegory, as well as an exploration of myriad animal forms and the equally numerous ways in which humans have represented them."  Sun produces his animations by hand, often "in gallery spaces while the artist is in residence, drawing on the wall."  He also creates his works with Pi Animation, the 16-member animation studio in Beijing which the artist founded and runs.  His creative process "is documented in the many drawings, sketchbook installations, cut-paper works, and lightboxes that feature the characters and figures from People's Republic of Zoo."

By displaying his works, drawing on the walls, and unfolding his lengthy sketchbooks, Sun transformed the gallery into the black-and-white, animal-filled world of People's Republic of Zoo.  While each piece on view at Max Protetch is "a part of the larger total work that is the animation," they are strong enough to stand alone as individual works. The many beautiful and intricate pieces are rife with detail and come together to create one gorgeous video work.  Learn more at Maxprotetch.com.  Through December 23rd.

View of Animals exhibition

People's Republic of Zoo Lightbox #12, 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Lightbox #18, 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Lightbox #19, 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Lightbox #21 (on top), 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Round Installation #3, 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Round Installation #4, 2009

People's Republic of Zoo Round Installation #8, 2009

Andrew Moore | Yancey Richardson

I've never been to Detroit, but friends from there tell me it's a dreary place that they couldn't wait to leave.  Andrew Moore's vibrant, large-scale photographs featured in his solo show Detroit at Yancey Richardson, initially confirm this assessment of the city as they show various architectural sites in serious states of decay.

Moore racked up some major mileage making seven trips to Detroit in the past two years to capture the city's architecture "as a way to explore themes of history, culture and time" (from the exhibit's press release).  Though the buildings he photographed are abandoned and falling apart, the viewer can still see the former grace these spaces once possessed.  Industrial sites shot in Dry Dock and The Rouge still appear somewhat grandiose amongst all the ruins, and the UA Theater still looks majestic and ornate.  Moore documents the sad downfall of these buildings in a way that makes it rather magnificent and dignified.   As Moore optimistically states on the exhibit's press release, "Detroit is more than a story of physical decline, decay and transformation; it is a city where the distortion of time is inventing new symbols for the America of the future."  Perhaps the destruction of these once grand buildings will make room for positive changes, new development and hope.

Moore, an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Princeton, has previously photographed "colonial and modernist Havana, the war-damaged buildings of Sarajevo, post-Cold War Russia, the old theaters of New York's 42nd Street and the consumer-laden vertical landscape of the new Times Square."  Moore also produced the critically-acclaimed 2002 documentary How to Draw a Bunny, about the artist Ray Johnson that was directed by John Walker.

Learn more about Andrew Moore: Detroit at Yanceyrichardson.com.  Through January 9, 2010.

Circular Ruin, UA Theater, Detroit, Michigan, 2008

Organ Screen, UA Theater, Detroit, Michigan, 2008

Dry Dock, Detroit, Michigan, 2009

The Rouge, Detroit, Michigan, 2008

Tracey Emin | Lehmann Maupin

British artist Tracey Emin reminds me of that friend that everybody has who over-shares and divulges way too much information and detail about her private and sexual life, to the point where it becomes awkward and uncomfortable.  Her multimedia artwork has always been extremely personal and confessional and her current solo exhibit, Only God Knows I'm Good, at Lehmann Maupin's Lower East Side location displays her "recurring themes of love, sex, and lust" (from the exhibit's press release) though this time sans used condoms and dirty undies (My Bed, 1998).

The gallery presents 53 works including neons, sculptures, embroideries, monoprints, and an animated film projection of a woman masturbating in the back of the gallery.  Emin presents several images of a female figure's legs spread-eagle exposing her nether regions in both embroideries and prints.  This pose can represent the woman pre- or post-coital and can make her appear either empowering or vulnerable.   I find Emin's work more powerful and emotional when she incorporates text, as she often reveals feelings of insecurity, hurt, anger, or anxiety, ie:  "No you were a dog but thing is I was less" (Dog Fuck, 1999); "You Made me Feel like nothing" (Just Like Nothing, 2009); "I Can't Feel" (More Nothingness, 2009); and "Don't kid yourself Trace your scared SHITLESS" (Scared Shitless, 1997).  These upsetting and disturbing works feel raw and confessional, as if she exorcises her demons by creating them.

Upstairs in the gallery a fiery neon work by the artist blazes, "Some Crazy Fucked Up Dog Like Hell That's How it Feels to Live without Love".  Emin recently released a book of poems titled Those Who Suffer Love.  She has also written a 2008 autobiography titled Strangeland, and Rizzoli published a new monograph, Tracey Emin: One Thousand Drawings, earlier this year.  It seems Emin has a lot of confessing to do and many more stories to tell.  See Lehmannmaupin.com for more information.  Through December 19th.

Tide Mark (left), Only God Knows I'm Good (snow white neon, above), Pavement Sitting (embroidered calico, on wall), Cave Post (right), all 2009

Cave Post, Is This a Joke, Tide Mark, Why Be Afraid (from left to right), all 2009

Hope you are pregnant, 2009

Just Like Nothing, 2009

More Alone, 2009

Sitting, 2006

The past is Comming, 2009

Some Crazy Fucked Up Dog Like Hell That's How it Feels to Live without Love, 2009

Serena Bocchino | Tria Gallery

If the couple of days of Indian Summer we had earlier this week wasn't enough for you, head over to see New Jersey-based artist Serena Bocchino's iPOP at Chelsea's Tria Gallery for a healthy dose of Technicolor springtime.  Bocchino's iPOP — Mixed Media Installation features paintings, photo-paintings, painted figures and drawings that combined create brightly colored, trippy, idyllic scenes.  The artist creates "a colorful and surprising environment which combines high art with popular culture" (from the exhibit's press release).  "Surrounding her vivid and lyrical paintings is a garden with ordinary lawn ornaments such as bunnies, squirrels and flamingos which she transforms into iconographic pop elements."  

Bocchino's photo-paintings "combine digitally manipulated photographs with acrylic plexiglass sheets on which she paints to create a 'pop synergy' between the different media."  The artist paints lawn ornaments of woodland creatures to match her paintings, "and the integration of these figures creates an unexpected reality that spins ideas of fantasy and hope and creates a unique and personal perspective on life." 

Bocchino's pop-inspired, Easter egg-hued installations are fun, whimsical and cheerful.  Her rainbow-colored, furry and feathery friends posing on AstroTurf beneath her paintings effortlessly bring a smile to the viewer's face.  Learn more at triagallerynyc.com.  Through December 5th. 

Flower Power Pop

Synchronicity

Inside Orange

Popseasons

Olaf Breuning | Metro Pictures

Metro Pictures currently has on view Small Brain Big Stomach, an exhibition featuring wall drawings and wood sculptures by Swiss-born/New York-based artist, Olaf Breuning.  Breuning created childlike, pencil drawings while in "concentrated episodes of self-imposed isolation" (from exhibit's press release) drawing alone in a room aboard the Queen Mary II for five days.  The artist transferred these small drawings into large-scale versions using "broad black lines painted directly on the white walls" of the gallery.  Though the images look innocent and naive, they ponder philosophical questions about life and make snarky commentary regarding human nature.  A few of the wall drawings include an outline of a giant martini glass filled with the words "Half Empty Half Full"; a crude outline of a human figure with the phrase "I Want More And More" written inside it; and six comical figures talking on cell phones with vacant expressions on their faces and mouths agape, each containing a letter to spell out the word "Idiots". 

Breuning's sculptures are "essentially three-dimensional drawings made of wooden blocks painted black."  One shows the word "Life" riding in a roller coaster car about to plunge down a steep drop that leads to nowhere.  Another shows a rough outline of a head with "ME" spelled out repeatedly inside it with the inclusion of one tiny "YOU."  Another titled The Loser (2009) shows chess pieces on a small table with two stools on either side of it—one is toppled over.  And The Big Question (2009) is composed of a tall, folding ladder placed beneath a big, bold question mark.

Oddly, in a third gallery, Breuning presents "color studies," a series of photo works "based on paint and primary colors."  While I like the abstract c-prints, this series feels incompatible with the other two galleries' stark, minimal, black and white pieces.  Breuning's fun, charming and cynical wall drawings and sculptures are definitely worth a look.  See metropicturesgallery.com and check out the artist's website at olafbreuning.com.  Through December 5th.

Focus, Focus, Focus, 2009

Half Empty/Half Full (left), The Big Question (foreground), Generation After Generation After Generation (back corner, on floor), 2009

I want more and more... (left), Life is a Rollercoaster (right), 2009

Me, me, me, you, and me, 2009

Mr. Blah Blah Blah (front) and Idiots, 2009

YesNOYesNO, 2009

Not Even a Drink Makes it Better, 2009

David Hockney | Pace Wildenstein, East 57th Street

Last Thursday I ventured up to Pace Wildenstein's East 57th Street location to check out the second part of the two-venue exhibtion David Hockney: Paintings 2006-2009, alongside a couple of large tour groups consisting largely of ladies who lunch.  Fortunately the uptown venue has two floors, so I attempted to avoid the masses by alternating levels with them (with moderate success).  Whilst they viewed the landscapes downstairs, I tucked up the spiral staircase to see Hockney's portraits and vice versa.

The lower level contains additional Yorkshire landscapes similarly bright and colorful to the ones on view at the Chelsea gallery, however the uptown canvases are not as large (the largest in this group was The Big Hawthorne, 2008, consisting of nine panels).  While these landscapes are lovely, they do not seem quite as polished as the ones in Chelsea.  I noticed a small dead insect stuck in the paint of Blossom en Plein-Air, Woldgate I, (2008) and a random red squiggle of paint above the timber in More Felled Trees on Woldgate, (2008) along with areas not completely filled in with color. 

The highlight at the East 57th Street location for me is certainly Drawing in a Printing Machine, 18 recent, large-scale (~49" x 33.5") portraits by Hockney in the upstairs gallery (Pace Prints).  Hockney's inkjet-printed computer portraits were created "drawing live models on a tablet connected to a computer monitor".  The drawings feature his subjects seated in brightly colored, sparsely furnished settings.  Hockney captures postures or gestures giving the viewer a hint of the sitters' personalities.  My favorites in the collection include a cocksure sailor, the artist's nattily dressed assistant Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima, and his brother Paul, who bears a striking resemblance to the artist.

Hockney is rightfully one of the biggest and most beloved living artists from England, as well as an amusing raconteur and personality.  Read this article from the New Statesman from June in which the artist's curmudgeonly, cigarette-loving charm shines through.  Definitely try to catch these exhibitions at both Pace Wildenstein locations before they close.  David Hockney: Drawing in a Printing Machine is on view at Pace Prints at 32 East 57th Street, 3rd floor, until November 28th and David Hockney: Paintings 2006-2009 is on view at 32 East 57th Street, 2nd floor, and 534 West 25th Street until December 24th.

Matetlot Kevin Druez 1, 2009

Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima, 2008

Paul Hockney 2, 2009

Dan Flavin | David Zwirner

David Zwirner presents its first exhibition of American arist Dan Flavin's (1933-1996) work since the gallery announced its exclusive representation of the artist's estate earlier this year.  Dan Flavin: Series and Progressions features sixteen of the artist's minimal, fluorescent light works.  Flavin first began working with fluorescent light in 1963 with the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusi), "a single gold, fluorescent lamp that hangs on a diagonal on the wall" and continued to produce a "singularly consistent and prodigious body of work that utilized commercially-available fluorescent lamps to create installations of light and color" (from the exhibit's press release) until his death in 1996.

I entered the gallery using the center set of doors, so the first pieces I saw were Flavin's nine works from his 1968 series two primary series and one secondary which consists of "three sets of three works" separated into three rooms by color combos - red and yellow, red and blue, and red and green.  The sets are  "composed of a cumulative system of vertical lamps.  While they each stand alone as individual works, these constructions demonstrate Flavin's interest in serial and permutational configurations."  Each room is richly illuminated by its installation.  The first room glows in a vibrant, fiery red.  The middle room is serenely blue while the third room emanates a soft, cool green.

Heading west into the adjoining galleries, I literally walked by and missed the nominal three (to William of Ockham), (1963) which is made up of six white lamps "in three vertical sets, grouped as one, two, and three lamps" arranged on one wall.  I had to turn around and go back to check out the simple yet bright and almost blinding work. 

The next gallery housed untitled (for John Heartfield), (1990) four individual works that "project a sequential color arrangement into space."  The pieces are primarily red with a dash of white and include vertical and perpendicular lamps that "are arranged in the same construction" yet "are distinctly organized in terms of a progression defined by the artist's employment of color."  I couldn't help but think that the artist may have intentionally arranged these lamps to resemble "F"s for "Flavin!"

The next room contained my favorite piece in the collection, untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection), (1974).  The large-scale piece is taken from a series titled barriers which "literally extend the notion of potentially endless repeatability into the exhibition space."  The piece was made in "a modular sequence of square units that dramatically bathes the surrounding space in blue light."  The work is a "fence-like structure of fluorescent lamps that cuts across the length of a room and disrupts the surrounding architecture."  The Helga and Carlo to whom Flavin dedicated this piece with respect and affection are Carlo Huber, who was the Director of the Kunsthalle Basel when this piece was exhibited there in 1975, and his wife.  The way this work overwhelms the space and emits its bright, blue, mesmerizing glow made it feel incredibly powerful and reverent.

Last but not least, displayed in the 519 West 19th Street space, is the room-filling installation alternating pink and "gold" (1967).  The 8-foot lamps occupying three, long walls are arranged vertically in "alternating units of pink and gold... installed at progressively larger intervals from one another, beginning at the center of each wall:  two lamps (one pink, one yellow) were placed at the mid-point of each wall; then single lamps of alternating colors were placed on both sides of the pair, spaced at intervals of 2 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet, etc. — as many times as space allowed."  It's an interesting combination of math, light, and color that creates an appealing site-specific installation.  As Flavin concludes in his December 6, 1967 statement of this work, "...our peculiar informative gain with the exposition is the concrete delight of a vastly felt illuminated paradox."

I suspect people will either love or hate Flavin's minimal, illuminating works on view.  I'm with the lovers and think everyone should head to David Zwirner to see Series and Progressions and judge for themselves.  My pics below don't do the works justice.  Learn more at Davidzwirner.com.  Through December 23rd.

untitled (red and yellow), 1968

untitled (red and blue), 1968

untitled (red and blue), 1968

untitled (red and green), 1968

untitled (for John Heartfield) 3a, 1990

untitled (for John Heartfield) 3b, 3c, 3d, 1990

untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection), 1974

alternating pink and "gold", 1967

Sarah Anne Johnson | Julie Saul Gallery

Hurry to Julie Saul Gallery and catch Sarah Anne Johnson's House on Fire before it closes on the 14th! The exhibit is based on Johnson's maternal grandmother, Velma Orlikow's story, who in the 1950s sought treatment for post-partum depression and unknowingly enlisted herself into a CIA project called "MK-ULTRA." The project was headed by Dr. Ewen Cameron at MacGill University who "subjected [the patients] to a series of mind-control experiments including shock and drug therapies and medically-induced prolonged sleep."

The exhibit features nine small bronze sculptures and a series of enlarged, digitally modified family photos. The centerpiece of the show, also titled House on Fire, is a 3-dimensional, mixed media model house. Peeking inside the house's windows you can see a snow covered living room, a basement filled floor-to-ceiling with stacks of paper, rooms overwhelmed by tree branches, an elderly man dancing and spinning around with a nude, elderly woman, and a figure lying in a twin bed beside a second bed equipped with straps/restraints and what appears to be an electric shock treatment machine between the two.

Johnson is adept at representing her grandmother's tumultuous emotional health in various mediums.  In her photo works, the artist depicts her grandmother's inner turmoil by replacing her head with a squirrel's (Birthday Party), transforming her fingers into long, gnarled branches (Family Tradition), and overlapping her image with lace-like patterns and ghostly shadows. In her sculptures she depicts Orlikow's head exploding into a mushroom cloud (Explosion), her mouth spewing a giant branch (Poison Branch), and her body warped in unnatural and disturbing ways (Inside Out, Backwards). The works are unsettling and heartbreaking, vividly representing her grandmother's fragility and difficult battle with inner demons.

The Winnipeg-based Johnson tackles a very delicate and personal subject in a powerful and graceful manner.  House on Fire is a fascinating examination of a woman's struggle with her depression, further complicated by a corrupt government program and doctor taking advantage of her vulnerable state of mind. See Saulgallery.com for more information. Through November 14th. 

Velma Orlikow, 2008

Birthday Party, 2008

Burning, 2009

My Mother, Her Daughter, 2008

Explosion (left), Sinking (right), 2008

Squirrel Head, 2008

House on Fire, 2009

House on Fire (interior)

On Love? On War? Prominent Contemporary Chinese Artists | Stux Gallery

In conjunction with the art program China in Chelsea which is hosted by Carnegie Hall and its A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture event (October 21st-November 10th) Stux Gallery presents On Love? On War? Prominent Contemporary Chinese Artists.  The fourteen artists featured in the group show present works using "representational imagery to explore seemingly contradictory states of existence" such as "East and West, man and woman, tradition and technology, growth and decay, love and war..." resulting in "narratives that convey the individual's odyssey of both creation (love) and destruction (war)" (from the exhibit's press release).

This is a great show to check out and learn in one shot a few of the prominent players in the ever booming Chinese contemporary art scene.  I admittedly only knew Zhang Huan out of the bunch.  One of the two pieces by Zhang on view is his 1997 photographic work Skin.  The piece is composed of 20 black-and-white headshots of the artist using his hands to mildly manipulate and contort his face.  Two artists contributed sculptural pieces - Qu Guangci's stainless steel New Mao (2003) greets visitors entering the gallery, and Fan Xiaoyan's sexualized robot woman, Cyborg No.1 (2008) freaks them out.  Liu Jianhua's ceramic piece, Games (2002) features a headless and armless woman writhing around in cheong sam and heels.  Wei Dong and Ling Jian both offer up NSFW canvases that are a wee bit fetishy and pervy (seems to be a trend going on here).

Overall, On Love? On War? makes for a good starter course for those not too familiar with contemporary Chinese artists.  I'm sure we'll be hearing about and seeing a lot more from the artists in this group.  See Stuxgallery.com.  Through November 14th. 

Qu Guangci, New Mao, 2003

Fan Xiaoyan, Cyborg No.1, 2008

Guo Wei, I can Because I live, 2007

Liu Jianhua, Games, 2002

Ren Zhenyu, Another Portrait Warhol, 2007

Yang Shaobin, Untitled, 2007

Zhang Huan, Skin, 1997

Zhong Biao, Beyond Black Gold (diptych), 2008

Yue Minjun | Arario Gallery

Arario Gallery currently has on view 28 new prints by Beijing-based artist Yue Minjun.  The prints and three sculptures presented in Smile-isms feature the maniacally smiling man who figures prominently in Yue's work.  According to the exhibit's press release, "These prints beautifully illustrate the iconic laughing face and figure of the artist as seen manifested in various states of solitary play and fantastical camaraderie.  Yue Minjun's joyful, smiling figures offer an ironic commentary on the concept of personal freedom and happiness in modern Chinese society."  The artist interprets laughter as "a moment when our mind refuses to reason.  When we are puzzled by certain things, our mind simply doesn't want to struggle, or perhaps we don't know how to think, therefore we just want to forget it.  The 90's is the time when everyone should laugh" (from Yueminjun.com).

After graduating from Hebei Normal University with a degree in oil painting in 1985, Yue moved to Beijing and joined an artist community in Yuan Ming Yuan "where radical ideas for the future of China and its art were exchanged" (from the press release).  It was here that Yue became a prominent figure in the Cynical Realism movement, which formed in response to the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square tragedy in 1989 as well as the imposed closing of the China Avant Garde exhibit at the China National Gallery earlier that same year.  Cynical Realism evolved from the 1990's "loss of idealism" and "greater detachment from any regeneration of society or culture" (from chinesecontemporary.com).  A government crackdown shut down the Yuan Ming Yuan artist colony in 1996.  While the shut-down "dissolved the community" it also "ironically, led the artists to develop a greater individuality in artistic thought and style" (from press release). 

Currently one of the top Chinese contemporary artists, Yue emerged during a period when China was experiencing economic growth and westernization.  This mixing of "socialist and capitalist ideologies" and "notions of individual rights and free expression" have likely influenced Yue's work.  While the perma-grin characters in his work appear funny, playful and sometimes satirical, after seeing one after another in various scenarios, you get the sense that he's hiding something behind that smile.  Learn more at ararionewyork.com and at chinesecontemporary.com.  Also, check out the artist's website at Yueminjun.com.  Through January 16, 2010.

Actions of Chinese Characters - 5, 2003

Smile-isms sculptures

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 27), 2006

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 7), 2006

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 16), 2006

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 22), 2006

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 23), 2006

Untitled (Smile-ism No. 10, 14, 2), 2006

David Hockney | Pace Wildenstein, West 25th Street

David Hockney has done it all.  Born in Bradford, England in 1937, Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art before graduating with a gold medal from London's Royal College of Art in 1962.   Perhaps best know for his Swimming Pool paintings and portraits of friends and family, he has worked in multiple media including painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, Polaroid photo-collage, opera stage and costume design.  The fearless artist does not shy away from experimenting with new techniques nor technology, having produced works on fax machines - "a telephone for the deaf," as he describes the now archaic device (from an Oct.15, 2009 NYTs article), photocopiers, laser and inkjet printers, computers, and even iPhones (using the Brushes App).  He has had about 400 solo exhibitions, has taught at universities, and has received numerous honors and awards.  He conducted extensive research and wrote a book titled Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the lost techniques of the Old Masters (2001) which examines the history of the use of optical devices in art.

It's been 12 years since Hockney has exhibited new work in NYC, so Pace Wildenstein has understandably dedicated two galleries (West 25th and East 57th Streets) for David Hockney: Paintings 2006-2009.  I saw his landscapes at the West 25th Street location last week.  The 16 oil paintings depict Yorkshire, an Eastern section of England Hockney was first introduced to "while working on a farm during the summers of 1952 and 1953" (from the exhibit's press release).  He later returned east to a seaside resort town called Bridlington after his sister moved there and was later joined by their mother.  Hockney bought them a house there in 1989 (where he currently lives).  Hockney also made frequent trips to Bridlington in 1997 to visit his ailing friend, Jonathan Silver.  The many visits made Hockney see the English landscape "with new eyes" and he began painting Yorkshire from memory in Los Angeles (where he's lived since 1978) until he returned (temporarily, he says) to Bridlington full-time in 2005 (from the Times article).  Initially, the large, multi-panel works are surprising, depicting landscapes, nature, in unnatural, intense colors, but after a longer look, the pink dirt roads, lavender tree bark, orange timber, and purple shadows look beautiful and feel calm and just right coming from Hockney's unconventional perspective.

To create his multi-canvas paintings, Hockney "divided the full expanse of a painting among several canvases, and each morning transported a few of the canvases to the field, mounting one or more at a time onto easels. Returning to his studio at the end of the day, Hockney combined the parts to form the whole image, resulting in large-scale multi-canvas paintings such as Bigger Trees Nearer Warter, captured in the winter and summer of 2008, on view in the 25th Street gallery, and The Big Hawthorne (2008) at 57th Street, each composed of nine canvases and measuring 108 x 144" (from the press release).  Currently, his largest painting measures 40 feet wide!

Though Hockney was greatly influenced by Picasso, I see more hints of Van Gogh in these landscapes, in terms of the brush strokes and vibrant colors.  I'll hopefully get a chance to check out the 57th Street gallery soon and post about it here.  To learn more about the current two-venue exhibition, see Pacewildenstein.com.  To learn more about Hockney, check out Hockneypictures.com.  And read the New York Times' interview at NYT.com.  Through December 24th.

Winter Timber, 2009

Woldgate Woods, 30 March - 21 April, 2006

Sister Mary Corita | Zach Feuer Gallery

The Zach Feuer Gallery currently has on view works by Sister Mary Corita (Kent) (1918-1986), a nun, art teacher, activist, and Pop artist.  Sister Corita combined vivid colors, graphics and text to create bold, statement-making serigraphs and watercolors that are unexpectedly cool yet powerful.

According to the exhibit's press release, "Drawn to the power of the word, Sister Corita incorporated fragments of text, slogans and signs taken from billboards, street signs, advertising jingles, pop songs, poems, newspapers and magazines into her work. She sampled quotes by Martin Luther King Jr., Rainer Maria Rilke, Phillip Roth and the Psalms. Sister Corita also appropriated images from magazine and newspaper covers of the Viet Cong, the Pope and the Berrigan Brothers burning draft cards as well as the Wonder Bread logo...  She cropped, skewed, and collaged phrases from disparate sources to enhance the power of the quote and to create unique revolutionary, spiritual and social statements."

During her years as an art teacher at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, Sister Corita showed films, played pop music, created "large-scale collaborative projects" and invited impressive guest lecturers like iconic designer Charles Eames and futuristic architect Buckminster Fuller (this sounds like the best art class EVER!)

Sister Corita left the nunnery and moved to Boston in 1969 where she focused on her art and worked on various corporate and public projects.  She created the 1985 Love postage stamp and the ~150-foot high Rainbow Swash in 1971, which fellow Mass-holes (I use the term affectionately) will recognize from the exterior of the Boston Gas storage tanks in Dorchester, right off the Southeast Expressway (the Rainbow Swash is as iconic a landmark in Boston as the neon Citgo sign). 

The Zach Feuer Gallery has on view serigraphs created by Sister Corita from the early 1950's up to her passing in 1986, along with various memorabilia.  On Saturday, November 7th at 3:00pm, the gallery has invited Alexandra Carrera, the Director of the Corita Art Center, to discuss Sister Corita's enduring work.  Learn more at Zachfeuer.com.

moonflowers, 1969

phil and dan, 1969

yes #3, 1979

things go better with..., 1967

the juiciest tomato of all, 1964

handle with care (left) and yellow submarine (right), 1967

life is a complicated business, 1967

Adia Millett at Mixed Greens & Teresita Fernandez at Lehmann Maupin

"The Tibetan word Bardo is translated as an intermediate state, or the state in-between.  Waking, sleeping, meditating, dying, wandering in the spirit world, reincarnating; all of these are bardos.  Generally, the term is used to designate the period between death and rebirth."  This uncertain, dreamlike, spiritual state is essentially what California-born artist, Adia Millett, is trying to capture in her installation piece, The Birth of Bardo, currently on view at Mixed Greens.  According to the show's press release, "Visitors are invited to participate in the scene, sit, contemplate, and implicate themselves in a dream-like environment teetering between fantasy and reality."

Millett's show, also titled The Birth of Bardo, features her photographs in the front of the gallery and her interactive installation as well as her first film in the back rooms.  Feathery wings, planes, lights, chairs, and a see-saw make frequent appearances in these surreal, mysterious works.  See more at mixedgreens.com.  Check out Millett's website at Adiamillett.com.  Through November 7th.

Over at Lehmann Maupin's West 26th Street location are Teresita Fernandez's terrific, dark, glossy graphite sculptures.  The Miami-born, Brooklyn-based Fernandez refers to Borrowdale in a few of the works, which is the English town where graphite, a "once sought-after and coveted material," was discovered and mined in the 1500s.  Fernandez carves Borrowdale landscapes into her graphite slabs, creating works that "reflect elements of sculpture and installation and redefine the notion of precisely what constitutes a drawing."  The press release further elaborates about the artist's process and technique, "Fernandez turns the idea of a drawing into tangible form, making a solid sculpture that is in effect a three-dimensional gestural graphite drawing... For Fernandez to assemble the sculpture is to engage in the act of drawing."

I really liked Epic, the thousands of pebble-sized pieces of graphite clustered onto the front gallery's walls.  The small, shiny pieces of graphite look like gemstones, which Fernandez slid along the white walls leaving grainy graphite marks resembling shadows, tails, or pencil smudges.  Learn more at Lehmannmaupin.com.  Through December 19th.

Adia Millett, The Birth of Bardo (Ups and Downs), 2009

Adia Millett, The Birth of Bardo 1, 2009

Adia Millett, The Birth of Bardo 2, 2009

Teresita Fernandez, Drawn Waters (Borrowdale) 2, 2009, Epic on back walls, 2009

Teresita Fernandez, Nocturnal (Diamond Sky), 2009

Teresita Fernandez, close-up of Epic (graphite on wall), 2009

And the winners are... | 10th National Design Awards & First Annual Art Awards

The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum held its 10th National Design Awards on October 22nd at Cipriani 42nd Street.  Started in 2000 by the Smithsonian's Coooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum to honor the best in American design, "the annual Awards program celebrates design in various disciplines as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of design by educating the public and promoting excellence, innovation, and lasting achievement" (from the Nat'l Design Awards' website.)  The 2009 winners include:

Lifetime Achievement Award~ Bill Moggridge, co-founder of IDEO, the international design consultancy.  Among his many achievements, "Moggridge designed the world's first laptop computer" and was a pioneer in interactive design.

Design Mind~ Amory B. Lovins, Physicist "widely considered among the world's leading authorities on energy - especially its efficient use and sustainable supply."

Corporate and Institutional Achievement~ Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for its ever-lasting efforts to "present[s] the value of design to the general public."

Architecture Design~ SHoP Architects, created The Porter House in NYC and is currently working on a two-mile park along NYC's East River.

Communication Design~ The New York Times' Graphics Department, for their quick turn-around on complex, informative visuals.  

Fashion Design~ Francisco Costa, the Creative Director for Calvin Klein Collection since 2002 (who is terrific, but I think finalists the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte also deserved this honor.)

Interaction Design~ Perceptive Pixel, Inc., founded in 2006 by Jeff Han the company is "dedicated to the research, development and deployment of multi-touch interfaces for the knowledge worker."

Interior Design~ TsAO & McKOWN Architects, created the architecture and interiors for Andre Balazs' William Beaver House in Lower Manhattan and currently working on several international architecture and urban master plans.

Landscape Design~ HOOD Design, founded by Walter Hood in 1992 in Oakland, California, "the firm is committed to issues that address the re-construction of urban landscapes within towns and cities."

Product Design~ Boym Partners, design studio founded by Constantin and Laurene Boym and based in New York, it creates Boym Editions as well as a variety of products for Alessi, Swatch, and Vitra.

Learn more about the awards, the winners, and the finalists at nationaldesignawards.org, and see pictures from the event at nyt.com.

The First Annual Art Awards took place at the Guggenheim Museum on Thursday, October 29th.  Artist Rob Pruitt "conceived the event as a performance-based artwork modeled after Hollywood awards ceremonies. Nominees in nine categories included artists, curators, critics, and gallerists, recognizing projects that took place from January 2008 to June 2009" (from Guggenheim.org.)

Art-world heavy-hitters as well as some Hollywood celebrities acted as presenters of the Pruitt-designed statuettes "resembling a celebratory bucket of champagne that also serves as a fully functional lamp," (Briliant! I want one!)  Along with Lifetime Achievement Awards for video and performance artist Joan Jonas and curator Kasper Könighe, the lucky winners include:

Artist of the Year~ painter Mary Heilmann

Curator of the Year~ MoMA's Connie Butler

New Artist of the Year~ Ryan Trecartin (See some of his work at Elizabethdeegallery.com.)

Exhibition Outside the United States~ Jeff Koons, Versailles, Château de Versailles, France (I wish I could have seen that!)

Group Show of the Year, Gallery~ Who’s Afraid of Jasper Johns? Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

Group Show of the Year, Museum~ The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Solo Show of the Year, Gallery~ Manzoni: A Retrospective, Gagosian Gallery, New York

Solo Show of the Year, Museum~ Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Museum of Modern Art, New York

Writer of the Year~ New York Magazine's Jerry Saltz

The Rob Pruitt Award~ Cynthia Plaster Caster (known for her plaster casts of rock stars' male bits.)

Read more about the First Annual Art Awards at guggenheim.org and artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com.