Art Hag

The Peter Blum Galleries in Chelsea and Soho each have interesting shows up right now. First up is Superflex's Flooded McDonald's at the Chelsea location. Superflex is a collective founded in 1993 comprised of Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, Jakob Fenger, and Rasmus Nielsen. Based in Denmark and Brazil, the group creates video projects that deal with political, economic and environmental issues and "aim to question power structures, agency and ownership by prodding at their limitations" (from show's press release).

Flooded McDonald's features 3 mesmerizing videos playing concurrently in three, dark separate rooms. Burning Car (2008) features an empty car going up in flames and slowly burning down to a sad, steel skeleton. According to the press release, the "film can be seen as a response to the riots sweeping through Western Europe in 2005-2007, and media depictions of political unrest." Though nothing much happens in the 9.5 minutes aside from the fire destroying the car, it's hard to tear yourself away from the bright orange flames against the dark back-drop, the close-ups of the car's exterior paint bubbling up and melting, and the occasional violent bursts from the flames. Though I pretty much knew how it was going to wind up, I still sat motionless until the end.

The Financial Cirsis (I-IV) (2009) "approaches the current financial breakdown as a psychosis that can be treated therapeutically via hypnosis." The 12-minute video features a hypnotist staring directly into the camera "taking the viewer through four different stages of the crisis (The Invisible Hand, George Soros, You, Old Friends)" who snaps his fingers at the end of each session to bring us out of the trance.

The centerpiece of the show, Flooded McDonald's (2009) is probably the most interesting experience involving the fast-food juggernaut I've ever encountered. The artists "meticulously reconstructed true-to-life [a] replica of the interior of a McDonald's restaurant" which "gradually floods with water." The restaurant replica is spot-on complete with the ubiquitous golden arches, plastic, life-size Ronald McDonald figure, Happy Meal boxes, Grimace toys, cash registers, and even an employee-of-the-month plaque. Water begins to seep into the unpopulated restaurant through a back door (Whoops! Someone left the tap running!) and slowly inches higher and higher until the plastic Ronald is swept off his floppy, red shoes, french fries float everywhere, and the water level reaches up to the neon menus located above and behind the counter. It's like watching a train wreck - you just cannot stop watching the destruction and remain fixated for the full 21 minutes. Flooded McDonald's resembles a disaster movie, but unlike anything from that awful genre, it's oddly fascinating and watchable. Learn more at Peterblumgallery.com. Through March 20th.

At Peter Blum's Soho location is David Reed: Works on Paper, the first exhibit of the abstract artist's "working drawings and color studies." Over 60 of these pieces are on view offering "a rare glimpse into David Reed’s process and contemplations," and demonstrating his "experiments with color, light, and form." His in-depth notes on graph paper are incredibly detailed and meticulous, almost like the notes of a mad scientist, and "contain a biographic and personal element, chronicling events in Reed’s life, from studio visits to protests occurring outside his window." Reed's works on paper and notes help him, "visually analyze[s] the formulas for blending paints and layering glazes by painting the color studies directly on single or multiple sheets of paper."

It's really interesting to see up close the artist's work process, notes, and even uncertainties like this comment he wrote regarding Working Drawing #295-3, “3/19 Thought at first that this would work – no longer sure.” Since Reed's working drawings look appealing even in their early stages, it would have been nice to see some of the completed works to get a true feel for the artist's entire work process. Learn more at Peterblumgallery.com. Through March 6th.

Superflex, Burning Car, 2008