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February 2008
Video art may be notorious for not selling as well as other media, but several Chelsea galleries are having a moment with the medium this month. Miami-based Luis Gispert delivers the weirdest show in a dual appearance at Zach Feuer Gallery and Mary Boone Gallery with an enormous projection featuring the gruesome exploits of a libidinous butcher. At the opposite extreme, Israeli artist Guy Ben-Ner’s videos at Postmasters Gallery starring the artist and his two super-cute children thankfully manage to be more amusing than saccharine. Those looking for intellectual challenge can check out ‘the royal game’ embodied by Diana Thater’s chess matches at David Zwirner, or for ‘the beautiful game,’ visit Greene Naftali Gallery and see German filmmaker Harun Farocki’s twelve screen compilation of footage and analysis of the 2006 World Cup. And no video tour through Chelsea would be complete without stopping at Iran-born video art legend Shirin Neshat’s latest videos and photos at Barbara Gladstone Gallery.
For dates of shows and gallery locations, visit Zach Feuer Gallery, Mary Boone Gallery, Postmasters, David Zwirner, GreeneNaftali and Barbara Gladstone Gallery.
October 2007
Sexually, politically or aesthetically provocative contemporary art is easy to find, but true controversy is rare. For nearly a decade, Kara Walker’s artwork has excited loud response - both enthusiastic and horrified – and is bound to generate even more discussion now that her highly anticipated survey exhibition ‘My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love,’ is open at the Whitney Museum. Pilloried by many African American artists in the late 90s for trafficking in negative black imagery, Walker’s signature installations of black-paper silhouettes on white walls, drawings, projections and texts mine America’s past and present race relations in all their ugly complexity. If you gravitate towards art that demands a personal response from its audience, this is the hottest show in town.
For more information, visit the Whitney Museum’s website:
July 2007
If you weren’t already aware of Richard Serra as one of the country’s most respected sculptors, you will be after taking in his forty-year career retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA actually accounted for the requirements of Serra’s enormous sculptures in its recent rebuilding and renovation, a fact which underlines his esteemed reputation and makes for a stunning installation in the 2nd floor contemporary art galleries and sculpture garden. The show’s 550 tons of undulating steel sculpture include three new pieces as well as iconic favorites, making it not only one of the most anticipated shows of recent years, but the hottest show of the summer.
For more information, visit MoMA’s website.April 2007
This month, the exhibition mostly likely to get people talking earns its ‘hottest show’ tag by literally applying the heat to gallery visitors. As part of an installation, artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, his assistants, staff at David Zwirner Gallery, or volunteers are preparing daily vats of feisty Thai curry to which visitors can help themselves. Dealers, critics and art world luminaries have been spotted indulging in a spicy lunch at tables and chairs scattered around a plywood structure which replicates 303 Gallery’s space in Soho, where the piece was first exhibited in 1992. Tiravanija reveals his indebtedness to Gordon Matta-Clark’s precedent-setting café, ‘Food’ and his unconventional use of real estate by sharing the gallery space with a recreation of Matta-Clark’s ‘Open House,’ a sculpture made in a dumpster which coincidently occupied the same SoHo address as Tiravanija’s exhibition when it was created in 1972.
For more information, visit David Zwirner Gallery’s website.
February 2007
What do you get when you mix a hot art star, Hollywood luminaries including Tilda Swinton and Donald Sutherland, and the exterior walls of the sleek, midtown Museum of Modern Art? A highly visible, super-stylish art video in the form of Doug Aitken’s seven screen projection, Sleepwalkers, which began screening nightly outside MoMA in mid-January. Times critic Roberta Smith concisely summarized the effect as “dazzling and a bit bloodless.” But considering that New York magazine anticipated this to be the “most seen show in MoMA’s history,” and the fact that the museum reported over two and a half million visitors last year, that’s a huge audience for Aitken’s film, without a doubt making it the hottest show in town. (Sleepwalkers screens nightly at MoMA from 5pm – 10pm until February 12th.)
See the trailer and visit the on-line exhibition on MoMA’s website:
December 2006
Just can’t get enough Picasso! No less than three major New York museum exhibitions currently feature the art master, arguing for his allegiance to historical Spanish painting (Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso at the Guggenheim), identifying his influence on American art (Picasso and American Art at the Whitney Museum) and his importance to one of the early 20th century’s greatest art dealers (Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde at the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Factor in the extensive permanent collection display of the artist’s work at MoMA, and this could be one of the city’s biggest Picasso moments in recent history.
Find out more on the following museum websites:Guggenheim Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
October 2006
Two shows vie for the title of ‘most talked about’ this month: young, German maverick John Bock’s new video and zany rooftop installation at Anton Kern Gallery and painter of curvaceous women, Lisa Yuskavage’s latest bevy of babes at David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea and Zwirner & Wirth uptown. Those who love Bock’s signature mad scientist behavior will delight to find the provocateur slithering through cabinetry, eating from a can of ravioli with a spoon attached to a chair leg and performing other bizarre feats. Likewise, Yuskavage fans will enjoy a spectacular array of light drenched, color-soaked portraits of fecund females. Neither will leave you short of conversation. (John Bock is at Anton Kern Gallery until November 25, Lisa Yuskavage’s paintings are up until November 18.)
September 2006
After an August lull, the art world has suddenly come to life with hundreds of new exhibitions opening within the first three weeks of September. With so much competition, it’s hard to single out a solitary, ‘best’ show, although a few stand out primarily because of their spectacular new surroundings. Powerhouse dealer Marianne Boesky’s new building on 24th Street houses Barnaby Furnace’s enormous paintings depicting the parting of the Red Sea, while solo shows by John McCracken, Jockum Nordstrom, and Yutaka Sone inaugurate David Zwirner’s new empire of art galleries (three in a row) on 19th Street. (Barnaby Furnace’s show runs Sept 16 - October 21. John McCracken’s and Jockum Nordstrom’s shows are open Sept 8 - October 14th and Yutaka Sone’s is open Sept 21 - Oct 28.)
Read more on the following gallery websites:
Marrianne Boesky Gallery
David Zwirner
July 2006
Every summer, galleries showcase their finest talent with group exhibitions of work by their artists, and every year the standout shows are those that have gone the extra mile with creative themes and new artists. The current offerings include a lively sampling of work by young Rio de Janeiro artists at Daniel Reich Gallery, ‘I’m Yours Now’ a selection of artwork created directly on the gallery walls at Sikkema Jenkins, and a quirky exhibition at Andrew Kreps Gallery for which one artist invited another to participate, who invited one other artist and so on. The only problem? There’s so much to see. (Through mid-August)
Read more on the following gallery websites:
Daniel Reich Gallery
Sikkema Jenkins Co
Andrew Kreps Gallery
May 2006
Wangechi Mutu’s exhibition of violently beautiful collages could be one of New York’s most anticipated solo show debuts ever. After receiving rave reviews for her participation in what seems like endless group shows around New York over the past few years, the Kenyan-born Mutu is having the dramatic coming out, with a dual show at Sikkema Jenkins and swanky uptown gallery Salon 94. Come see for yourself what all the chatter is about.
Read my profile of Mutu’s work from Art On Paper, Summer 2004.
February 2008
“If Ms Walker retired today she would leave behind one of the most trenchant and historically erudite bodies of art produced by any American in the last 15 years, only a portion of which is in the Whitney show,” wrote New York Times critic Holland Cotter of Kara Walker’s powerful survey show at the Whitney Museum. Pilloried by some prominent African American artists in the late 90s for trafficking in negative black imagery, Walker’s signature installations of black-paper silhouettes on white walls, drawings, projections and texts mine America’s past and present race relations in all their ugly complexity. For viewers unafraid to confront controversial issues head on, this is the show not to miss. (On through Feb 3rd).
For more information, visit the Whitney Museum’s website or read Holland Cotter’s review in the New York Times.
October 2007
For many New Yorkers, Chris Ofili’s name will bring to mind the brou-ha-ha around his painting of the Virgin Mary supported by two clods of dried elephant dung, exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999. Ofili’s choice of materials aimed to beg the question of what kind of art he should make as a Caribbean-British artist, a topic that he revisits in a show of new work at David Zwirner Gallery. A recent move to Trinidad appears to have influenced the subject matter and style of his recent paintings, with languid characters, intense colors and tropical landscapes making references to European masters like Gauguin and Matisse, who ventured abroad in search of the exotic. With several standout paintings and sculptures, Ofili peels back another layer of his complicated identity, making this the ‘don’t miss’ show of the moment.
For more information on Chris Ofili’s ‘Devil’s Pie’ exhibition, visit David Zwirner Gallery.July 2007
Feminism is dead? Think again. Touted as, ‘The first international exhibition exclusively dedicated to feminist art from 1990 to the present,’ ‘Global Feminisms’ at the Brooklyn Museum proves that women around the world (with quite a few art stars among them) are making artwork about specifically female experience. The show opens the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, implying not only that feminism is here to stay, but that the artwork identified under that title will be continually worthy of a significant swathe of Brooklyn Museum real estate. Judge for yourself if this controversial investment is truly groundbreaking or ‘a false idea wrapped in confusion,’ as New York Times critic Roberta Smith recently put it. (Show closes July 1st.)
For more information on Global Feminisms and the Elizabeth A Sackler Center for Feminist Art, visit The Brooklyn Museum’s website.
April 2007
Attention all photo enthusiasts, don’t miss three shows set to close April 7th. Selections from Mitch Epstein’s series, ‘American Power’ may feel a little disjointed – images representing family and romantic power relations are shuffled in with photos depicting refineries, fuel processing plants and the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina – but are still a sobering visual essay on the cost exacted by American energy consumption. Justine Kurland’s subject matter is likewise tied to the American landscape, but her photos of mothers and their children posing nude in the wilds are idyllic scenarios suggesting a thwarted yearning for prelapsarian perfection. Meanwhile, over at 303 gallery, Karel Funk’s photorealist paintings (OK, it only looks like photography) prove it’s not just God who can count every hair on your head. Check out the lavish attention paid to the minutest detail of his male subjects, including the wispy locks on one magnificent hipster in the back gallery.
For more information on Mitch Epstein, see Sikkema Jenkins & Co, for Justine Kurland, see Mitchell-Innes & Nash and for Karel Funk, visit 303 Gallery’s website.
February 2007
Exhibition closings come in waves; the next set is due to break on February 10th. Don’t miss Stan Douglas’s video ‘Klatsassin,’ a murder and revenge story set during a gold rush in 19th century British Columbia, at David Zwirner Gallery. Presented in Douglas’ characteristic looping format, with 850 possible permutations, the entire effort runs over 70 hours, both teasing and enticing viewers with an elusively juicy plot. Though their subject matter is decidedly less dramatic, at least two other shows merit a last minute trip to Chelsea. Dike Blair’s tiny, mundane, but mysterious still life paintings at D’Amelio Terras Gallery muster a murky noir feeling, while Charles Long’s elegant, white sculptures at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery recall Giacometti but were actually modeled on bird droppings, giving them pedigree in an art world long obsessed with bodily function.
December 2006
Christmas is just around the corner, but amid the shopping and festivities, don’t forget that many gallery shows are slated to close right before the holidays. The most obvious must-see is John Currin’s racy, exquisitely rendered portraits at Gagosian Gallery’s uptown location. Meanwhile, don’t miss the huge show of late Warhols at the gallery’s two downtown spaces, where self-portraits in fright wigs butt heads with Mao and Jesus makes an appearance in monumental Last Suppers. For something out of the ordinary, catch Martha Camarillo’s photographs of horse-riding culture in the heart of inner city Philadelphia (as in, hanging out on the street on a horse), at the Jack Shainman Gallery. (All shows close December 22nd.)
Find out more at:Gagosian Gallery
Jack Shainman Gallery
October 2006
A trio of shows south of the border (e.g. just beyond the Meatpacking District!) are a cinch to draw visitors below 14th Street this month with excellent offerings by young West Coast artists Evan Holloway and Jennifer Bornstein and Swiss legend Dieter Roth. Holloway at long last presents his first New York solo show after attracting attention in the 2002 Whitney Biennial for his abstract sculptures, while Bornstein departs from her usual photo and film-based work to present intimate portraits created by copperplate etching. Meanwhile Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art shows editioned graphics and objects by the master of odd art materials (including chocolate and sausage) as part of a two-gallery show also at Josee Bienvenu Gallery in Chelsea. (Evan Holloway’s and Jennifer Bornstein’s shows are open until Nov 18th, Dieter Roth’s is open until Nov 25.)
Find out more at:
http://www.gavinbrown.biz
http://www.harrislieberman.com
July 2006
It’s no wonder ‘Helter Swelter,’ Justin Lowe’s first New York solo show attracted reviews in The New York Times, the Village Voice and Time Out. This young collage artist turned the gallery itself into an artwork by creating a convincing, full scale corner store in the front room, parking an ice cream van in the hall, and covering the floor of the back room in fabulous psychedelic swirls of fabric. This meeting of life and art may not explain the mysteries of the universe, but the experience is unique enough for a visit. (Through July 28th)
Find out more at:
5be GalleryMay 2006
For one week only, New York hosts an extravaganza of Asian art made here and abroad in a series of non-stop lectures, exhibition openings and events. Highlights include an array of video works presented at art venues across the city, sculptures by legendary Indian outsider artist Nek Chand, and even an intergenerational showdown between two action painters on a blocked off street in Tribeca. With so many events happening in so many venues, it ’s a sure bet that something good with be happening near you.
For more information and schedules, visit Asian Contemporary Art Week’s website.
February 2008
Will this be the year that the Whitney Biennial makes critics happy? The United States’ most important contribution to today’s international circuit of biennials and triennials (and one of the oldest by far) is usually guaranteed to provoke debate about which artists were and weren’t invited to participate. The focus in 2006 was international while previous editions of the show stressed artists from regions outside New York, but this year’s show appears likely to please the New York/LA axis. Chockablock with artists familiar to gallery crowds in both cities, the list of 81 participating artists and collectives includes conceptual art pioneers Louise Lawler and John Baldessari, and representatives from the subsequent generations they influenced, including Fia Backstrom and Carol Bove. Amongst the other strains of contemporary art showcased by the Biennial will be a focus on cross-discipline work, including a series of performances staged March 3 – 23 at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Ave at 67th Street. Save the dates!
For more on the show, visit the Whitney Biennial’s website.
October 2007
After two long years of itinerant existence, the New Museum of Contemporary Art is poised to open its brand new building at the intersection of Prince and Bowery on December 1st. Though noteworthy galleries have long called the Lower East Side home, the Museum’s move is boosting the neighborhood’s contemporary art cachet in a big way. Uptown galleries Salon 94 and Greenberg Van Doren have opened satellite spaces just around the corner, while galleries including 31 Grand, Envoy, Luxe and others have relocated from other parts of town to be part of the burgeoning scene. Tiny storefront spaces that are the opposite of Chelsea’s pristine white cubes make for an intimate and fresh art viewing experience while suggesting that the LES trend is one to watch.
July 2007
It’s the season for group shows in New York galleries, but one upcoming solo show stands out this summer. Starting June 29th, Banks Violette, known for his Goth-inspired aesthetic, will show new work at two collaborating galleries: Barbara Gladstone Gallery and Team Gallery. More than another example of how hot artists are increasingly working not just with one New York gallery, Violette’s dark vision promises to be an intriguing counterpoint to the sunny summer season. (Show runs June 29 – August 17.)
For more information, see Barbara Gladstone Gallery or Team Gallery.
April 2007
The empires of major Chelsea gallerists continue to expand. On April 10th, Paula Cooper will open a third space in an unlikely location: London Terrace Towers, between 9th and 10th Aves with a show of work by Sherrie Levine. In addition to 192 Books and two spaces on 21st Street, the more intimate new venue (1,100 sq ft) will offer the gallery the option of complimenting exhibitions or offering a third show.
Speaking of gallerists who’ve made good, be sure to check out ‘The Art of the Deal’ at the Kantor/Feuer window between 25th and 26th Streets. An installation opens April 1st of artwork created by several well-known dealers before they traded in their ambitions as artists for successful careers as gallerists. Is this an April Fools joke?
Dana Schutz hasn’t shown many paintings in New York since her knock-out piece in PS1’s 2005 Greater New York exhibition, so anticipation is growing to see what she’ll unveil in her next solo show, due to open April 12th. Judge for yourself whether the painting in this intriguingly titled show, ‘Stand By Earth Man,’ is just eye candy or if Schutz is making a breakthrough contribution to figurative, expressionist painting.
For more information on Dana Schutz, visit Zach Feuer Gallery (LFL).
February 2007
It’s nearly the time of year when the international art world descends upon New York for the annual weekend extravaganza of art fairs. As usual, the week’s anchors are The Art Show, presented by the Art Dealers Association of America and featuring 70 galleries offering art by artists of all periods, and The Armory Show, which despite today’s plethora of art fairs, still boldly dubs itself, “the world’s leading art fair devoted exclusively to contemporary art.” If these two fairs aren’t enough to keep you occupied over the weekend, satellite fairs abound and include: Scope New York at Lincoln Center, Damrosch Park, Pulse New York at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Ave and 26th Street, and the Digital and Video Art (DiVA) Fair at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Battery Park. Better get your rest now!
December 2006
If getting to galleries in this busy season is impossible, don’t stress. Shows may be closing soon, but the good news is that several promising ones open this week. Tops among them may be Jenny Perlin’s unconventional video and film work at the Kitchen, based on research into FBI wiretapping in the ‘50s. At the opposite geographic end of Chelsea comes a completely different kind of exhibition: ‘Primitivism Revisited’ at Sean Kelly Gallery which matches classical African Art with work by major contemporary artists (including Robert Mapplethorpe, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Marina Abramovic and more) to demonstrate changing attitudes toward African culture. (Jenny Perlin at The Kitchen opens Dec 15th and runs through February 10th. ‘Primitivism Revisited: After the End of an Idea opens Dec 15th and runs through January 27th.)
For more on the above shows, see:
The Kitchen
Sean Kelly Gallery
October 2006
New York-based painter Yun-Fei Ji’s lively depictions of Chinese village life express equal parts affection for rural ways and disgust at the corruption and ignorance that threatened to make them extinct. Using Classical Chinese painting techniques, he has spent years documenting The Three Gorges Dam project and its displacement of millions of Chinese citizens. What will the paintings show now that the dam’s waters have risen? Find out when the exhibition opens, Nov 17th at James Cohan Gallery
September 2006
Christian Marclay’s last solo show was a memorable installation of 16 monitors arranged in a circle and playing a composition of sounds made by shaking, rattling and rolling objects from the Walker Art Museum’s Fluxus archive. This and other imaginative projects (including one front and center in MoMA’s newly reinstalled contemporary art galleries) ramp up the excitement for his next show, titled ‘The Electric Chair’ after Andy Warhol’s famous image from his Death and Disaster series.
Click for more on Christian Marclay at Paula Cooper Gallery.
July 2006
It’s never too soon to start looking forward to the big fall shows, and ‘Ectopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video’ promises a strong start to the new season. Goodbye nature photography! Nearly 40 artists or collectives will exhibit art that explores mankind’s interaction with the natural world, revealing “new perspectives on the planet that sustains, enchants and - increasingly - frightens us.” (Sept 14 - Jan 7th)
For more on Ectopia, see:
International Center of Photography
May 2006
The group shows of summer are nearly upon us, offering a unique opportunity to discover new artists and enjoy familiar artists in new contexts. Paula Cooper Gallery leads the pack this year with, ‘An Ongoing Low-Grade Mystery,’ an exhibition of mostly minimal artworks that opened earlier this month. It sounds preposterous for a self-respecting gallery exhibition, but the show’s premise - all artworks are predominantly red - somehow manages to work. On a decidedly more serious note, on June 9th, James Cohan Gallery opens ‘A Brighter Day,’ an ambitious show of work that seeks to address the ‘ominous tenor’ of today’s uncertain world. Also noteworthy, the venerable, now rejuvenated performance and exhibition space ‘The Kitchen’ promises an injection of new talent into the New York scene with a survey of video art by Eastern European artists, which opens May 31st.
Every month, New York City art galleries exhibit a new selection of work by emerging and established artists. Planning a visit to the gallery districts is the best way to sample cutting edge contemporary art. What could be better than to be accompanied by your own personal art critic, writer Merrily Kerr? Whether you are a newcomer to the scene or a veteran art lover, my gallery and museum tours are a way to easily and enjoyably sample from the best art that New York City has to offer.