Art Hag

James Marshall | Jonathan LeVine Gallery

The artist formerly known as Dalek, James Marshall, currently has a series of dazzling and dizzying abstract paintings on view at Jonathan LeVine.  His second solo show with the gallery, And There Was War in Heaven, features recent canvases of "brightly hued flat colors painted in crisply defined planes of space, forming shapes and optical perspectives clearly separated by impeccably clean, sharp, and precise geometric line-work" (from the exhibit's press release).  The carefully crafted, fragmented, repetitive works resemble vivid, psychedelic patterns.

The North Carolina-based artist studied anthropology and sociology before receiving his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995.  His vibrant, energetic, trippy work is reminiscent of Takashi Murakami's, whom Marshall assisted in 2001.  Marshall's earlier work, under the pseudonym Dalek (a reference to cult, sci-fi series Dr. Who) "merged street art, cartoons, Japanese pop and the energy of the urban punk scene," (from the artist's website).  Space Monkey, a character he created and incorporated into his early works, served as an "alter ego" for Marshall, "a visual manifestation of his feelings, as well as his love for the absurdity of human interactions."  The cute and crazed Space Monkey bears a striking resemblance to Murakami's Mr DOB character.  

Marshall decided to part ways with his Dalek moniker and Space Monkey in 2007 for his first show at Jonathan LeVine.  The separation was "really cathartic to me, and I think it really helped open a lot of things for me visually... By not having that iconic centerpiece to build a painting around, all the elements started springing up and happening a little more naturally, and things started growing in a different way, which was liberating," the artist says on his website.  "His new body of work revels in a profusion and hyper-abundance of color and planes of space: the familiar lines and iconic Space Monkey that defined his earlier work are only a starting point for a new series of meditations on the push and pull of forces he sees in contemporary life."  Marshall's complex, layered, kaleidoscopic paintings are definitely worth checking out.  Learn more at Jonathanlevinegallery.com and see Marshall's website at dalekart.com.  Through January 9, 2010.

Untitled (F), 2009

Untitled (no. 6), 2009

Untitled (no. 7), 2009

Untitled (no. 13), 2009

Norbert Schwontkowski | Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Mitchell-Innes & Nash currently has on view Ångstrœm, a series of dream-like and fascinating paintings by German artist Norbert Schwontkowski.  The paintings are "[P]oetic, atmospheric, and loosely narrative, Schwontkowski's new paintings depict the artist and his world in a way that is at once cartoonish and melancholy..." (from the exhibit's press release).  "Many of the paintings allude to electrical charges: another reference to the artistic process, as 'spark' is a metaphor for creation..."  The show's title is inspired by physicist Anders Jonas Ångström, who had "a unit of measure for light waves" named after him.  According to the press release, "Angstroem" can also be interpreted as a play on the two German words "angst" and "flow [electricity]".

Schwontkowski's paintings are surreal and cryptic.  They seem to simultaneously want to tell a story and remain mysterious.  As the artist revealed to Brooklyn Rail in a recent interview, "most of my paintings come from a dream, which is never fixed. It is more like the feeling when you are traveling on a train without a destination, or in the early morning when you just wake, when you are still in between a dream and the thoughts of what you have to do for the day—like what sort of shirt and pants you will wear and who you’ll see for lunch, and so on. Essentially, it comes from a moment when there is not so much control of your thoughts or what you could actually see. Your eyes are open and you think you can see whatever’s in front of you, but in fact there is something from this corner of your vision, which somehow melts together and becomes something you can’t identify whatsoever. I think this is the way poetry works, by allowing things to come together and bloom and become something else, something fresh and alive." 

Schwontkowski worked in short, experimental, animated films, photography and writing before he reached 30 and then "started to concentrate" on painting.  As he told Brooklyn Rail, "[T]hen when I was between 35 and 40 I had the feeling that suddenly I was a painter for the first time."  Schwontkowski personally hand mixes pigments and paints for his works, and incorporates various materials (like copper, gold and marble dust) to create different textures and finishes on his canvases. The artist uses a palette primarily "of pale earth tones, blacks and grays creat[ing] a muted, subdued atmosphere..."

Schwontkowski was born and raised in Bremen, Germany in 1949. He teaches painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künst in Hamburg.  Learn more at Mitchell-Innes & Nash and read Brooklyn Rail's full interview with the artist at Brooklynrail.org.  Through January 9, 2010.

Alberta am Schwarzen See, 2009

Collector, 2009

Der Erfinder der Tricolore, 2009

Kinky, 2006
Last Song, 2009, Eklektiker, 2009

Muezzin, 2009

Polar, 2009

Raumfarben, 2009

3 Frauen im Licht, Magic Mushroom, Osaka Trouble, Rain Sea, Rothaarige (clockwise from left), 2009

Martin Wong | PPOW

Artist Martin Wong (1946-1999) moved from the west coast to NYC in 1978.  Living in and painting the then rough-and-tumble Lower East Side, Wong's work is a testament to an era - "a document of that time in the 1980's and 1990's, capturing a moment in the history of the city marked by vacant lots, graffiti and a burgeoning club culture," (from the exhibit's press release).  PPOW Gallery currently has on view Martin Wong: Everything Must Go, a selection of work culled from the artist's estate, showcasing his favorite and trademark subjects, including "crumbling tenements, vacant lots, prisoners (with those burning eyes), closed gates (and open legs), downtown poets, hustlers, and if we are lucky, perhaps an off-duty Fireman."

Wong's paintings of imperfect scenes and people possess a documentarian and cinema verite look, yet also a feel of poetry and genuine affection (and sometimes lust) for his subject matter.  Wong received a degree in ceramics from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California but decided to change direction and taught himself to paint at 30-years-old.  His paintings show a bit a naivete and folksiness to them which I think make them feel more raw and personal.  His depictions of tattooed inmates, destroyed or decaying buildings, and the night sky twinkling above tenement rooftops document a downtown neighborhood's history slowly yet surely being replaced by posh bars, condos and luxury hotels.  Included in the exhibit is a series of rare photo collages the artist created to use as studies for paintings that also serve as "a rare document of the long walks the artist would take in and around the Lower East Side."  It seems ironic that Wong took such care to shoot and piece together these collages to build scenes of rubble and destruction.

Wong's inclusion of astrology and hands spelling out words using American Sign Language in his works give them an individual and quirky stamp/signature, much like the artist's personal style which included a long, thin mustache and cowboy hats.   The recent reinterpretation of Wong's look along with many of today's young artists documenting their "grungy" LES/East Village/Williamsburg neighborhoods and friends, confirm Wong's status as a true visionary.  Learn more at ppowgallery.com and read Martin Wong's obituary from the August 18, 1999 New York Times here.  Through January 30, 2010.

C-76, Junior, 1988

Ferocactus Peninsuloe V. Viscoinensis, 1997-8, Angelito, 1992

I really like the way firemen smell..., 1988

I.C.U., 1988

Sacred Shroud of Pepe Turcel, 1990, Untitled (brick in brick), 1988

Stanton Near Forsyth, 1984

Untitled (photo collage) 5

Ursa Minor, 1995

Voices, 1981

Brian Calvin at Anton Kern | Alex Katz at Adam Baumgold

A series of Brian Calvin's new, large-scale paintings featuring cute, young, hipster girls drinking Modelo beer, looking vacant, and hanging out on Californian beaches or in front of graphic prints, are currently on view at Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea.  The portraits featured in HEAD are composed in Calvin's signature, rough, flat, cartoonish, style in rich, vibrant hues.  The 40-year-old, Los Angeles-based Calvin, who was born in Viscalia, California and received his MFA at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1994, creates portraits that resemble a west coast, younger, trendier Alex Katz. 

Speaking of Katz, the 82-year-old artist currently has a show at Adam Baumgold Gallery on East 66th Street.  Alex Katz, Paintings from the 50's - 80's features well-know paintings by Katz such as Swimmer #3 from 1973, Self Portrait (Study) from 1982, as well as a few featuring his wife and muse Ada, including Ada in a Pillbox Hat (1961) in which Mrs. Katz is posed a la Jackie Kennedy.  A few smaller paintings used as studies for larger, finished works are also on view.  I particularly liked two of these studies featuring Katz's son Vincent - Walk (1970) and Man (Vincent) in Canoe (1974).  Though studies, these two works still convey soft, dreamlike, summery scenes.  Also on view are a few landscapes featuring flowers and trees which I liked for their joyfulness and also because I'm not familiar with this side of Katz's work (I typically associate Katz with portraits).  The kindly gentleman at the Baumgold Gallery politely requested that I not take pictures at the exhibit so I unfortunately don't have any to share here - which is more reason for you to check out the show for yourself.

Learn more about Brian Calvin: Head at Antonkerngallery.com.  Through January 16, 2010.  And learn more about Alex Katz, Paintings from the 50's - 80's at Adambaumgoldgallery.com.  Check out Katz's website at Alexkatz.com.  Through January 30, 2010.

Head With Stuff (Can With Hand), 2009

Alta California, 2009

Codex (Head)(left), 2009 and Stormy Sky (right), 2009

Aurora Borealis (left), 2009 and On A Plane (right), 2009

Eternal Return, 2009

Season's Greetings

Happy, happy holidays, Art Hag readers!

Back on Monday.

Lou Reed | Steven Kasher Gallery

Along with being a rock legend and New York City icon, Lou Reed is also a talented photographer.  Who knew?  Having previously published two books with Edition 7L/Steidl featuring his photography, Lou Reed's New York and Emotion in Action, Reed collaborated with the imprint again and just released Romanticism, a series of "stunning black and white and color images of landscapes and architectural motifs, shot on the artist's travels to Scotland, Denmark, Big Sur and elsewhere," (from the exhibit's press release).  To coincide with the release of the new title, Steven Kasher is exhibiting in its back gallery approximately a dozen photos featured in the book.

"The photographs are taken with a specially altered digital camera, which gives them an aura of strangeness, or otherworldliness.  They have a timeless quality but are simultaneously very modern, like Reed himself."  As the press release aptly states, Reed's "name has become synonymous with the New York avant-garde, and with the city itself.  With his photography, Reed has been moving out of New York, while his first collection featured portraits of the city, this new one focuses on more pastoral settings."  I think it's great Reed is shooting other countries and locales and isn't pigeon-holing himself to NYC, but I admit I do find it a little odd and funny imagining the very urban Reed in "pastoral settings" in his "shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather."

The title of his book and the exhibit, Romanticism, refers to "the 18th and 19th century art movement that sought a return to the emotion, beauty, and unknowability of the natural as a counterpoint to industrial era’s emphasis on technological development and the pursuit of rational knowledge. Reed’s images recall this impulse: they focus on the aesthetic and the sublime..."  Reed's camera captures some haunting and breathtaking idyllic scenes, dreamy respites from the chaotic city he is so associated with. Learn more at Stevenkasher.com.  Check out Reed's website at Loureed.com and have a peek inside the book Romanticism at Steidlville.com. Through January 9, 2010. 

Untitled "Big Sur 2", 2005-2008

Untitled "Big Sur 6" and Untitled "Big Sur 5", 2005-2008

Untitled "Ruin", Untitled "Man", Untitled "Castle", 2005-2008

Untitled "Statue", Untitled "Trees", 2005-2008

Gerhard Richter | Marian Goodman Gallery

Born in Dresden, Germany in 1932, Gerhard Richter's career in painting spans almost 50 years.  Early on the artist decided "that paintings should focus on the image rather than the reference, the visual rather than the statement. He wanted to find a new way of painting that would not be constricting," (from the artist's website).  "Unlike American artists Richter wasn't interested in the purity of art. Idealism had disillusioned him from an early age. Instead he painted images without glory; images that rendered the ridiculous, ordinary; the tragic, ordinary; the beautiful, ordinary. Throughout his career Richter has shrunk from giving a psychological insight into his art, leaving his admirers and critics guessing and at times confused. According to him, his work forms from structures and ideas that surround him, nothing more profound than that."

His current show, Abstract Paintings, 2009, at Marian Goodman's Upper East Side gallery is "a major representation of works made by the artist from 2005 to the present, including an important new cycle of paintings titled Sindbad, 2008 as well as individual paintings presenting medium to large format abstractions, and a new group of large scale near-monochrome paintings whose underlying chromatic structures are layered by translucent veils of white paint," (from the exhibit's press release).

The show is truly incredible and offers several abstracts in various styles.  Upon entering, you are met by a handful of massive white paintings that feature subtle hints of color peeking out from under tiny cracks in the white surface.  While these paintings may initially appear bland from a distance, when you get closer to them you sort of want to scratch away at them to see what else they reveal underneath their serene and cold facades.  The following rooms offer up a number of amazing colorful abstractions that exude mood and energy.  For me, many of the canvases possess a tense almost aggressive feel to them.  They sort of feel like a calm before a storm, precursors to something that's been simmering and waiting to explode.  Judge for yourself with my pics below.  Contrary to Richter's own description of his paintings, these works are far from "ordinary."  They are truly stunning.

Learn more at Mariangoodman.com.  Check out Richter's website at Gerhard-Richter.com.  Through January 9, 2010 (**note Marian Goodman Gallery will be closed from Dec. 25 - Jan. 3rd).

912-1 Abstract Painting, 2009

910-1 Abstract Painting, 2009

910-2 Abstract Painting, 2009

909-6 Abstract Painting, 2009

908-1 Bouquet, 2009

907-13 Abstract Painting, 2009

907-1 Fence, 2008

907-2 Head, 2009

906-8 Abstract Painting, 2008

905/1-49 Sindbad (close-up), 2008, lacquer behind glass

Mustafa Maluka | Tilton Gallery

Remember those rave kids back in the 90's who wore crazy, colorful clothes, manic panic'd their hair, and dropped loads of ecstasy (I won't remind you of those awful back-packs, pacifier and whistle accessories and/or super wide-leg, baggy pants...)?  Those ravers are sort of who Mustafa Maluka's solo show, A Place So Foreign, at Tilton Gallery remind me of.  According to the exhibit's press release, "The faces of his transnational, racially and sexually ambiguous characters are densely painted... by building up layers of splashes and washes on the canvas surface alongside bold patterns and forms that determine the mood and overall tone of the works."  The pretty, young, trendy subjects of his large-scale portraits are swathed in neon prints, adorned with green eyebrows and blue lips, and posed before eye-popping graphic backdrops.  Through his psychedelically-colored canvases, Maluka is "theatrically confronting... contemporary critical theory and global politics." 

The show's title, A Place So Foreign, is a reference to Maluka's "own experience as a global citizen."  Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1976, the artist was raised in Amsterdam.  He currently divides his time between Helsinki and New York.  The colorful kids in Maluka's paintings share with the artist worldly and diverse lifestyles and are fortunate to "inhabit Plural Worlds."   Learn more at Jacktiltongallery.com.  Check out the artist's website at Mustafamaluka.com.  Through December 24th. 

Home Again, Home, Again, 2009

I forgot where it all began, 2009

I Won't Let You Use Me Up, 2009

There's got to be an end to this beginning, 2009

Margaret de Lange | Foley Gallery

Margaret de Lange's photographs of her two daughters, Jannicke and Catherine, taken during their summers from 1993 through 2002, look nothing like average snapshots found in most family photo albums.  (My childhood pics mainly consist of me pulling silly faces, wearing goofy outfits -remember Garanimals?- or being tortured by my older siblings...)  The grainy, black-and-white images presented in Daughters at Foley Gallery show the girls frolicking outdoors during their Norwegian summers, roaming naked, getting dirty, and enjoying nature. 

As the press release states, the photos "are representative of a typical Norwegian childhood during the brief but sweet summer months.  However, the way in which the images are rendered, with deeply encroaching shadows and heavy grain, pushes the subject into more of a dream realm that speaks more of the meandering experience of these pre-adolescent girls and a world that is very much their own."  The intimate images depict the two young, willowy, blonde daughters as carefree nature girls having fun and adventures in their very own fantasy dreamscape.

The girls' mother waited until they were both older to ask their permission to exhibit these works.  As the elder daughter Jannicke states, "She has preserved random pieces of our childhood, and we treasure those moments."  Lucky girls!  Their mother has lovingly documented some wonderful and special moments from their youth which they'll be able to hold on to and fondly remember for years to come.  Learn more at Foleygallery.com. Through January 30, 2010.

Daughters #8, 1997

Daughters #18, 2000; Daughters #21, 2003; Daughters #22, 2003

Daughters #18, 2000

Daughters #19, 2000

Daughters #25, 2002

Christopher Thomas | Steven Kasher Gallery

I've always thought New York City is most beautiful during the holiday season (provided there isn't any icky slush mucking up my shoes and pant legs) but may have to reconsider my opinion after seeing Christopher Thomas' New York Sleeps at Steven Kasher Gallery.  "After years of photographing his native Munich, Thomas turned his camera on his adopted city, New York. The resulting exhibition of 30 large-scale cityscapes feels both nostalgic and contemporary, offering an elusive glimpse of 19th century tranquility while hinting at a cryptic apocalyptic ending just around the bend," (from the exhibit's press release).

Thomas' photos of quiet, empty New York streets capture the rare moments when the city is still and calm.  The large, black-and-white prints are hauntingly beautiful and mysterious.  A picture of Lower East Side institution, Katz's Delicatessen, presumably taken in the wee hours when there isn't a soul around or even a single car on the roads, is a sight to behold and down-right eerie.  Other images of heavily-trafficked New York landmarks deserted like Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, and the Brooklyn Bridge are lovely and serene, albeit slightly creepy.  They make you wonder, "Where the f*ck is everybody?" and bring to mind the campy, last-man-alive flick from 1971, The Omega Man.

Check out Christopher Thomas: New York Sleeps and see a side of New York City few of us ever have the opportunity of experiencing for ourselves.  Learn more at Stevenkasher.com.  Through January 9, 2010.

Brooklyn Bridge III, 2008

Central Park, Bethesda Fountain IV, 2009

Grand Central Terminal & Chrysler Building, 2008
Wall Street, 2009

Grand Central Terminal II, 2001

Katz's Deli, 2001

Times Square, 2009

Peter Sacks | Paul Rodgers/9W

I happily happened upon the Paul Rodgers/9W gallery's current exhibition of artist Peter Sacks' work this past weekend.  Tucked away up on the 9th floor of 529 West 20th Street are a series of gorgeous paintings that incorporate "mountains of paint, fabric, lace, and fishing net" (from Leora Maltz-Leca's Artforum review of the show).  Also woven into the large-scale, multi-layered pieces are Sacks' "handwritten transcriptions" of British Royal Naval Officer and explorer, Robert Falcon Scott's (1868-1912) Antarctic journal giving the canvases an added dimension and texture.  The rough, bumpy, white and deep blue paintings resemble the cold, icy, unforgiving terrains of the South Pole.

The South African-born Sacks studied art and the history of painting at Oxford, Princeton, and Yale, and has traveled throughout the world, oftentimes by foot.  The artist has also written five volumes of poetry.  These aspects all figure prominently into the paintings currently on view at Paul Rodgers/9W.  "[T]he shifting confluences of poetry and painting... – elements of narrative, music, metaphor or symbol, as well as those of envisioning and evoking rather than depicting – arrive at visual concerns at once bodily, topographical and architectural. One senses the presence of battlegrounds or construction sites of ancient yet contemporary history... His recent paintings challenge our assumptions of what might or might not be human, whether in ourselves, or in the marks we make upon the spaces we inhabit, construct, deform or save" (from the artist's website).

Sacks combines text and texture into his paintings creating intelligent, historical works that invite a closer look and deeper inspection.  Once you've cracked their surfaces, you'll find rich narratives within his lush, beautiful abstractions.  Learn more at Paulrodgers9w.com and at the artist's website Petersacks.com.  Through January 30, 2010.

Necessity 7 (close-up), 2007-2009

Necessity 10 (Warburg), 2007-2009

Necessity 12, 2008-2009

Farewell to an Idea 4, 2009

Necessity 11, 2008-2009

Migration 19, 2009

Summoning 2, 2003-2007

Summoning 22, 2007-2009

Zhang Huan | Pace Wildenstein, W. 22nd Street

Pace Wildenstein's West 22nd Street location just opened Zhang Huan's second solo show with the gallery, Neither Coming Nor Going.  Zhang, perhaps the most prominent Chinese contemporary artist, successfully works in many mediums to create very personal works.  One of his early performance pieces featured the artist sitting in a filthy, outdoor latrine in China, covered in oil allowing flies to swarm his body (12 Square Meters) and another featured him parading around in front of the Whitney Museum wearing a suit he made of meat.  According to the exhibit's press release, in September, Zhang premiered Semele, "a new production of George Frideric Handel's opera directed and designed by Zhang and presented to audiences at The National Opera of Belgium in Brussels (scheduled to tour China in 2010)."  Staging an opera may sound like an intimidating feat, but it clearly did not hinder Zhang's work for his current gallery show.  Neither Coming Nor Going features beautiful, large-scale works on paper as well as a gigantic Buddha made from ash. 

Upon stepping into the gallery, you are immediately met by the faint smell of incense.  "The compacted ash surface of Rulai, supported by an internal metal frame, is heavily embedded with miniature porcelain Buddha relics, copper offering dishes, miniature skulls and unburned joss sticks.  The strikingly beautiful grisaille palette of the sculpture is sharply contrasted with blood red paper wrappers" (from the press release). If I remember correctly from Zhang's terrific 2007-2008 Asia Society exhibition, Altered States, the artist often works with ash and collects it from Buddhist temples near his studio in Shanghai.  Rulai is a massive, magnificent piece which requires several walks around to fully examine.

Referencing the Communist party-banned, 7th-century, Tang Dynasty prophecy book, Tui Bei Tu, which "offered an alternative to traditional Eastern and Western systems and presented insight into China's future, utilizing drawings and poems to prophesize a sequence of sixty events," Zhang created works on paper using "ink, paper handmade from the bark of Mulberry trees" and in a few instances, feathers "to build up the surface" of these simple, lovely, and elegant works.  I particularly loved the pieces that incorporated feathers because they have a soft, rhythmic, wavy texture and a tactile yet delicate air to them. 

The works in Neither Coming Nor Going are indicative of "the artist's continuing investigation of humanity through tradition, historical associations, and personal experiences."  I couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence and calm when amongst these works.  Definitely check out this show if you can.  Learn more at Pacewildenstein.com.  Through January 30, 2010.

Rulai (center), 2008-2009; Tui Bei Tu No. 52 (left), 2007; and Tui Bei Tu No. 53 (right), 2007

Rulai (close-up), 2008-2009

Tui Bei Tu No. 50, 2006

Tui Bei Tu No. 51, 2008

Tui Bei Tu No. 74, 2008

Tui Bei Tu No. 52, 2007

Tui Bei Tu No. 36, 2007

Emilie Clark | Morgan Lehman

I almost missed Emilie Clark's exhibit, Maxwell's Lair, at Morgan Lehman Gallery.  I walked passed the gallery several times in the past couple of months, but the pile of old, stuffed animals in the front window looked too twee and/or ironic for me, so I kept walking.  Fortunately, a friend of mine convinced me to check out the show last Friday, the day before it closed, telling me if I could get past the plush menagerie, I'd find some rich, lovely, interesting paintings.

The San Francisco-born/New York-based Clark is often inspired by 19th-century, American, women naturalists.  She's previously based installations on the works of Mary Ward (1827-1869), the first woman to write a treatise on the microscope, and Mary Treat (1830-1923), an expert on carnivorous plants (information taken from the exhibit's press release and the artist's website).  The title of Clark's current exhibit, Maxwell's Lair, is based on Martha Maxwell (1831-1881), who possessed "at the time the largest collection of taxidermy in the US," and "killed and prepared most of the animals in her collection while living in Colorado in the 1870s..."  Maxwell displayed her animals in naturalistic settings and/or dioramas first in "a museum of taxidermy and natural historical curiosities in Boulder" which she established, "and later representing the state of Colorado in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia" (from the artist's website).  In reference to Maxwell's living in a "faux cave inside her own exhibit" during the Centennial Exhibition, Clark "created a small cave made of modified and dissected stuffed animals" (from the press release) which the artist says she collects from "lost and found bins, yard sales, community thrift stores and Craig’s List." 

While the stuffed animal installation might be a nice tribute to Martha Maxwell, Clark's paintings are the real standouts in the show.  Her paintings "are derived from stuffed-animal hybrid sculptures she constructs, in addition to close observation of actual specimens—living, taxidermied and pickled" (from the press release).  Clark uses lush color palettes and combines scientific and abstract styles to depict mysterious scenes on her canvases.  Flora and fauna collide creating both serene and dynamic works.  "Dissected carcasses, portions of animal parts, and patterns move in and out of each other, creating an abstracted community of death and regeneration." 

I wish I had gone into Morgan Lehman on one of those earlier occasions when I unwittingly walked past the gallery.  I would have liked to have posted about Emilie Clark and Maxwell's Lair before the show closed.  Sorry, my mistake!  Learn more at Morganlehmangallery.com.  Check out the artist's website at Emilieclark.com.  Closed December 5th.

Untitled (MM-54), 2009

Untitled (MM-72b), 2009 

Untitled (MM-P01), 2009

Untitled (MM-P15), 2009 

Untitled (MM-P17), 2009

Untitled (MM-P23), 2009

Dan Fischer | Derek Eller Gallery

Derek Eller Gallery in Chelsea presents several meticulously rendered, detailed, and realistic drawings by New York native, Dan Fischer.  The title of the show, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, is borrowed from a sculpture by Umberto Boccioni which Fischer skillfully depicts in the exhibit along with various other 20th-century masterpieces and their creators.  All created within the last 3 years, the drawings "are devotional homages to artists and images that have had a profound impact on him.  Through an exacting process, his works are executed with meticulous attention to detail.  He makes photocopies of images from books and journals, overlays them with a grid, and carefully recreates them in graphite.  Were it not for the grid, which he often leaves visible, Fischer’s drawings might be mistaken for photographs" (from the exhibit's press release).

I was amazed by Fischer's photo-realist drawings.  Each piece looks like a black-and-white photo—faithfully recreating details, features, light, and shadow—until you look closer and see the faint grid marks.  I like that the grid marks are visible - it gives the viewer an idea of Fischer's work process as well as a feeling of casualness.  If the grid marks weren't there, I feel the drawings would look too perfect (if that makes sense) - and their presence feels as if Fischer is letting the viewers in on his secret.

See for yourself in my pics below, though you should definitely check them out in person as well if you can.  Learn more at Derekeller.com.  Through December 19th.  

Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 2009

Brancusi in Studio, 2009

Duchamp Urinal, 2006

Francis Picabia, 2008

Keith Haring, 2007

Louise Bourgeois, 2009

Mondrian Studio II, 2008

Piet Mondrian II (small), 2007

Warhol "a", 2008

Warhol Brillo Box, 2009

Paul McCarthy | Hauser & Wirth

American artist Paul McCarthy has always challenged his viewers with his work.  By incorporating sex and/or violence into his sculptures and bodily fluids into his performances, McCarthy pushes buttons and makes aggressive statements about society and its norms, pop culture and its icons.  From his frequent depictions of penises and poop (he's used excrement as a medium as well) to his chocolate Santa Claus butt plugs, McCarthy employs shock value tactics that I typically find annoying, but for some reason can't not pay attention to when McCarthy is involved.

His current show, White Snow at Upper East Side gallery Hauser & Wirth, forces viewers to see the 19th-century, German tale and 1937 Disney animated classic, Snow White, through adulterated, x-rated eyes.  McCarthy created large-scale drawings, some are 10 feet tall, featuring Snow White and Prince Charming engaged in a variety of sexual positions, collaged alongside images culled from porn magazines, Christie's auction catalogues, gossip and lad rags.  Also interspersed throughout the drawings are scribbles of Snow White's happy, forest critter friends, excited dwarves, penises, cut-outs shaped like vaginas, as well as color, computer print-outs and Calvin Klein ads or pictures of Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie torn from magazines.  Upstairs are several, well-composed pencil drawings featuring Snow White masturbating, the Dwarves with un-dwarf-like penises for noses, and a series of drawings of Snow White taking a crap in front of her shocked or amused forest animal friends.

While the exhibit is initially funny and addresses what most adults likely think regarding the virginal Snow White shacking up in the woods with seven little men, it starts to feel like an overdone joke once you reach the second floor.  According to the show's press release, the works in White Snow are "early investigations into his characters" that "will ultimately give rise to sculptures, installations, a film and other works over time," which adds to the notion that the 64-year-old McCarthy's drawings are akin to the doodles a bored, teenage boy makes along the margins in his school notebooks.  Learn more at Hauserwirth.com.  Through December 24th.

Ginger Then, 2009

Michael Jackson, 2009

Inside Her Ordeal (close up), 2009

Dwarf House (close up), 2009

  

Standing (8 from a set of 16), 2008-2009

Urs Fischer | New Museum

Urs Fischer's current show, Marguerite de Ponty, at the New Museum is the Swiss-born/New York-based artist's first major, solo U.S. museum exhibition.  The exhibit is a collection of four year's of work by Fischer, occupying 3 floors of the museum presenting "a series of immersive installations and hallucinatory environments" (from the press release). 

Starting from the top on the fourth floor, you are met by 5 massive, abstract, shiny aluminum sculptures that almost fill up the entire space.  Frozen Pioneer (2009), David the Proprietor (2008-2009), lx (2006-2008), Zizi (2006-2008), and Marguerite de Ponty (2006-2008) were "cast from small clays, hand-molded by the artist" (from the exhibit's notes).  In the center of the magnificent, silvery, mammoth sculptures, a life-sized, pink street lamp appears to be melting a la Dali. 

Taking the south stairway down to the next level, you pass a nook displaying Neon (2009), "modified fluorescent light fixtures," on the ceiling, which instead of light bulbs cheekily hold a carrot, cucumber, and hot dog.  The walls and ceiling of the third floor are completely covered in "wallpaper," or photographs the artist took of the entire architecture of this space - covering every inch with its corresponding photographic image creating a trompe l'oeil environment (Last Call Lascaux, 2009).  Also on the third floor are a croissant suspended from a fishing wire with a tiny butterfly resting on it (Cumpadre, 2009); the infamous, life-like tongue that pokes out through a hole in the wall (Noisette, 2009); and Untitled (2009), a cast aluminum sculpture of a lavender-hued piano that appears to be melting or deflating in the center of the room.

The second floor (which you can only reach by the larger of the two elevators as security can only allow a certain number of visitors in at a time) houses Service à la française (2009), "Fischer’s most ambitious work to date."  Using "more than 25,000 photographs and over twelve tons of steel" Fischer created over 50 large-scale, mirrored boxes that each feature four views or vantage points of various objects ranging from a variety of shoes, books, a guitar, a VHS tape of Love Streams, a Maxell cassette tape box, lighters, a deck of cards, buildings, a motorcycle helmet, a tube of lipstick, a British telephone booth, cardboard cutouts of a mummy and singer Ashanti, a bowl of Fruit Loops, a pear cut in half, a rotting pear, a slab of raw meat, a wedge of Swiss cheese, an eclair, a cupcake, a Dell CPU, an open box of matches from Ritz Paris, and much more.  As the exhibit's press release states, the work as a whole is "[l]ike a collage unraveling before the viewer’s eyes, the surfaces of the boxes create an optical maze that renders everything simultaneously immaterial and hyperreal."

Overall, Marguerite de Ponty starts off with a bang on the fourth floor with the terrific aluminum sculptures, wanes a bit with the ironic pieces Neon, Last call Lascaux, and Cumpadre, and ends on a high note with the maze-like and almost trippy feel of Service à la française.  Check out this fun, ambitious, and diverse show and judge for yourself.  Learn more at newmuseum.org.  Through February 7, 2010.

A pair of Urs Fischer's aluminum sculptures

Neon, 2009, Urs Fischer and Georg Herold

RIP SAM HASKINS

Sad news, photographer Sam Haskins passed away November 25th at his home in Australia.  Perhaps best-known for his ubiquitous and influential 1964 book, Cowboy Kate, Haskins suffered a stroke on September 19th, the same day that an exhibition of his work opened at Milk Gallery in NYC.  Unfortunately, Haskins never fully recovered emotionally from that ordeal.  Read a personal statement from Haskins' son, Ludwig Haskins, here.  See Haskins' last series of photographs along with some previously unpublished pics from Cowboy Kate here.  His late work is still beautiful, luminous, and packed with personality - both the models' and the photographer's. I wrote a short piece in September about Haskins and his Milk Gallery show here.  Condolences to the Haskins family.

Objets d'Art | News

~Christie's is auctioning off a terrific group of photographs on Monday, December 7th.  The list of photographers is a veritable who's who of photography history.  Included are:  Alfred Stieglitz, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Horst P. Horst, Ansel Adams, Bernice Abbott, Aaron Siskind, Robert Frank, August Sander, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Wegee, Leni Riefenstahl, Man Ray, Peter Beard, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Ellen Von Unwerth, Mary Ellen Mark, Nan Goldin, Catherine Opie, Sally Mann, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Joel Meyerowitz, Andres Serrano, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and many, many more.

Public viewing times are scheduled from December 3rd - 6th at 20 Rockefeller Plaza.  It would be fun to check out this vast, impressive collection of work. Also, there are a few Edward Weston prints up on the block featuring his muse/wife/model, Charis Wilson, who passed away recently at the age of 95.  Read her obituary at NYT.com.  See Christie's website here.

~I've always been a fan of Todd Oldham.  From his fun clothing designs to his stint as co-host on the original House of Style (I especially loved his D-I-Y segment on how to cut your own hair) to his more recent hosting/mentoring duties on Bravo's Top Design.  He seems like such a creative, crafty, affable guy.  Being a man of many talents, Oldham is now in the book biz.  Following his 2005 book Handmade Modern ("a fairly intense DIY guide to designers like George Nakashima, Charles and Ray Eames, and Isamu Noguchi... not for the clumsy.  Nakashima's bio, for example, is followed by a fourteen-step 'illuminated end table,' which involves 'drilling through conduit'" - New York Magazine), Oldham is releasing Kid Made Modern a super-cool book for tots that gives them "introductions to the mid-century’s great designers in rhyme ('Alexander Girard made it look not very hard'), plus projects to match—mobiles in the style of Alexander Calder, a Fornasetti-inspired découpage desk set. All of them were road-tested on children in his crafts room."

Oldham has also published a $200, 12-pound tome with Ammo Books about Charley Harper, an illustrator who created the artwork for many of Oldham's favorite childhood books.  From 2002 to 2007, Oldham archived and restored Harper's extensive and deteriorating collection of work for the monograph.  Ammo Books recently released a pared down version of the book for a more wallet-friendly $49.95.  The late Harper's graphic, stylized animal illustrations seem to be the predecessor and/or inspiration for many of the prints you see on hipstery t-shrits and crafts today.  Check out his work at Charleyharperartstudio.com.  And read the full New York Magazine article on Oldham here.

~Speaking of books, some good holiday gift ideas might be discovered in the form of art/design books from the Phaidon pop-up store at 100 Wooster Street in Soho (open until January).  If you strike out at the Phaidon pop-up, the shop is conveniently located nearby the Taschen store at 107 Greene Street. If all else fails, Vuitton, Chanel, Miu Miu, and Prada are all in the neighborhood ;)  Read more about the Phaidon pop-up shop at racked.com and check out Taschen's website here.

~Living more simply, f-unemployment, and non-profit arts organizations showcasing artwork in vacant properties — these may be the only good things to come of the recession.  Similar to X Initiative and LentSpace, art is appearing around the city in empty and sometimes unexpected places.  Read more about the guerilla galleries at theartnewspaper.com.

~Art collector Eileen Kaminsky has set up a foundation, the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, "to connect artists, collectors, galleries and cultural institutions.  ESKFF is a collaborative effort that facilitates the exchange of ideas and expressions."  A non-profit organization, ESKFF is dedicated to "the development of exhibitions and programs that enrich our understanding of contemporary art."  The foundation will showcase art from private collections from both the U.S. as well as from around the world.  The foundation is currently seeking a permanent brick-and-mortar home base, but you can learn more about it at www.eskff.com.

~And finally, even though it felt a little balmy in NYC yesterday, it's still no Miami Beach.  Check out what is happening at Art Basel Miami here.  Now in its 8th year, the fair, the parties, and the special events continue through Sunday, December 6th.

Daniel Buren | Bortolami Gallery

French artist Daniel Buren created his own lexicon to "redefine art" and to help "further understand" his work.  According to the press release for his current exhibit To Cut Out: Situated Works 1969-2009 at Bortolami Gallery, some of the terms he coined include:

Work in situ- “denotes a work made for a particular site, for a particular time and exhibited in this particular site, and therefore not transportable to another place.”

Situated work- “a work for the most part inspired by a particular location, but made with the intention that the very same elements of the original work can be reinstalled in different sites following a series of rules, changing each time in response to the given place. In turn, the site is changed by the work.”

Cabane éclatée (‘exploded cabin’)- "begun in 1975, painting environments that have been 'exploded,' turning a would-be two dimensional work into a disparate three-dimensional encounter."

Visual tool- "the sign of white and color alternating in stripes of exactly 8.7 cm. in width, as derived from the fabric he first used as a canvas in 1965. This functions as a tool in Buren’s work, as a standard or unit of measure of formal properties."

Some of these elements can be found in Buren's "situated works" on view at Bortolami.  The large, primary-colored wall hangings are made of MDF (medium-density fiberboard), Alupanel (aluminium composite panel), vinyl and white paint.  The works "in five parts" are each composed of five separate pieces made of triangles and diamond-shapes that create a repeating pattern in a primary color.  Cut-out: Jet black box on jet black wall covers an entire wall in large, shiny black panels and then places a shiny black box at its the center.

The works remind me of giant, shiny versions of colorful, children's building blocks.  While the pieces are big, bold and graphic, I wish Buren would have provided an explanation (What do they mean/represent? What is their purpose?...) for them along with his list of fancy terms to describe them.  Learn more at Bortolamigallery.com.  Through December 22nd.

Cut-out situated work in five parts, blue (left), green (right), 2009

Cut-out situated work in five parts, jet black (left), light ivory (center), traffic red (right), 2009

Cut-out situated work in five parts, light ivory (left), traffic red (center), traffic yellow (right), 2009

Michael Joo | Anton Kern Gallery

Michael Joo's current and fifth solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery features recent sculptures and paintings by the New York-based artist.  According to the show's press release, Joo "continues to investigate the symbolical significance of the physical world by engaging with a wide range of often incongruent materials, mixing high- and low-tech, nature and artifice."  I'll admit, I was a bit confused by Joo's eclectic mix of three zebra sculptures, antler casts, scientific/medical-type paintings, a hanging steel drum, and creepy figure dressed in a flight suit with an orb of video cameras hovering around where his head should be.  The show's press release didn't aid my confusion at all.  Aside from the statement I culled from it above, I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Though I'm unaware of the reasons behind his multiple uses of zebras in this exhibit, I did like these pieces the most, including his life-sized polished bronze sculpture and its miniaturized version placed on a large silver tray on the floor, and the mold used to produce the larger model sloppily covered in Pepto-Bismol-pink paint.  The painting of four dismembered zebra hooves titled A Pair of Boots sandwiched between a painting featuring a zebra skin called Husbands and another abstract painting titled A Woman Under the Influence shows Joo's humor as well as a possible influence from the late director John Cassavetes.

While a clearer explanation of the connection of these works would have been appreciated, it is not necessary in recognizing Joo's talents and varied interests and inspirations.  See Antonkerngallery.com for more info.  Through December 5th. 

A Pair of Boots (left) 2008, Consistent-Seen-Touched (center) 2009, Husbands (right) 2008

Doppelganger (Pink Rocinante), 2009

Stubbs (Absorbed), 2009

Future Perfect (Dulcinea), 2009, half of Future Imperfect Diptych on back wall, 2009