Art Hag

Dia: Bridgehampton | The Dan Flavin Art Institute

Dan Flavin, untitled (in honor of Harold Joachim) 3, 1977

After not having a full weekend for several months – or seeing any art in-person – I decided to treat myself on Sunday to a trip that has long been on my to-do list—The Dan Flavin Art Institute in Bridgehampton. This weekend was a good time to venture out to Long Island, just before beach season kicks off flooding the area with well-heeled beachgoers. 

The Dan Flavin Art Institute opened in June 1983 after Flavin (1933-1996), who lived nearby on the East End of Long Island, took over the quaint shingle style house to install a permanent exhibition of his work. The building served as a firehouse for the town's volunteer fire department from 1908 to 1923, then as the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton from 1923 to 1979. Dia purchased the building to exhibit a selection of Flavin's signature fluorescent light artwork. Flavin worked closely with the design team to restore the building while preserving its history. A small room on the second floor displays artifacts from the First Baptist Church including photos, a bible, a stained glass window, and a neon cross. 

Nine sculptures in fluorescent light (1963-81) is a must-see for Flavin fanatics. Displayed on the second floor, the pieces were picked and arranged by the artist himself within "walls set at 90-degree angles," according to the exhibit notes. "At each end of this structure are four works that explore the possibilities of colored light in relation to corners with increasing degrees of complexity." The colors of each work – pink, yellow, green, blue and red – illuminate the stark white walls behind them, but also interplay with one another from above and around corners.

Dan Flavin, red out of a corner (to Annina), 1963

Dan Flavin, untitled, 1976

Dan Flavin, untitled, 1976

In the center of the structure showcasing the works, two pieces feature back-to-back rows of light. In untitled (to Robert, Joe and Michael), 1975-81, horizontal rows of long pink bulbs are lined up against rows of yellow bulbs on the opposite side. The pink appears to transform into a vivid fuchsia when viewed on the yellow side, and the yellow becomes greenish when viewed from the pink side.

In untitled (in honor of Harold Joachim) 3, 1977, six horizontal rows of bulbs—three pink and three yellow—face the viewer while six vertical rows—three blue and three green—are arranged behind them facing the corner. The colors soon appear to vibrate and intensify the longer you look at the grid. It's easy to get lost in these spellbinding works, circling the gallery to look at each over and over again. If you plan on heading to the Hamptons this summer, be sure to visit The Dan Flavin Art Institute at Dia: Bridgehampton.

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Robert Joe and Michael), 1975-81

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Robert Joe and Michael), 1975-81 (reverse side)

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Jan and Ron Goldberg), 1972-73

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Robert Joe and Michael), 1975-81 (left); untitled (to Jan and Ron Greenberg), 1972-73 (right)

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Jan and Ron Greenberg), 1972-73 (reverse side)

Detail of Dan Flavin's untitled (in honor of Harold Joachim) 3, 1977

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Katharina and Christoph), 1966-71

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Katharina and Christoph), 1966-71 (left); untitled (to Jan and Ron Greenberg), 1972-73 (right)

Dan Flavin, untitled, 1976

The lower level of the building hosts rotating exhibitions. Currently on view is a site-specific installation by Maren Hassinger. The Window features photos from her 1991 outdoor exhibit Circle of Bushes printed onto ethereal chiffon panels that hang in the gallery. Looking out of the gallery's window, viewers will see two of Hassinger's new bush sculptures, large complex tangles of galvanized steel rope mimicking the surrounding trees on the grounds. Maren Hassinger is on view until May 1, 2022.

Maren Hassinger, The Window, 2021

Maren Hassinger, The Window, 2021

Maren Hassinger, The Window, 2021

A room on the second floor of  Dia: Bridgehampton displays memorabilia from the former First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton.

Dia: Bridgehampton, The Dan Flavin Art Institute

Dia: Bridgehampton
The Dan Flavin Art Institute
23 Corwith Avenue, Bridgehampton, New York

John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance | Brooklyn Museum

John Edmonds, Two Spirits, 2019

The Brooklyn Museum presents John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance, the Brooklyn-based photographer’s first solo museum exhibition. Edmonds’ intimate photos, featuring friends from his creative circle as well as still lifes of African artwork, examine Black queer experiences and identity.

Originally from Washington, DC, the 31-year-old artist earned his BFA from Corcoran School of Art & Design and an MFA in Photography from Yale University. His portraits of friends, lovers, and sometimes strangers, explore “identity, community, and desire,” according to the artist's website. His early work includes The "Du-Rag Series," featuring candid shots of men and women donning the headwear on the streets of his Crown Height neighborhood, he said in an interview for Another Man. These photos soon led to his portraiture work which combines elements of Black American culture with references to religious paintings and modernist photography.

A Sidelong Glance features three groups of recent work. The first includes portraits of friends from the NYC creative community posing with African masks and sculptures borrowed from a Brooklyn collector. Many of his models gaze at or grasp the objects to illustrate “the reception of African art in the United States and Europe that has been conditioned by the legacies of colonialism,” according to the museum. “I was drawn to the objects because of how they were stylized and how that stylizing spoke to a wider view of an ‘African’ vernacular of Black homes in America,” Edmunds stated.

John Edmonds, Tête de Femme (Portrait of Ladin), 2018

John Edmonds, Female Nude, 2019

John Edmonds, Collapse, 2019

In Tête de Femme (Portrait of Ladin), a young woman with her head propped on a table poses next to an elaborate African mask, emulating Man Ray’s Noire et blanche in which a white model poses with a mask from Côte d’Ivoire. Unlike Man Ray’s model, the woman in Edmonds’ portrait has her eyes open and stares directly at the viewer. The model’s confident gaze suggests a reclamation of the artwork from Man Ray's photo.

A shirtless figure seated before a Kuba cloth wears a large-beaked mask in Two Spirits. The Ge Gon (male spirit) mask from Liberia is traditionally worn during masquerade performances. The double exposure image gives the surreal appearance of two masks. According to the artist this portrait “calls and echoes the sentiments of Ibeji” a spirit that represents a pair of twins—a reference to the model’s gender-fluidity.

John Edmonds, Anatolli & Collection, 2019

John Edmonds, Untitled (Light Passing over Ja'Tovia and Senufo), 2019

The second series of images features models interacting with Edmonds’ personal collection of African artwork which includes a mix of both religious objects and commercial pieces to question “what makes or who deems an object ‘authentic.’” 

Anatolli & Collection features a man staring intently at a selection of sculptures from the artist’s collection. “Anatolli gazes upon these sculptures as he himself is gazed upon by Edmonds and the viewer, rendering him a parallel object of desire,” the wall text reads.

John Edmonds, Untitled (Marion & Yaure Mask), 2020

John Edmonds, Untitled (Ellison Collection), 2020

For the third group of images, the Brooklyn Museum gave Edmonds access to its Arts of Africa collection, including objects donated to the institution in 2015 by the estate of Ralph Ellison, the author of the 1952 novel Invisible Man. 

Shot in the Brooklyn Museum’s Beaux-Art Court, a man dressed in black admires a Yaure mask once owned by Ellison in Untitled (Marion & Yaure Mask). Unlike Edmonds' earlier works in which his models engage with the objects, this model sits at a distance from the artwork to illustrate “barriers created by art history and its institutions.”

Edmonds’ elegant and evocative photographs pay tribute to African arts while revising art history narratives by incorporating his experience as a young Black artist. His work was included in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Edmonds was also the recipient of the inaugural UOVO Prize for emerging artists in Brooklyn. A Sidelong Glance is presented as part of that prize along with a $25,000 cash grant and the installation of a 50 x 50-foot mural of Edmonds’ 2019 photo Whose Hands? on the façade of UOVO’s Bushwick facility.

John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Exhibition on view through August 8, 2021

Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks | Brooklyn Museum

Charles Cary Rumsey, The Dying Indian, circa 1904, and Study for Buffalo Hunt Freeze, Manhattan Bridge, 1912-15;  John Little Sun Murie, I'm Gonna Run With Every Minute I Can Borrow moccasins (on sculpture), 2019;  Jeffrey Gibson, I'm Gonna Run With Every Minute I Can Borrow mural, 2019.
A selection of moccasins from the Brooklyn Museum's Collection is displayed in front.

For his current show at the Brooklyn Museum artist Jeffrey Gibson exhibits a selection of his recent multidisciplinary works alongside an array of Native American objects from the museum's collection. When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks features Gibson’s kaleidoscopic paintings and murals, sculptures, and garments juxtaposed with ceramics, headdresses, and beadwork created by Indigenous artists, as well as works depicting Native Americans made by non-Native artists.

Born in Colorado and based in Hudson, New York, Gibson is of Choctaw and Cherokee descent. He incorporates into his work traditional Native American materials and practices (e.g., beadwork, metal jingles, animal hides) to challenge perceptions of Native American artwork and to address the erasure of Indigenous art from Western history. He received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2019. 

Visitors entering the exhibit are met by Charles Cary Rumsey’s life-sized bronze, Dying Indian (circa 1904), set against a dizzying rainbow-colored mural by Gibson. According to the artist, the sculpture is a prime example of how many late 19th- and early 20th-century non-Native artists represented the “decline and eventual end of Native American civilizations.” In the wall text Gibson states that these artworks “have always saddened and perplexed me because I have never understood why some people celebrate these sculptures while I have found them offensive since I was a child.” Gibson collaborated with John Murie to create a pair of the latter's signature beaded moccasins to adorn the statue’s feet. Lyrics borrowed from the Roberta Flack song See You Then are meticulously beaded onto the footwear, reading, “I’m Gonna Run With Every Minute I Can Borrow.”

Two other sculptures by non-Native American artists—one of Chief Blackbird and another of an Indian Warrior—are displayed on either side of Gibson’s I Don’t Belong To You – You Don’t Belong To Me. “These sculptures present images of Native people that are idealized in the mind of the maker either for the objectification of their beauty or their demise,” the artist states.

L-R: Alexander Phimister Proctor, Chief Blackbird Ogalalla (Oglala) Sioux, modeled 1903, cast 1907: Jeffrey Gibson, I Don't Belong to You—You Don't Belong to Me, 2016;  Adolph Alexander Weinman, Indian Warrior, 1898

Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks installation view

Jeffrey Gibson, When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks, 2019

Jeffrey Gibson, All I Wanted, All I Needed, 2019

An adjacent gallery exhibits Gibson’s dynamic paintings on hide or canvas, a beaded punching bag, and three garments inspired by Ghost Dance ceremonies wherein Paiute dancers wore “self-made ghost shirts” that they believed would deflect “white man’s bullets.” The gallery also displays various examples of Native American beadwork as well as two traditional headdresses. The feathered headdress represents the “romanticized Indian” in mainstream media, according to the artist. Young Native American men from the Plains section of the United States (the central expanse from Texas to the Dakotas) added feathers to their headpieces after demonstrating an act of courage or performing a good deed, taking years to accumulate the plumage to complete a full headdress.

The Tsimshian headdress, from the northwest coast, is worn by leaders during gift-giving celebrations to symbolize prestige and “showcase acts of generosity.” Gibson’s two interpretations of headdresses appear more like helmets, encasing the wearer's head in a protective shell. All of the headwear exhibited “symbolize strength” according to the museum, “but one represents strength in the form of protection while the other is in the form of the protector.”

L-R: War Bonnet from the Plains region and Tsimshian headdress from the Northwestern Coast

Top, L-R: Jeffrey Gibson's People Like Us, 2018;  Tribes File Suit To Protect Bears Ears, 2018; A Wag A Wit A Witness; 2018
Below, L-R: Jeffrey Gibson's Oceana, 2018 and Peace, 2018

Jeffrey Gibson, Peace, 2018

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) artist,  Beaded Bag,  circa 1850s-60s

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) artist, Beaded Bag, early 20th century

Jeffrey Gibson, Mound Builder, 2013

Jeffrey Gibson, Speak To Me In Your Way So That I Can Hear You, 2015

The third gallery focuses on items from the Brooklyn Museum’s Archives including a tipi liner covered in illustrations by the Lakota member, Rain-In-The-Face, who documented his life on the swath of cotton. This gallery questions the museum’s Native American collection assembled by Stewart Culin, Curator of Ethnology for the institution from 1903 to 1929. Gibson and historian Dr. Christian Ayne Crouch, who collaborated on this exhibit, argue that while the objects showcase “Indigenous subjects and culture," they also suggest a vanishing culture, “the exclusion and erasure of indigenous histories and stories that had been fundamental to the narratives that institutions promote.” The tipi liner that documents Rain-In-The-Face's history is, according to Dr. Crouch, both an art object and archival piece that "invites us to bring a new approach to recover Native agency, presence, and voice in the Museum archive and in the collections."

Jeffrey Gibson, Whose World Is This? It's Yours It's Mine, 2019
The stained glass work's title is a modified Nas lyric from the 1994 song "The World is Yours"

Grete Mannheim,  Navajo Mother and Baby, Arizona, 1952

Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks installation view

Jeffrey Gibson, Power!, 2018

Rain-In-The-Face, Tipi Liner, 1850-89

Southwest water jars from the Brooklyn Museum Collection

Charles Cary Rumsey, The Dying Indian, circa 1904, and Study for Buffalo Hunt Freeze, Manhattan Bridge, 1912-15; John Little Sun Murie, I'm Gonna Run With Every Minute I Can Borrow moccasins (on sculpture), 2019; Jeffrey Gibson, I'm Gonna Run With Every Minute I Can Borrow mural, 2019

“When fire is applied to a stone it cracks” is an Irish proverb, Gibson explains, adding that it reflects his desire for museum-goers to abandon their preconceived notions when looking at historical objects. “I read ‘fire’ in this quote to describe the innovative making, use of materials, transformative techniques, and the survivalist ethic of Indigenous people. Our use of new and different materials to make things that support ourselves and our communities in the ‘fire’ that continues to break open the static and antiquated ideas regarding who we are and what we are capable of.”

Through the exhibition and his artwork, Gibson demonstrates the “continuity and endurance of Indigenous communities and artists.” Don’t miss this fascinating exhibit that showcases overlooked Native American artwork while reviving it in meaningful and innovative ways.

Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Exhibition on view through January 10, 2021

Studio 54: Night Magic | Brooklyn Museum

Studio 54: Night Magic exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum

This is your last week to check out the Brooklyn Museum’s massive Studio 54: Night Magic exhibition chronicling the legendary nightclub’s three years of glamour, disco, and debauchery. On view are 650 objects documenting the venue’s history including photos, film, music, architectural plans, design sketches, ephemera, and lots of fabulous ‘70s era fashion.

Founded by two Brooklyn natives who met while attending Syracuse University, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, the club was housed in a former opera house at 254 West 54th Street. The Gallo Opera House, constructed in 1927, later became the WPA Federal Music Theatre, then the New Yorker Theatre in the 1930s. CBS took over the building in 1943, recording television shows such as What’s My Line?, The $64,000 Question, Password, and Captain Kangaroo from the vast network’s 52nd studio, Studio 52. In 1966, according to the Brooklyn Museum, the Velvet Underground recorded their first album in the same building. In 1977, Schrager, Rubell, and Jack Dushey, a business partner, leased 254 W 54th Street for their nightclub, dubbing it Studio 54 in reference to the street address.

The businessmen assembled an innovative creative team who worked for months to transform the space, incorporating the original theatrical architecture with luxe décor that accommodated evolving, elaborate sets and state-of-the-art sound and kinetic lighting systems. In lieu of disco balls and lit-up dance floors, which they considered outdated at the time, they hired set designers Richie Williamson and Dean Janoff to create the iconic Moon and Spoon graphic—an eight-foot wide crescent moon with a row of blinking lights leading from a coke spoon up to its nose. The moon adorned the back wall of the club as a cheeky wink to “the popularity of cocaine,” according to the museum.

Studio 54: Night Magic exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum

FIorucci Skirt, Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos,1977

Fiorucci Ribbon Skirt, Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos,1977, remade 2019

Studio 54 VIP Complimentary Drinks tIcket. Gil Lesser designed the club's deco-style logo.

L-R: Fiorucci Blouse, Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos, 1977; Dress, Stephen Burrows, 1978; Pleated Gold Lame Gown, Zandra Rhodes, 1977.
Model Pat Cleveland dances in the Rhodes gown at Studio 54 in the Guy Marineau photo (1977) above the display.

The Moon and Spoon with Planets, designed by Richie Williamson and Dean Janoff

L-R (bottom): Halter, worn by Liza Minnelli, circa 1979; Evening Ensemble worn by Elizabeth Taylor at the Academy Awards, 1976; Dress worn by Liza Minnelli, 1978; (top) White silk and sequin ensemble worn by Liza Minnelli, 1977, all designed by Halston.

Bianca Jagger,  May 2, 1977,  photo by Rose Hartman

L-R: Sarong Gown, Halston, 1977;  Low-Back Slip Mio and Ruffle Skirt,  Norma Kamali, 1977; Super Flare Dress, Norma Kamali, 1977

Brooke Shields and Mariel Hemingway at Studio 54, 1977,  photo by Adam Scull

Studio 54 with Balloons, 1978,  photo by Tod Papageorge

Western Union Mailgram from The Andy Warhol Museum collection

Elizabeth Taylor, Halston, and Bianca Jagger at Taylor's birthday party,  March 6, 1978,  photo by Allan Tannenbaum

Two pairs of Halston metallic sandals worn by Elizabeth Taylor to events at Studio 54 in 1978.

Studio 54 guest list from April 7, 1978

Steve Rubell, Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, and Andy Warhol, April 1978, photo by Roxanne Lowit

Fashion Designer Issey Miyake and Fashion Editor Diana Vreeland, 1978,  photo by Adam Scull

When Studio 54 debuted on April 26, 1977, the club instantly became a Mecca for revelers from all walks of life, or as the museum puts it “people from different sexual, sociopolitical, and financial strata.” Preceding the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, the club offered a place to experience “sexual, gender, and creative liberation, where every patron could feel like a star,” according to the press release. The venue was a late-night playground for the biggest celebrities of the day, from movie and television stars, artists, models, singers, dancers, rock stars, writers, fashion designers, and many more.

Despite its success—with desperate mobs trying to get past the doormen each night—shady business operations led to police raids of the venue which eventually landed Schrager and Rubell in prison briefly for tax evasion. (President Obama granted Schrager a full pardon in 2017.) The two were locked up in February 1980 and Studio 54 was sold in May of that year, with Schrager and Rubell staying on as consultants. The last hurrah they helped organize was a "Busby Berkeley-inspired" Sweet 16 birthday party for Calvin Klein’s daughter in October 1982. The pair went on to open another popular nightclub, the Palladium, as well as boutique NYC hotels including the Royalton and The Paramount.

Anton Perich's photos of Jerry Hall and Patti Hansen, 1978, and his "machine paintings" of the images

Clockwise from top left: Two Men on Couch, circa 1978; Untitled, circa 1978; Untitled, circa 1978; and Untitled, circa 1978  all by Anton Perich

Velvet, Lamé, and Rhinestone Dress,  Zandra Rhodes, circa 1979

L-R: Dress (Look 9), 1979 and Dress, 1978, both Zandra Rhodes;  Dress (purple silk charmeuse), circa 1976-79, and Dress (from "Romantic Chiffon" Collection), 1974, both  Giorgio di Sant'Angelo; V-Neck Blouse, 1979, Kenny Bonavitacola

Donna Summer Sings, April 26, 1979,  photo by Allan Tannenbaum

Red Balloons, Valentine's Day 1979, photo by Dustin Pittman

Halloween 1978, photo by Hasse Persson

L-R: Top, 1978, Gauntlet Gloves, 1978, and Hooded Catsuit, 1978 all designed by Larry LeGaspi; Wrap Jumpsuit, 1979, Kenny Bonavitacola; Asymmetrical Catsuit, 1978,  Larry LeGaspi

Studio 54, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 1978, Andy Warhol

Bulgari Sapphire Sautoir worn by Elizabeth Taylor to Studio 54 on May 21, 1979. Richard Burton gave Taylor the 62-carat Burmese sapphire necklace for her 40th birthday.

L-R: Norma Kamali's Sleeping Bag Coats circa 1979 and 2019 (silver), Silver Lame Parachute Dresses 2020 (top) and Slinky Dress (pink jersey), 1977, remade 2019:
Zandra Rhodes' pleated lame dress, 2019

Heavy Stud Thong Slip Mio Swimsuit, 2019, Norma Kamali; Powernet and rhinestone dress, 1991, Giorgio di Sant'Angelo and Martin Price

Studio 54 Jeans by Norma Kamali (men's and two pairs of women's), 1980, and a pair of Calvin Klein jeans

Rubell contracted HIV and passed away from AIDS related illnesses in 1989. Schrager has continued his success as a hotelier, launching the Delano in Miami, the Mondrian in Los Angeles, and more recently Public in NYC’s Lower East Side.

Though only open for 33 months, Studio 54 has had an indelible influence on pop culture and sets an imposingly high bar for nightclubs and party promoters today. Do the hustle over to the Brooklyn Museum and be transported back to the extravagance of this boogie wonderland!

Studio 54: Night Magic
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Closing November 8, 2020
Tickets: $20

Faith Ringgold To Discuss Her Art And Activism In Live Q&A, June 18

Faith Ringgold, American People Series #20: Die, 1967 (photographed at MoMA, March 2020)

Unrest on U.S. streets sparked by police violence in predominately Black neighborhoods in the 1960s inspired Faith Ringgold’s gripping 1967 painting American People Series #20: Die. Ten stylishly and identically dressed men and women—Black and white—are entangled in a chaotic blood-spattered clash as two small children cling to each other and watch in fear. The work is an "abstraction of what the fights were really all about, and they had a lot to do with race and class, and no one was left out," according to Ringgold (from the wall text accompanying the artwork).

"I was just trying to read the times, and to me everyone was falling down," Ringgold said of the work in a New York Times interview published last week. “And if it upsets people that’s because I want them to be upset.” Part of the Museum of Modern Art’s expansion and reinstallation last year, the large-scale, two-panel painting is prominently displayed in a gallery alongside works by Pablo Picasso, whose Guernica influenced Ringgold’s piece.

Born in Harlem in 1930, Ringgold received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in visual art from City College of New York and was an art teacher until the early 1970s when she quit to focus on her art full time. Working more than 50 years in painting, performance, soft sculptures, narrative quilts, children’s books, and more, Ringgold’s art addresses race and politics, civil rights and women’s rights. From 1968 to 1970 she organized protests at the Whitney Museum and MoMA demanding that the institutions exhibit more work by women artists and artists of color. In 1970 she was arrested for taking part in The People's Flag Show at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and charged with desecrating the American flag. In 1971 Ringgold, Kay Brown, and Dindga McCannon cofounded Where We At, a Black women artists' collective. She has received dozens of awards and honors throughout her career.

Though still actively working on commissions today, the tireless 89-year-old artist/activist found herself challenged with a creative block earlier this year after losing her husband of nearly 60 years, Burdette, in February, and then having to go into lockdown due to COVID 19, according to the Times. The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests demanding justice for George Floyd and others killed by police violence have revived Ringgold’s creative vision. She’s back to work, according to the article, busy with her submission for The Flag Project which will showcase 192 flags created by contemporary artists including Carmen Herrera, Jenny Holzer, KAWS, Hank Willis Thomas, Shantell Martin, and Sarah Sze, as well as designs submitted by the public at Rockefeller Center in August.

Ringgold will discuss her work and American People Series #20: Die in a Live Q&A with MoMA curator Anne Umland on Thursday, June 18 at 8pm. Click here for more info.

Visit faithringgold.com to learn more about the artist and to see more of her powerful work that tells stories that are still relevant today.

Judd | Museum of Modern Art

Judd, the first U.S. retrospective of the minimalist master’s work in more than 30 years, officially opened last week at MoMA. The exhibition includes four galleries showcasing work spanning three decades of Donald Judd’s career, including some early paintings and sculptures and several examples of his signature "boxes" and "stacks."

Untitled 1991, enameled aluminum (foreground) and Untitled 1986 (back)

Born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri in 1928, Judd started off as an abstract painter and art critic in NYC, writing approximately 600 reviews from 1959-1965, according to MoMA. He began incorporating three-dimensional elements into his work, such as a baking pan embedded into a large black wooden panel, in the early 60s.

Untitled c. 1960, oil on canvas

Untitled 1962, cadmium red light oil on acrylic and sand on composition board with yellow Plexiglas

Untitled 1961, oil on composition board mounted on wood, with inset tinned steel baking pan

Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil and black oil on wood with galvanized iron and aluminum

Untitled 1963, re-fabricated in 1975, cadmium red light oil on wood and purple lacquer on aluminum (front); Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil on wood with violet Plexiglas (back, floor); Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil on wood (back, wall)

With the help of his carpenter father, Judd soon transitioned to making wall reliefs and boxes, showing these works for the first time in 1963. Judd did not like to refer to his work as "minimal" or "sculpture," according to MoMA, "believing that his innovations set his work apart from historical precedent."

In the mid 60s, Judd began outsourcing his artwork to fabricators, Bernstein Brothers Sheet Metal Specialties, headquartered near his East 19th Street loft, according to the exhibit. He gave the metal shop detailed drawings and specifications to create pieces using material typically found in sinks and venting ducts. The company helped produce his "stacks" and his first is on view at MoMA. The work features seven identical galvanized iron boxes mounted vertically on the wall in a perfect column "separated by intervals that equal the height of the boxes."

In the late 60s, Judd began creating "progressions," wall works consisting of a bar connecting L-shaped pieces spaced in proportions inspired by the Fibonacci sequence. Floor versions of these "progressions" feature a series of large-scale steel frames "whose overall footprint" form "a perfect square."

Untitled 1964 (front); Untitled 1965, galvanized steel (right); To Susan Buckwalter 1965, blue lacquer on aluminum and galvanized iron (back wall), this piece was named for a collector in Kansas and is one of only two works that the artist titled.

Untitled 1970, purple lacquer on aluminum and cadmium red light enamel on cold-rolled steel and Untitled 1967, green lacquer on galvanized iron

Untitled 1968, stainless steel and amber Plexiglas (left); Untitled 1967, green lacquer on galvanized iron (back, right)

Untitled 1966, turquoise paint on aluminum; Untitled 1968, stainless steel and yellow Plexiglas (back)

Untitled 1968, stainless steel and yellow Plexiglas

In the 70s Judd began making "multi-unit" works that "responded to the specific parameters" of the spaces where they were displayed. He started to spend more time in Marfa, Texas where he acquired acres of land and property large enough to accommodate his artwork. The quiet, remote West Texas town has since been transformed into an art mecca, with Judd’s stamp apparent all around. With financial backing from the Dia Art Foundation, he established the Chinati Foundation there to permanently display his large-scale artwork as well as the work of his artist friends, including Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, and many others. It is an absolute must-see for fans of Judd!

Untitled 1976-77, twenty-one stainless steel units (foreground); Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas (center); Untitled 1977, stainless steel with red Plexiglas (right); Untitled 1973, six plywood units (back)

Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas

Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas (foreground); Untitled 1969, four clear anodized aluminum units with blue Plexiglas (center); Untitled 1969, copper (back, left); Untitled 1976, galvanized iron (back, right)

Untitled 1970, clear and purple anodized aluminum (left) and Untitled 1969, copper (back, right)

Untitled 1969, four clear anodized aluminum units with blue Plexiglas; Untitled 1970, clear and purple anodized aluminum (back); Untitled 1969, copper (right)

In the 80s Judd began working with the Swiss manufacturer Lehni AG to create the multi-colored Lego-like aluminum works composed of "outward-facing open boxes." The centerpiece in the last gallery of the exhibit is a fun and enormous (59” x 295 ¼” x 65”) eight-color floor sculpture. Judd made six of these massive sculptures from 1984 to 1991, according to MoMA. He meticulously assembled the aluminum pieces "to achieve overall balance [in the colors] while avoiding patterns or the appearance of a system at play."

Untitled 1986, six aluminum units acrylic sheets

Judd installation view

Untitled 1986, Douglas fir plywood and orange Plexiglas

Untitled 1991, enameled aluminum

Judd died of cancer at the age of 65 in 1994. MoMA’s retrospective offers wonderful highlights from his extensive oeuvre. Seemingly simple and spare, Judd’s studies of form, space, color, and material are stunning and timeless, still influencing art and design to this day.

Other venues across the city will also host Judd exhibits to coincide with the MoMA retrospective, including the Judd Foundation (March 1 - July 11) at the artist's former Soho home, as well as Gagosian (March 12 - April 11) and David Zwirner (April 18 - June 26) galleries.

Judd
MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, 6th Floor, NYC
Exhibition on view March 1 through July 11

 

Noah Davis | David Zwirner

Currently on view at David Zwirner is a terrific exhibition highlighting the short but prolific career of artist Noah Davis.  

Noah Davis, Mary Jane, 2008

Born in Seattle in 1983, Davis studied painting at NYC's Cooper Union before settling in Los Angeles. The exhibition, organized by Helen Molesworth, showcases more than 20 of Davis’ paintings that depict intimate scenes inside African American homes and surreal images “that traffic in magical realism,” Molesworth says in the release. “Loneliness and tenderness suffuse his rigorously composed paintings, as do traces of his abiding interest in artists such as Marlene Dumas, Kerry James Marshall, Fairfield Porter, and Luc Tuymans,” she adds.

Noah Davis, Untitled (Moses)

Noah Davis, Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture

Noah Davis, Bad Boy for Life, 2007

Davis’ paintings are imbued with a sense of mystery and tension, lacking facial expressions and eye contact from subjects who are often placed in unusual scenarios. Untitled (Moses), a small-scale painting of Davis’ son being bathed in a sink, offers a sweet glimpse into childhood, while the distant-looking, half-dressed figures in Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture and the emotionless woman spanking a young boy in Bad Boy For Life, suggest uneasiness.

Noah Davis, The Casting Call, 2008

Noah Davis, Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque, 2014

Noah Davis, Pueblo del Rio: Concerto, 2014

The Casting Call is a straightforward look at a group of dancers rehearsing on a black-and-white checkerboard floor, while the dreamlike Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque shows six dancers in white dresses performing outdoors and Pueblo del Rio: Concerto features a lone piano player performing at night on the grounds of the Los Angeles housing project referenced in the titles. A pair rows a canoe on dark waters beneath the Hollywood sign missing its last two letters in the eerie NO-OD for Me and the confounding The Last Barbeque shows an aloof man next to a BBQ grill and a formally dressed, ghostly trio standing off to the side as a man who appears to be smoldering collapses in the background.

Noah Davis, NO-OD for Me, 2008

Noah Davis, The Last Barbeque, 2008

Along with his cryptic, moody paintings, Davis’ legacy includes co-founding The Underground Museum (UM) with his wife, sculptor Karon Davis, in the Arlington Heights section of Los Angeles in 2012. Constructed from three storefronts, the artist-run space focuses on presenting “museum-quality” artwork in an underserved predominantly black and Latinx area of Los Angeles, according to the press release.

Molesworth met Davis at UM in 2014, according to Artnet. She was Chief Curator of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art at the time and originally visited UM to meet with Davis’ brother, the filmmaker Kahlil Joseph. She became close with both artists and in 2014, agreed to a collaboration between UM and LA MOCA. Prior to this partnership, museums were unwilling to loan works to UM, so Davis exhibited his own artwork and curated shows featuring his friends and family.

Shortly after the agreement with LA MOCA, Davis was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, according to the article. He died in 2015 at the age of 32. 

The Zwirner exhibition also features a recreation of the UM offices, complete with a sculpture by Karon Davis, furniture designed by Davis’ mother, Faith Childs-Davis, and BLKNWS, a two-channel video project by Kahlil Joseph. The room also displays architectural models of two shows Davis curated with work from LA MOCA that were posthumously exhibited at UM. Artists of Color (2017-2018) included pieces by Jeremy Blake, Dan Flavin, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Non Fiction (2016-2017) showcased works by Kara Walker, Kerry James Marshall, and David Hammons.

Noah Davis, Untitled, 2015

Davis wrote out plans for the museum before his untimely passing and his family and Molesworth continue to carry out his vision for UM today. A portion of this exhibition will travel to The Underground Museum where it will be on display starting next month. Check out work by the remarkable Noah Davis before the NYC exhibit closes on February 22. Learn more at davidzwirner.com.

Noah Davis
David Zwirner
533 West 19th Street, NYC
Exhibition on view January 16 through February 22

The Red Bean Grows In The South | Faurschou New York

Faurschou New York, a new private museum, debuted in Greenpoint in December with an inaugural exhibition entitled The Red Bean Grows In The South featuring work by 17 international artists including Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, Tracey Emin, Anselm Keifer, Robert Rauschenberg, and Danh Vo.

Edward and Nancy Kienholz, The Ozymandias Parade, 1985

The title of the show was inspired by Love Seeds, a Chinese poem about longing, penned by Wang Wei during the Tang Dynasty era. Love seeds “sprout from the desire for what once was, or what could have been—the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are impossible,” according to the exhibition notes. The show examines the notion of yearning and “revolves around themes of violence, war, politics, idealism, escapism, desire, hope, dreams, and memory.”

The red bean represents blood and tears in Chinese culture, according to the notes, as well as physical and emotional exile, and “political passion and the desire to break free from repression.” The exhibit’s title references the Faurschou’s Foundation’s ties with China and the “desire to engage Western audiences with important ideas, thoughts and themes from the region.”

Cai Guo-Qiang, A Boat With Dreams, 2008 (above); Alison Saar, Dying Slave, 1989 (right); Dahn Vo, Photographs of Dr. Joseph M. Carrier 1962-1973 (rear and side walls)

(L-R) Tracey Emin, The more of you the more I love you, 2016; Louise Bourgeois, The Couple, 2003; Ai Weiwei, Two Figures, 2018

Cecily Brown, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, 1997-98

Housed in a former warehouse, the gleaming new 12,000-square-foot venue was launched by Danish art dealer/collector/advisor and philanthropist Jens Faurschou. He created the Faurschou Foundation in 2011 "to champion artists and foster cross-cultural dialogue and exchange internationally, in particular between the East and the West." The foundation opened an exhibition space in Beijing in 2011 and a second in Copenhagen in 2012 to showcase its collection of approximately 400 contemporary works, many large-scale installations, according to The New York Times. Faurschou works with his wife on building the collection and with his three children on curating exhibitions.

The show currently on view in New York features painting, sculpture, photography, and video. The centerpiece, The Ozymandias Parade by Edward and Nancy Keinholz, is an immense “satirical tableaux” depicting a leader “mounted on a horse upside down,” a general riding on the back of an “overburdened taxpayer” surrounded by green toy soldiers and a mélange of other found objects.

Edward and Nancy Kienholz, The Ozymandias Parade (detail), 1985

Robert Rauschenberg, The Lurid Attack of the Monsters from the Postal News, August, 1875, (Kabal American Zephyr), 1981-82 (foreground); Yoko Ono, Happy Xmas (War is Over), 1971/2003 (single channel video displayed on screen)

(L-R) Anselm Kiefer, Für Velimir Chlebnikow, 2015-16; Christian Lemmerz, The Last God, 2018-19

Christian Lemmerz, The Last God, 2018-19

(L-R) Georg Baselitz, Mit Roter Fahne (With a Red Flag), 1965; Paul McCarthy, CSSC, Frederic Remington Charles Bronson, 2014-16

Just off the central gallery, four works addressing sex and love are displayed: Louise Bourgeois’ The Couple, a hanging aluminum sculpture featuring a pair of twisty figures reaching out to one another; Cecily Brown’s feverish painting Seven Brides For Seven Brothers; Tracey Emin’s pink neon piece The more of you the more I love you; and Ai Weiwei’s Two Figures, life-size nudes of the artist and a woman sleeping on a mattress beside a mound of red seeds.

Edward and Nancy Kienholz, The Ozymandias Parade, 1985

“We’re making shows because that’s actually what we love to do,” Faurschou told the NY Times. “It’s become a passion to make exhibitions.”

Head over to Greenpoint and check out this labor of love. Learn more at faurschou.com.

The Red Bean Grows In The South
Faurschou New York
148 Green Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Exhibition on view December 15, 2019 through April 11, 2020

Garry Winogrand: Color | Brooklyn Museum

Garry Winogrand: Color, on view at Brooklyn Museum through December 8

This is your last week to catch Garry Winogrand: Color at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibit is the first devoted to the color photographs of Winogrand, who was known primarily for his black-and-white street photography. 

Born in the Bronx in 1928, Winogrand pioneered a "snapshot aesthetic," according to the museum, and shot thousands of color slides from the early 1950s through the late 1960s. The artist did not have the funds to print his color slides and at the time exhibited these works in slideshows. "He found ways to use color as an artistic tool, transforming the commercial and amateur uses of the medium and producing candid pictures that pushed the limits of recognizable art photography at the time," the exhibition notes read.

More than 450 of Winogrand's color transparencies are projected onto the walls of a long darkened gallery at the Brooklyn Museum. The slides are divided into eight categories: Coney Island, 1952-1958; Early Color, 1950s; Early Color, 1960s; Portraits And Still Lifes, 1960s; On The Road, 1960s; Travel, 1960s; Women, 1960s; White Masculinity, 1960s.

Winogrand began using Kodachrome color slide film in the early 1950s. The film produced high resolution images with "brilliant and lifelike colors, and broad tonal range," according to the exhibition notes. As seen in the show, the results are captivating, richly hued images that document mid-century NYC and postwar American life—back when everybody dressed up to go about their daily lives. Winogrand's shots capture his subjects looking retro-cool and glam, especially the images presented in the "Women, 1960s" section which pre-date street style/fashion photography. It's impossible not to be drawn into each of the slideshows which offer images loaded with details evoking countless stories. 

From the 50s through the 60s, Winogrand often carried two cameras—one with black-and-white film, one with color—shooting a color image immediately before or after snapping one of his iconic black-and-white photos, according to the Brooklyn Museum which is also presenting 25 of these black-and-white images culled from its collection. Winogrand passed away in 1984 at the age of 56, leaving behind a vast archive of "'unfinished' work," including 45,000 color slides and roughly 6,500 rolls of undeveloped black-and-white film. 

Garry Winogrand: Color
On view May 3 through December 8
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights
Learn more here.

Field Trip: deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, Lincoln, Mass.

After visiting the phenomenal Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, head over to the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum just one mile away. Situated on 30 acres of sprawling lush lawns surrounded by woods and adjacent to a pond, deCordova features more than 60 modern and contemporary outdoor sculptures and site-specific installations.

Established in 1950, the cultural institution is housed on the former estate of Julian and Elizabeth (Lizzie) de Cordova. While Lizzie came from a prominent Boston family, Julian was a self-made man who found fortune as a tea broker, wholesale merchant, and investor. He also served as President of the Union Glass Company in Somerville, Mass.

The couple collected art from across the globe during their frequent travels, and the worldly pair decided to remodel their summer home in Lincoln in the style of a European castle. Following the deaths of both Lizzie (in 1922 at the age of 75) and their son Dana (in 1923 at 45), Julian opened his estate to visitors to share the collection he and his wife "had collected during seven decades of world travel," according to the museum's website. Julian hoped his home would continue to serve as a cultural and educational space after his own demise, and donated the property to the town of Lincoln in 1930 "with the stipulation that his estate would become a public museum of art following his death."

Following Julian's death in 1945 at the age of 94, his and Lizzie's art collection—which was deemed "not of substantial interest or value"—was sold and the funds went toward creating a museum for regional contemporary art.

In 2008, the focus of the deCordova shifted to sculpture, and in 2009, the museum officially changed its name from deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park to deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. The museum also began to branch outside of New England, showcasing work by national and international artists. In 2010, deCordova displayed its first international acquisition, British sculptor Antony Gormley’s Reflection II. Today, the sprawling Sculpture Park exhibits a diverse collection of large-scale artworks among the idyllic sylvan surroundings—combining a world-class museum experience with a lovely nature walk.

Learn more at decordova.org and see highlights from the amazing Sculpture Park below.

Anthony Gormley, Reflection II (2008)

George Rickey, Three Lines (1964)

Saul Melman, Best Of All Possible Worlds (2018)

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Elegantka (2010-2011)

Nam June Paik, Requiem To The 20th Century (1997)

Dan Graham, Crazy Spheroid—Two Entrances (2009)

Jim Dine, Two Big Black Hearts (1985)

Isaac Witkin, Jacob's Dream (1986)

Maren Hassinger, Monument 6 (Square) and Monument 3 (Standing Rectangle), (both 2018)

Nancy Winship Milliken, Pasture Song (2018)

Aaron Curry, Blubat, Homewrecker, and Ugly Mess (all 2013)

Fletcher Benton, Donut With 3 Balls (2002)

Sol LeWitt, Tower (DC), (1989/2009)

DeWitt Godfrey, Lincoln (2012)

Terence Koh, Children Of The Corn Totem Pole (2011)

John Wilson, Eternal Presence (1987)

Reno Pisano, Torso (1950)

Cat Mazza, Taking The Cure (2018)

 

 

Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future | Guggenheim

You have about two weeks left to check out the Guggenheim's terrific exhibition Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, the first major U.S. survey featuring the vibrant, abstract works of the little-known artist whose early 20th-century paintings feel notably contemporary.

The Ten Largest (No. 1, Childhood; No. 2, Childhood; No. 3, Youth; No. 4 Youth), 1907

The Ten Largest (No. 1, Childhood; No. 2, Childhood; No. 3, Youth; No. 4 Youth), 1907

The Ten Largest (No. 5, Adulthood; No. 6, Adulthood; No. 7. Adulthood; No. 8, Adulthood), 1907

The Ten Largest (No. 7, Adulthood; No. 8, Adulthood; No. 9, Old Age; No. 10 Old Age), 1907

Hilma af Klint began painting abstract images in 1906, “years before Vasily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and others would take similar strides to rid their own artwork of representational content,” according to the Guggenheim's introductory wall text.

Af Klint was born October 26, 1862, in a town just north of Stockholm, the fourth of five children of a naval officer. She studied at Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1882-1887, graduating with honors. Early in her career, she worked as a landscape and portrait painter as well as an illustrator for science and design publications. Klint also served as a board member for the Association of Swedish Women Artists. According to the museum's notes, she left the Stockholm art scene in the mid-1910s to “concentrate entirely on pursuing her spiritual, and largely abstract, style."

Cornflower, 1890s; Cress, 1890s; Ketty (no date)

Early works: flowers and insects dated 1890s, portrait studies of woman dated 1918(?)

Af Klint became interested in religion and spiritualism (the practice of communicating with spirits—the dead or "transcendent spirits") following the death of her ten-year-old sister in 1880 and “became involved in a range of religious and occult teachings, including spiritualism, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism.” 

In 1896, af Klint and four friends began holding séances, calling themselves De Fem (The Five). The group sought higher knowledge and began creating automatic drawings—channeling a guiding spirit to lead them in producing images and text. Their spiritual guides were named: Amaliel, Ananda, Clemens, Esther, Georg, and Gregor. In 1904, the spiritual guides introduced the concept of building a Temple to house a series of “spiritually derived paintings” created by De Fem. Af Klint was the only one in the group willing to take on "the great commission."

Af Klint worked on The Paintings for the Temple from 1906 until 1915, shifting her focus from figurative work to "spiritual subject matter.” The project included 193 paintings and works on paper which were intended to be exhibited in a “multilevel temple connected by a spiraling path"—similar to the layout of the Guggenheim. 

The first gallery of the Guggenheim exhibition displays af Klint's crowd-pleasing The Ten Largest series. Created between November and December 1907, the series depicts the human life cycle. The artist wanted these ten massive works exhibited together at the Temple. 

While af Klint's classical figurative works were often exhibited, her abstractions rarely were. According to the Guggenheim, Klint believed “the world was not yet ready to understand her work," and "stipulated that they not be shown for twenty years following her death.” However the abstract works she created for the Temple “remained all but unseen until 1986, eighty years after she began her monumental cycle."

After completing "the great commission," af Klint continued to produce non-representational works inspired by her religious beliefs as well as her interest in the natural sciences, including biology and the study of the atom. She continued to experiment with form, theme, and seriality, according to the Guggenheim. Af Klint died in 1944 at the age of 81 following an accident with a tram.

“Though she had mandated that her works not be shown for twenty years following her death, it would take more than four decades for her groundbreaking paintings to be exhibited again. It is only since then that af Klint’s work has begun to find its rightful audience. As her achievements have been increasingly recognized, they have transformed our understanding of modernism and deeply affected many contemporary artists,” the exhibition notes state.

Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future on view until Tuesday, April 23.

Group VI, Evolution, No. 16 and No. 15, 1908

Group IX, The Swan, No. 7 and No. 1, 1915

Group IX, The Swan, No. 13 and No. 12, 1915

Group IX, The Swan, No. 17 and No. 16, 1915

Group X, Altarpieces, No. 2, No. 3, No. 1, 1915

 

Giacometti | Guggenheim

You have another week to check out the Guggenheim Museum’s comprehensive survey of the work of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) before it closes on September 12.

Perhaps best known for his sculptures of extremely slender figures, the exhibition includes several of the artist’s drawings and moody paintings featuring ghostly figures etched onto darkened canvases.

Giacometti was born October 10, 1901 in the village of Borgonovo in Switzerland to a Post-Impressionist painter father, Giovanni, who introduced his sons to the arts. Giacometti’s brother, Diego, was also an artist and served as Giacometti’s assistant and frequent model. Upon moving to Paris in 1922, Giacometti took up a small (15’x16’) studio in Montparnasse where he produced most of his work (except for a period from 1941 to 1945 when the German army prohibited him from reentering France following a visit to Geneva) until his death in 1966.

Giacometti moved to Paris to study with sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, but the young artist decided to stop his classical training after discovering the work of Brancusi, Picasso, and other innovative artists, according to the Guggenheim’s notes. Giacometti’s early abstract work shows Cubist and Surrealist influences. The artist’s interest in the Bronze Age, African, Egyptian, and Oceanic art influenced how he later developed his forms and figures.

In the late 1940s, Giacometti began creating his distinctive, elongated and exaggerated figures that “resonated strongly with a public grappling with the extreme alienation and anxiety wrought by the devastation of World War II. Giacometti was unflinching in his portrayal of humanity at its most vulnerable,” according to the intro to the exhibit.

Following surgery for stomach cancer in 1963 and the death of his mother in 1964, Giacometti’s later work focused on mortality and loss. According to the Guggenheim’s notes, despite critical praise and financial success, during the final decade of his career, Giacometti was insecure about his abilities to recreate his subjects or “the reality he saw before him,” and worked constantly to battle his anxieties. He died in Switzerland on January 11, 1966 at the age of 64 of heart disease.

Learn more at Guggenheim.org. Exhibition on view through Wednesday, September 12. 

L-R: Monumental Head, bronze, 1960; Tall Woman IV, bronze, 1960-61; Walking Man I, bronze, 1960

Suspended Ball, plaster, painted metal, string, 1930-31

Woman with Her Throat Cut, bronze, 1932

Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object), bronze, 1934

Man Pointing, bronze, 1947

Tall Figure II, plaster, 1949; Medium Figure III, plaster, 1948-49

The Chariot, bronze, 1950

The Nose, bronze, wire, rope, and steel, 1949

Walking Quickly under the Rain, bronze, Ca. 1948

Bust of a Man (Théodore Fraenkel), oil on canvas, 1954

Bust of a Man, bronze, 1956; Bust of a Man (Diego), bronze, 1959

Seated Man, oil on canvas, 1949

Tall Thin Head, bronze, 1954

Woman Leoni, plaster, 1947-58

Bust of Isaku Yanaihara (I), plaster, 1960

Bust of Isaku Yanaihara, oil on panel, 1959

Dog, bronze, 1951

David Wojnarowicz | The Whitney Museum

The Whitney currently has on view a terrific retrospective of the work of the multi-disciplinary artist and activist, David Wojnarowicz.

David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night begins in 1979 with his photographs of three friends as they wandered around NYC wearing masks of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, then on to the early 80s when he created artwork on found materials (supermarket ads, garbage can lids), painted murals on the Hudson River Piers (most often at Pier 34 off of Canal Street), and played in the post-punk band 3 Teens Kill 4—their 1983 album No Motive plays in the exhibit's first gallery and can also be heard at whitney.org/wojnarowicz.

Wojnarowicz was born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1954 to a boozing, abusive father who was a merchant marine, according to the New York Times. After his parents divorced, Wojnarowicz lived in foster homes, attended Catholic school, and prostituted himself for cash in his teens before decamping to NYC permanently in 1979.

He met the photographer Peter Hujar in 1980 and the two shared a brief romantic relationship. Hujar, who was twenty years older and an established artist, became a mentor to Wojnarowicz and encouraged him to paint. The pair remained close until Hujar's death from  AIDS-related complications in 1987. Wojnarowicz memorialized Hujar by taking moving photographs of the artist's head, hands, and feet as he lay in his hospital bed moments after his death. According to the The Whitney's wall text, Wojnarowicz described Hujar as "my brother, my father, my emotional link to the world."

In the mid 80s, Wojnarowicz's work stood up for outsiders and marginalized groups and criticized the government's indifference to the AIDS epidemic which was taking the lives of thousands including many of the artist's friends and contemporaries. Wojnarowicz was diagnosed with HIV in 1988.

Wojnarowicz was a poet and a writer prior to becoming a visual artist, according to exhibition's notes. A fan of the work of Rimbaud, Jean Genet, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs, he often incorporated text into his artwork. His later pieces, heavily layered with prose, are impassioned, poetic, and powerful, denouncing homophobia and politicians who refused to take action amid the AIDS crisis.

Wojnarowicz died from complications related to AIDS on July 22, 1992 at the age of 37.

Two concurrent exhibitions are also on view in NYC—The Unflinching Eye: The Symbols of David Wojnarowicz at NYU's Mamdouha Bobst Gallery (70 Washington Square South) through September 30 and Soon All This Will be Picturesque Ruins: The Installations of David Wojnarowicz at P.P.O.W gallery (535 W 22nd Street) through August 24.

Read about the censorship debate Wojnarowicz's 13-minute film, A Fire In My Belly, sparked in 2010 here. Learn more about David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake At Night at whitney.org. Through September 30, 2018.

Self-Portrait of David Wojnarowicz, 1983-1984, David Wojnarowicz with Tom Warren

Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-1979 (printed 2004)

Autoportrait—New York, 1980

Untitled (Genet After Brassaï), 1979

Exhibition view, gallery of David Wojnarowicz's early works

L-R (top) Jean Genet Masturbating in Metteray Prison (London Broil), 1983; Untitled (Sirloin Steaks), 1983; Tuna, 1983; Untitled (David Wojnarowicz), Peter Hujar, 1984; Untitled, 1982 [spray paint on metal trashcan lid]; Incident #2—Government Approved, 1984; Martinson Coffee, 1983; Untitled (Frog and Snake), 1983; Untitled (Two Heads), 1984; (bottom) Untitled (Skull with Fetish Figure and Globe), 1984, David Wojnarowicz with Kiki Smith; Untitled (Skull with globe in mouth), 1984

David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981 and David Wojnarowicz, 1981, Peter Hujar

History Keeps Me Awake At Night (For Rilo Chmielorz), 1986

Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988)

He Kept Following Me, 1990

Untitled (When I Put My Hands On Your Body), 1990

Untitled (One Day This Kid...), 1990-1991

David Hockney | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In honor of his 80th year, the Met currently has on view a spectacular retrospective of the long (almost 60 years!), prolific, and ever-evolving career of David Hockney.

The museum is the only North American stop for this exhibition which showcases Hockney's early works, his iconic paintings including A Bigger Splash and Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, more recent landscapes and iPad paintings, as well as several drawings and photo collages.

It's a vibrant, fascinating show that offers a glimpse into Hockney's personal life, glamorous Californian lifestyle, and unflinching creativity and productivity.

David Hockney is on view through February 25, 2018. Learn more at metmuseum.org.

Click to see my previous posts on Hockney's two 2009 exhibits at Pace Wildenstein—here for his colorful, large-scale Yorkshire landscapes and here for his terrific inkjet-printed computer portraits.

Tea Painting in an Illusionistic Style, 1961

The Cha-Cha That Was Danced in the Early Hours of 24th March, 1961

Domestic Scene, Los Angeles, 1963
California Art Collector, 1964

The Room, Tarzana, 1967

A Bigger Splash, 1967 (according to the exhibit notes, it took Hockney almost two weeks to paint the splash in the water alone. "I loved the idea of painting this thing that lasts for two seconds," the artist said.

My Parents, 1977

Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, 1970-71 (the textile/fashion designer Celia Birtwell and her husband, fashion designer Ossie Clark)

American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman), 1968
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, 1968 (Isherwood wrote The Berlin Stories, part of which was adapted for the stage and screen as Cabaret. Bachardy, a painter, was Isherwood's partner.)

Celia in a Black Dress with White Flowers, 1972
Andy, Paris, 1974

Self Portrait 30th Sept. 1983

Celia. Los Angeles. April 10th 1982 (a composite of Polaroid photos)
Don + Christopher, Los Angeles, 6th March 1982 (a composite of Polaroid photos)

Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, 1990

9 Canvas Study of the Grand Canyon, 1998

A Closer Winter Tunnel, February-March, 2006
Red Pots in the Garden, 2000

A Bigger Interior with Blue Terrace, 2017

 

Field Trip: Mass MoCA

I finally made it up to North Adams, Massachusetts at the end of August to catch Nick Cave's Until at Mass MoCA (1040 MASS MoCA Way) before it closed on Monday, September 4th.

The Chicago artist is best know for his Soundsuits—elaborate, sound-producing, wearable sculptures (see here and here). His installation Until was informed by the deaths of African-American men in recent years, including Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown. The word "until" plays on the phrase, "innocent until proven guilty," or in some cases, "guilty until proven innocent," the exhibit's notes state. Until addresses gun violence, gun control laws, race, and gender politics in today's world. 

Situated in an 18,000-square-foot gallery space, visitors entered the installation through a "dense sculptural field" composed of thousands of metallic, wind-spinning lawn ornaments strung from ceiling to floor. Among the whimsical, sparkly shapes, starbursts, and rainbows dizzyingly spinning around are several shiny cut-outs of guns.

At the end of the forest of wind-spinners, visitors were greeted by a giant cloud made of chandeliers and thousands of crystals. Visitors could climb up four steep, yellow step-ladders to spy an elaborate secret garden jam-packed with birds, animals, knick-knacks, flowers, and "black-face lawn jockeys." According to the show's notes, Cave had been "thinking about gun violence and racism colliding," which led him to wonder, "Is there racism in heaven? That’s how this piece came about,” the artist told the New York Times.

After peering into Cave's interpretation of heaven,visitors encountered a psychedelic, rainbow-colored, hand-woven, tent-like structure composed with shoelaces and "hundreds of thousands of colorful pony beads." According to Mass MoCA, Cave used 16,000 wind-spinners; millions of plastic pony beads; thousands of ceramic birds, fruits, and animals; 13 golden pigs; more than 10 miles of crystals; 24 chandeliers; 17 cast-iron lawn jockeys; and 1 fiberglass crocodile for this breathtaking, immersive work.

Cave's installation also served as a "community forum," hosting a variety of performers such as singers, dancers, and poets, throughout its time at MoCA.

Mass MoCA also boasts nine James Turrell pieces on view in a long-term exhibition called Into the Light. The works span the artist's career, and Turrell has designed a Skyspace specifically for the institution that will be housed inside an abandoned water tank located on MoCA's outdoor concert field—definitely something to look forward to! (Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the Turrell galleries.)

Launched in 1999, Mass MoCA is a beautiful 26-building campus on 16-acres of land that exhibits indoor and outdoor work including dance, film, music, painting, photography, sculpture, theater, and "new, boundary-crossing works of art that defy easy classification," according to the institution's website. Additionally, much of the work shown in the bright, massive gallery spaces and stages, or outdoors at their multiple, late 19th-century courtyards, is made onsite "during extended fabrication and rehearsal residencies" that attract an impressive roster of established and up-and-coming artists from all around the world.

During our visit, Mass MoCA also had on view exhibits by Sol LeWitt, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, and Laurie Anderson, among many others. I wish I had more time—I was there for a little over 3 hours and easily could have spent another 3 wandering around the vast campus and exploring its many buildings and additional exhibits.

Mass MoCA is absolutely worth the 2.5-hour drive from Boston (about 3.5 from NYC). I will definitely be back! Learn more at MassMoCA.org.

 

 

Pipilotti Rist | New Museum

This is your last weekend to catch Pixel Forest, the New Museum’s survey of Swiss video and multimedia artist Pipilotti Rist’s 30 year career. Go see what the long entrance lines winding up Bowery, around Stanton and beyond are all about.

Occupying the museum’s 3 main floors, the second floor showcases a collection of Rist’s early single-channel videos from the 80s and 90s viewed inside single-capacity boxes that viewers insert their heads into. Administrating Eternity (2011), a four-channel video installation consists of dreamlike images of flowers, sheep, cats, and green fields projected onto rows of long, diaphanous, white curtains—much like Rist’s fantastic work Layers Mama Layers which was exhibited at Luhring Augustine in 2010 (see my post here). Layers Mama Layers was mesmerizing, exhibited in an intimate setting with little distraction—i.e. the bad cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game that accompanies Sip My Ocean (1996) at the New Museum. Screening along with Sip My Ocean is Rist’s Ever Is Over All from 1997, a four-minute, two-channel video showing a joyous, confident woman in a blue dress and red shoes walking down a street and occasionally smashing the windows of parked cars—the suspected inspiration for Beyonce’s 2016 car-bashing music video for Hold Up.

The third floor delivers the money shot for all those whose sole purpose for going to museums and galleries is to snap selfies and post them on Instagram. Looking Through Pixel Forest (2016) features 3,000 handmade, illuminated crystals suspended from the ceiling and dangling down to the floor. Visitors can walk through the dazzling forest of glittering lights to the far corner where two mesmerizing 2014 video works, Mercy Garden and Worry Will Vanish Horizon are on view. Each of the hanging crystal pieces contains a pixel from the adjacent films, illuminating it and filling the space with magnificent, pixelated color. It was difficult to leave this gorgeous forest.

The fourth floor features 4th Floor to Mildness, which invites visitors to lie down on beds interspersed throughout the gallery and gaze upon two ceiling projections. Images of water, clouds, abstract colors, and body parts are accompanied by the haunting and somewhat menacing music of Soap&Skin, the Austrian musician Anja Plaschg.

Don’t miss this vivid, illuminating, and immersive exhibit. Learn more at New Museum and nytimes.com. And check out arthagnyc on Instagram for some videos of the exhibit. Closes January 15th.

Also, check out Rist's Open My Glade (Flatten), a multi-channel installation playing nightly on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 - midnight until January 31st. Learn more here.

Ever Is Over All, 1997

Administrating Eternity, 2011

Administrating Eternity, 2011

Administrating Eternity, 2011

Boxes showing Rist's early single-channel videos

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Looking Through Pixel Forest, 2016

Massachusetts Chandelier, 2010

4th Floor to Mildness, 2016

Field Trip: The Andy Warhol Museum | Pittsburgh, PA

During my quick jaunt to Pittsburgh over the summer, I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time to visit The Andy Warhol Museum—I’ve seen so much of his work over the years, I wasn’t entirely sure it would be worth the effort. I am happy to say I was convinced to make the effort and check out the museum because it is terrific! Warhol’s signature, bold Pop Art gems are well represented—the soup cans, celebrity portraits, flowers, electric chairs, skulls, cows… but there is so much more to see with 7 floors dedicated to showcasing his massive oeuvre.

Opened in 1994 in Pittsburgh, the city where Andrew Warhola was born, the Warhol museum is the “global keeper of Andy Warhol’s legacy.” The museum maintains 900 of the artists’ paintings, about 100 sculptures, approximately 2,000 works on paper, 1,000 prints, 4,000 photographs, 60 films, over 4,000 videos, and 200 of his Screen Tests.

The vast archives of Warhol’s personal belongings contain approximately half a million objects! The collection includes his library, art supplies, scrapbooks, correspondence, books, diaries, clothing, tchotchkes, approximately 4,000 audio tapes, over 30 of his shocking-white wigs, and more. The archives also contain an almost complete collection of Interview magazine, launched by Warhol in 1969, as well as 610 of the artist’s Time Capsules, a project started in 1974 in which he collected items from his daily life (newspapers, maps, fanzines, letters, pictures, trinkets, food…) and packed and sealed them away into cardboard boxes to be opened at a later time (the museum is cataloguing each Time Capsules’ contents and regularly exhibits items from one box.)

Highlights of the museum's incredibly comprehensive collection include Warhol’s student work from the 1940s, his early drawings [including 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy (sic), a sweet, illustrated book he collaborated on with his mother, Julia], and his commercial illustrations. These works, along with a series of childhood and family photographs, show another side of the artist—a simpler side that preceded his glamorous Factory/Studio 54 superstardom.

During my visit in August, the museum presented a special exhibition, Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei which  explored Warhol’s influence on Ai as well as the influence both artists have made on modern life. Juxtaposing several pieces of Ai’s artwork alongside Warhol’s throughout the museum, the exhibit compared the two artists’ works (i. e. how both documented their lives, created readymades a la Marcel Duchamp, and employed flowers to make provocative points) and how they address politics, capitalism, communism, and social issues.

If you happen to be in Pittsburgh, be sure to visit the Andy Warhol Museum—I’m definitely glad I did! Learn more about it at warhol.org. To see more on Warhol, see my post from 2010 here on Andy Warhol: The Last Decade at the Brooklyn Museum. To see more on Ai Weiwei click here for my post on his 2013 exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC and here for my post on his 2014 exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.

Self-Portrait, ca. 1943

Seated Girl Looking at Bird Cage, ca. 1940s

Nosepicker I: Why Pick on Me (originally titled The Lord Gave Me My Face but I Can Pick My Own Nose), 1948

So Happy, 1950s

Cat in Front of Church, ca. 1959

Magazine Advertisement ("It's a Real Genuine Fake!") for Fleming-Joffe, Ltd., 1963

Female Head and Hands Applying Eyeliner, no date

Female Fashion Figure, no date

Make Him Want You, 1961

Campbell's Soup Can, 1962; Neolithic Pottery with Coco-Cola Logo, Ai Weiwei, 2007; Coca-Cola [2], 1961

Colored Vases, Ai Weiwei, 2011; Elvis 11 Times [Studio Type], 1963

Self-Portrait, 1963-64; Three Marilyns, 1962; Red Jackie, 1964

Exploding Plastic Inevitable room

Silver Clouds, 1966

Debbie Harry, 1980

Dolly Parton, 1985

Helene Rochas, 1973-74; Mick Jagger, 1975

Blossom, Ai Weiwei, 2015 (front); With Flowers, Ai Weiwei, 2012-15 (rear)

Self-Portrait, 1966-67; At the Museum of Modern Art, Ai Weiwei, 1987

African Lion, a gift to Warhol from John Reinhold in the early 80s

Champion Ador Tipp Topp (Cecil), 1921-30 (purchased by Warhol from a Third Avenue antique shop and kept in his office until his death in 1986.)

 

 

 

Field Trip: Mattress Factory | Pittsburgh

During a road trip this summer, I passed through Pittsburgh for a few hours where I discovered Mattress Factory, a wonderful contemporary art museum. Founded in 1977 by artists, Mattress Factory supports artists working in residence to create site-specific installations, videos, and performance pieces. The museum has presented new works by over 650 emerging and established artists from all around the world. Each of the five stories of the main building as well as its outdoor spaces (a rear garden and the roof top) exhibit extraordinary, often large-scale and immersive work that “allows artists to respond to developments in technology, explore audience interaction, and challenge traditional artistic ideals and practice.” The museum also shows additional work at two neighboring buildings.

James Turrell, who currently has 3 works on permanent exhibit at Mattress Factory, recently donated one of his signature Skyspaces to the museum (learn more here). They hope to inaugurate the work in 2017—yet another reason for me to return to Pittsburgh and re-visit this stellar museum. Click here for their website. Below are some highlights from my visit.

spherodendron, 2015, Bill Smith

Infinity Dots Mirrored Room, 1996, Yayoi Kusama

It's All About ME, Not You, 1996, Greer Lankton

It's All About ME, Not You, 1996, Greer Lankton

IRIS_SIRI, 2016, Kevin Clancy

Lining, 2016, Ian Brill

Lining, 2016, Ian Brill

Catso, Red, 1967/1994, James Turrell

Danae, 1983, James Turrell

 

 

 

 

Jeff Koons | Whitney Museum

The Whitney Museum's final exhibition at its Madison Avenue location is a blockbuster—with extended museum hours to accommodate the hordes of visitors.  When Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, the museum-wide exhibition of the divisive artist's oeuvre closes on Sunday, October 19th, it will mark the end of an era for the Whitney which will move downtown to the Meatpacking District to new Renzo Piano designed digs (opening Spring 2015).

Organized chronologically, the retrospective showcases the 59-year-old artist's polarizing works throughout the years including vacuum cleaners encased in plexiglass, inflatable flowers and bunnies, basketballs floating in tanks of distilled water and sodium chloride, large-scale replicas of kitschy figurines, pornographic images of the artist with his former wife La Cicciolina (the Italian porn star and politician), plus his more recent stainless steel balloon animals, his decades-in-the-making, aluminum mountain of Play-Doh, and his Gazing Ball series.

Reminiscent of a Dollar Store, galleries stocked with colorful plastic and inflatable toys, balloons, sponges, lawn chairs, and assorted tacky tchotchkes, the Marcel Breuer building is worth a visit during its final days as the Whitney and before The Metropolitan Museum of Art moves its modern and contemporary collections into the vacated space.  Learn more about Jeff Koons: A Retrospective at whitney.org.  Until October 19th.

Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Dr. J Silver Series), 1985

 Inflatable Flowers (Four Tall Purple with Plastic Figures), 1978 (partially refabricated 2014)

Inflatable Flower and Bunny (Tall White and Pink Bunny), 1979 (partially refabricated 2014)

Five Double-Sided Floor Mirrors with Inflatable Flowers (Short Blue, Short Orange, Short Pink, Short Purple, Short Yellow), 1978 (partially refabricated 2014) (front), and Sponges with Single Double-Sided Floor Mirror, 1978 (partially refabricated 2014) (back)

 Italian Woman, 1986

Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988

 Amore, 1988

 Pink Panther, 1988

Poodle, 1991

Ilona on Top (Rosa Background), 1990

Bourgeois Bust—Jeff and Ilona, 1991

Left to right: Kangaroo (Red), 1999, Split-Rocker (Orange/Red), 1999, Cow (Light Blue), 1999

Loopy, 1999

Shelter, 1996-1998

Left to right: Lips, 2000, Elephant, 2003

Hanging Heart (Violet/Gold), 1994-2006

Left to right: Balloon Dog (Yellow), 1994-2000, Moon (Light Pink), 1995-2000

Cat on a Clothesline (Aqua), 1994-2001

Seal Walrus (Chairs), 2003-2009

Dogpool (Panties), 2003

Gorilla, 2006-2011

Hulk (Organ), 2004-2014

Metallic Venus, 2010-2012

Play-Doh, 1994-2014

Gazing Ball (Farnese Hercules), 2013

Ai Weiwei | Brooklyn Museum

Ai Weiwei's must-see According to What? has arrived at the Brooklyn Museum—a triumphant final stop for the touring exhibition.  The Brooklyn Museum features 30 works spanning over 20 years of the multimedia artist and activist's career.  Many of these works were displayed at the Hirshhorn Museum last year (see my post here), however, Brooklyn has a few newer works on view that were created after the artist's 81-day detention by the Chinese government in 2011.  The museum's lobby has on display S.A.C.R.E.D., 6 large iron boxes equipped with small windows allowing viewers to peer into claustrophoic scenes of Ai's imprisonment.  The detailed fiberglass reenactments show two officers watching the artist closely in his cell as he sleeps, eats, showers, and uses the toilet.

A site-specific installation, Stacked (2014), features 700 stainless steel bicycles neatly arranged into a towering piece that reflects on the artist's childhood as well as represents an important part of daily life to many people in China.

Up in the museum's fifth and fourth floors, be sure to check out Ye Haiyan's Belongings (2013), an installation composed of the actual possessions of an activist who campaigns for women's rights and AIDS awareness.  Due to her activisim, Ye and her family have been evicted from their home by the Chinese authorities on several occasions.  In the early morning of July 6, 2013, secret police went to Ye's home, forced her and her family to pack their belongings, drove them out of town, and dumped them and their possessions on the side of the road, ordering them not to return.  The installation is a precise reconstruction of Ye's belongings after being dropped off in the middle of nowhere.  In a room just off the gallery where Ye Haiyan's Belongings is on display, be sure to watch Stay Home! (2013) a video telling the heart wrenching story of Liu Ximei, who at 10 years old, after suffering a serious injury while working on the fields, was given a transfusion with HIV-contaminated blood.

Also, check out a bit of 258 Fake (2003 - 2011), a video installation featuring 12 monitors showcasing photos taken between 2003 - 2011 (some posted to Ai's blog before the government shut it down in 2009).  Organized in categories like animals, architecture, exhibitions, and food, the images offer viewers a glimpse into the artist's studio, his everyday life, as well as his sense of humor.

Since Ai's passport was confiscated by Chinese authorities, he was unable to travel to Brooklyn to oversee the installation of the exhibition.  Read a short article on how the artist, the exhibit's curator, Sharon Matt Atkins, and 4 installers worked around this obstacle at brooklynpaper.com.  Learn more about Ai Weiwei: According to What? at brooklynmuseum.org.  Through August 10th. 

 S.A.C.R.E.D, 2011 - 2013

S.A.C.R.E.D, 2011 - 2013

Stacked, 2014

Stacked, 2014

Safe Sex, 1986

Profile of Marcel Duchamp in a Coat Hanger, 1986

Ye Haiyan's Belongings, 2013

Ye Haiyan's Belongings, 2013

Snake Ceiling, 2009 and He Xie, 2010

Straight, 2008 - 2012

Straight, 2008 - 2012

258 Fake, 2003 - 2011