Newsletter: September 2010
ARTnews review of “Reflection”
If you can’t see the image below, cut and paste the web address below to read the review in the September 2010 ARTnews magazine of the show I curated this past spring at Nathan Bernstein Gallery:
http://i1.exhibit-e.com/nathanbernstein/064c058c.pdf
Rineke Dijkstra at Marian Goodman Gallery
Rineke Dijkstra, "I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman)", 2009-2010, 3 channel HD video, 12 minute continuous loop
For her latest show at Marian Goodman Gallery, Rineke Dijsktra filmed a group of young schoolchildren’s reactions to a Picasso painting of Dora Maar from 1937 at Tate Liverpool. The children, all in uniforms, have such innocence in their responses to the horror that the work, which references the bombing of Guernica, usually instills in its viewers. Though bright colors abound, the sitter’s face is in traditional Cubist form, deconstructed and built up again. Obviously in anguish, Maar’s tears speak volumes about her emotional state. One young boy ponders that like the contestants on Britain’s ” X Factor,” perhaps she is crying with happiness. The viewer never sees the actual painting they are describing in this work nor the other video on view, “Ruth Drawing Picasso.” The second gallery has a video of a little girl sketching the same Picasso painting. The intense focus of this young girl can be seen in her pursed lips and intent gaze; she is quite serious about the task at hand. The only sound we hear is the pencil marking the page in her notebook.
I didn’t find the last video installation, “The Krazyhouse,” as interesting as the works with the younger children but it still provides a glimpse into the self-consciousness of teens that can manifest itself as cockiness or complete shyness. The Dutch artist still appears to be at the top of her game.
Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey at the Morgan
Andrea Palladio, Measured drawing of the Arch of Jupiter Ammon, Verona, ca. 1540, image courtesy The Morgan Library and Museum
Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), had greater influence on American architecture than any subsequent architect since. Simplicity and scale were key themes in his creations and his villas in the Veneto region of Northeastern Italy as well as his writings have been hugely influential. Before the time of Palladio, architects used Rome as a reference for the buildings they created. Palladio took the rules of Roman architecture a step further. And soon, his message spread like wildfire.
Born in Padua in 1508, as a young man he was a stonemason in nearby Vicenza. A mentor took him to Rome in 1541 and gave him the nickname, “Palladio” menaing wise and trustworthy. The ruins of Rome provided “a springboard, rather than a blueprint, for his invention.” At that time, Vitruvius had written the only surviving treatise on architecture but the images from it were lost. As luck would have it, Palladio’s new images he created based on Vitruvius’ descriptions were a hit.
An example of one of his innovations based on Roman architecture is his stepped dome. Originally used in the Pantheon, Palladio used it in his own design for his most famous building, the Villa Rotunda in Vicenza and the Redentore in Venice; it was then subsequently used by many Neo-Palladian architects.
I am lucky enough to have seen the Redentore in Venice which was built in 1575-6 as an offering of thanks for the end of the plague outbreak that resulted in 50,000 deaths, a quarter of Venice’s population.
Many of the drawings on view are formal study designs created after his initial sketches and were only for his use. Later he would make presentation drawings which were used to create a clear vision for the client of what was to be created and included shadow, depth, and decorative details. He employed figurative artists to add scupturee and statues on the facades. There are also polyurethane resin models of many of his buildings in the show.
In 1570 Palladio wrote I Quattro Libri dell’ Architettura (Four Books on Architecture). This time, he illustrated the book with his own works. Translated into many languages, Four Books had more influence than any other architectural treatise before or since as it emphasized domestic architecture and thus appealed to a broad audience.
In the 1600 and 1700s two British men brought Palladio’s drawings to England and that inspired an interest in his work that ensured the survival of his style after his death.
Examples of buildings in the United States that are heavily influenced by Palladio are Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Hoban’s White House, the US Capitol, the US Supreme Court, the NY Stock Exchange and the National Gallery of Art to name a few. Models of these are on view in the last gallery.
Mark di Suvero at the Morgan
Installation show of di Suvero works on view, Heraldic Bourgogne, 1995; Homebody, 2004
Until September 12th you can visit the Gilbert Court of The Morgan Library and Museum and see 2 large sculptures by Mark di Suvero. The courtyard of the museum’s naturally lit addition was designed by starchitect Renzo Piano. Piano always envisioned that the space would display sculpture and he thought his friend di Suvero’s work would, in fact, look best. As a pamphlet that accompanies the work states, “The geometric rigor and simple elegance of the soaring space provide a counterpoint to di Suvero’s expressionist sculptures, which Piano has compared to ‘wild guys’ who have come to disrupt the serenity of the place.”
Di Suvero’s works from the 1950s and 60s were often made of found wooden timbers but his more recent work, created through the operation of a crane and monumental in size because of a serious accident that left him paralyzed and changed the nature of his work, mimics the industrial qualities of the its surrounding architecture. However, unlike the refined materials used by Piano, di Suvero’s materials are raw and expressive. The three works give an energy to the space and enter into a dialogue with the building itself.
Chelsea Gallery Visits: Hot summer fun in the City
Kathy Murphy and Nicole at Benrimon's Grafitti Show
Paula Cooper had a wonderful Mark di Suvero work on view in her gallery, Nova Albion, 1964-65, made of steel and redwood logs. This work was “named after the white cliffs of northern California that were seen by captain Francis Drake on June 17, 1579.” In fact, di Suvero found the wood for this work along those same beaches.
Elmgreen and Dragset, Not Quite the Same, 2003, polyester, painting and plastic
Yvon Lambert’s “Christmas in July” show included the fun work, Not Quite the Same by Elmgreen and Dragset as well as Jonathan Horowitz’s “Free Store” in which visitors brought in belongings to leave and take items they wanted.
Jonathan Horowitz, Free Store, 2010
Ragnar Kjartansson, The End-Venezia, 2009
Luhring Augustine has a solo show on view by the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson who represented the country in last year’s Venice Biennale. In Venice his work fused performance and painting when he created a portrait a day during the Biennale’s duration. All 144 paintings are on display at the gallery. Having been there to see the artist creating these works, it was very cool to see the culminating final product.
Rob Pruitt, Fountain, 2008, tires, ed. 3, Installation at Tanya Bonakdar
Multiple Pleasures: Functional Objects in Contemporary Art at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is a show I was planning on creating; they beat me to the punch. It contains over 150 objects that “blur the boundary between utility and aesthetics in a complex series of compellingly seductive and thought provoking ways.” I loved seeing all of the great works on view including Doug Aitken’s xylophone table, Andrea Zittel’s hooks which were entitled “Vertical Accumulators,” clocks, wall sconces, lamps, chairs, toilet paper holders, Cindy Sherman’s porcelain tea sets, a puzzle by Cecily Brown, a Barbara Kruger chess set, Ernesto Neto stools, Rob Wynne’s fly wallpaper, and Rob Pruitt’s tire fountain. There is a little something for everyone in this show in a range of prices. A fun summer show.
Andy Warhol, Rain Machine (Daisy Waterfall), 1969
On view at Nicholas Robinson Gallery is Warhol’s Rain Machine. Hard to see from this image but the water comes down from two parallel rods instead of one in front of the flower images. It is a crude construction but very interesting. Originally exhibited in Osaka and at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art in 1969, the work has been re-fabricated for this show.
Jo Baer
Matthew Marks has a wonderful show Jo and Jack: Jo Baer and John Wesley in the Sixties on view with works by Jo Baer and John Wesley who married in 1959. Curated by Baer’s son, Josh, the works on view are examples of his Pop work and her Minimalist creations. I love Baer’s graphite and gouache works on paper in the back gallery. The light blue and black pattern on the border has a Native American flavor and is almost totemic. In the larger gallery, works from 1962 by Wesley such asPeacocks and Notre Dame with their muted blue, white and grey palettes, reflect the commonalities of the works of these two artists who shared a studio.
And lastly, do not miss the group exhibition “The Tell-Tale Heart (Part 2)” at one of my favorite galleries, James Cohan which was inspired of course by the poet, Edgar Allen Poe. I love videos by Jesper Just and the one in this show does not disappoint. Also on view are works by Keren Cytter, Maya Deren, Tracey Emin, Kota Ezawa, Nan Goldin and more.
Greater New York at PS1
Installation shot with a view of Zipora Fried's Wardrobe of Knives
Greater New York is a show at PS 1, MoMA’s satellite space in Long Island City, Queens, that occurs every five years. This exhibition was originally intended to showcase up and coming talent in works by local artists. In its third iteration, organized by Klaus Biesenbach, the director of PS 1, around 68 artists have work on view. While the show has some interesting work and I enjoyed my visit, the majority of the works on view were uninspiring. Highlights of the show and works I enjoyed most were: Alisha Kerlin’s photographs; Franklin Evan’s colorful and visually stimulating room installation; Tala Madini’s violent Kentridge-like videos; Deana Lawson’s “Assemblage” –a powerful grouping of glossy 4 x 6 photos of black people hung in a corner of one gallery; Liz Magic Laser’s “Mine” -a video of a surgical exploration of the artist’s purse, and a vitrine close by that displays the contents and the ripped open bag; Zipora Fried’s wardrobe of knives is reminiscent of Doris Salcedo’s use of household items; David Adamo’s The Rite of Spring made up of a floor of baseball bats; Eric Shirreff’s compressed ash/plaster work that is like a mixture of Serra, Tuttle, and Kelly all wrapped up in one; and Naama Tsabar’s Speaker Wall in which multiple speakers are wired together to make an instrument that viewers can play.
David Adamo, Untitled (The Rite of Spring), 2008, baseball bats
Adamo’s work, made up of baseball bats, allows visitors to walk precariously over the unlevel surface which will wear down over the course of the show. In this way, the viewer very much becomes a part of the work.
Liz Magic Laser, Mine, 2009, video
Laser’s video work is a surgery in progress–albeit one of a purse and its contents, shown on view in the vitrine that stands in the middle of the gallery like an anthropological study.
Franklin Evans installation
I have mentioned Evans in a previous blog after I saw his show at Sue Scott Gallery. I love carefully looking around his installations at the papers taped to the floor and walls as well as the balls of tape and scraps of press releases and art articles. The tape hangs from floor to ceiling like colorful bars of a prison cell which form a path through the room.
David Brooks, Preserved Forest, 2010, earth, concrete, trees
85% of all deforestation in Brazil has happened within 30 km of one official road. With a new road being built, the equivalent of 9 football fields of forest will be destroyed every minute. Brooks has “preserved” this section of the forest in concrete as a statement about human’s impact on the environment.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
words
Jean-Michel Basquiat, who tragically died at the age of 27, left behind over 1000 paintings and 1000 drawings. The film, The Radiant Child, about his rise to stardom is based on footage his friend Tamra Davis had from interviews in 1983. Supplemented by interviews with his friends, peers and former dealers: Julian Schnabel, Fab Five Freddy, Annina Nosei, Bruno Bischofberger, it traces his path from living hand to mouth in Manhattan to making it big and selling out his first big west coast show at Larry Gagosian’s gallery in Beverly Hills. The film is a wonderful tribute to his genius and helps to solidify his well-deserved place in art history. I highly recommend seeing it.
Haunted at the Guggenheim
Lawrence Weiner at the Guggenheim
A summer show entitled, “Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance” at the Guggenheim has some good works of art on view. However, I left feeling that the theme of the show itself was quite weak. It was if they needed some way to tie works from their permanent collection together to form a group show, but never came up with a cohesive theme so instead they went with this broad and vague theme that can include almost all types of work. The curator states in the audioguide that the focus of the show is works that all have a shared obsession with the past and with memory. Works that make the viewer rethink assumptions about time and truth. Some do, while other fall short.
Markus Hansen, Curtain, 2004
The show begins with Warhol’s Orange Disaster #5 from 1963. By repeating the subject Warhol imitates the saturating effects of the media and the image begins to lose its power. In the same room is Paul Chan’s 6th Light from 2007. This work would have been more impactful had I not seen in in two previous shows in the past few years. There is also a Rauschenberg on view with his repetition of appropriated images, and works by the Becher’s whose work provided historical preservation of disappearing buildings. I did like Curtain by Markus Hansen made with dust, varnish, glass and breath. The way the work is framed a shadow is cast on the white background giving it a 3-d quality. It is very simple but breathtaking.
Guggenheim installation shot
I quite liked the 26 c-prints by Sarah Charlesworth called Herald Tribune 1977. She appropriated images from the paper and removed certain information so that the focus were the trends on every front page. Each one included an authority figure and a specific geographical locale which reflected world powers. Peruvian artist Luis Jacob’s work Album IV was also interesting. made of 84 laminate panels, he uses found photos from print sources in large quantities to remind us how bombarded we are with imagery.
Also nice was Ori Gersht’s Unknown Land (from the Liquidation series) in which he pushes the limits of the medium of photography to take on a painterly quality. It is a haunting work (pardon the pun). An-My Le, an artist who grew up in Vietnam, recorded battlefield images of the horrors of war with war re-enactors. These works refelct the tension between her own experience and memory and the media’s representation of war. There is a nice work by Walead Beshty, Hiroshi Sugimoto, James Casebere and Idris Khan who transforms the precise images of the Becher’s photographs into something otherworldly. He rephotographs their photos and layers them and in the end result it looks like the buildings are spinning.
The real treat is the just reward for climbing the spiral. On the top level Tacita Dean’s Merce Cunningham performs STILLNESS (in 3 movements to John Cage’s composition 4′3″ with Trevor Carlson NYC, 28 April 2007), 2008 can be seen. It is a performance in time. In all of the projections, Merce Cunningham is lifesize so it is like he is really there with you.
Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other at the New Museum
I Wish Your Wish, 2003 is a wonderful way to start your experience of this exhibition. Visitors are invited to select ribbons printed with a wish and tie them around their wrist. When the ribbon falls off, tradition has it that one’s wish will be fulfilled. The inspiration for this are the ribbons tied to the gates of the Church of Our Lord of the Good End in Brazil. These same visitors may write another wish and put it in the hole so that the new wish can be shared and worn with future audiences.
Rain Rains, 2002
In the above work, aluminum buckets hang from the ceiling and are filled with water which drips out through a small hole in the bottom. The water them drips into the buckets resting on the floor creating a measurement for the passing of time.
First Love, 2005
The title is borrowed from a novella by Samuel Beckett. The visitor schedules a time slot to tell a narrative about his/her first love to a forensic artist. The artist draws this love based on the person’s description and a new entity is created that is part truth, part fiction.
In Walking in Circles from 2000, invisible glue of different sizes is applied to the floor in circles which pick up dirt left from the shoes of museum-goers. Over time, a trail is formed through the gallery.
Born in 1967 in Brazil, Neuenschwander is fascinated by the themes of time, the fragility of life, cycles, etc. As a result, her art manifests itself in a number of ways. This show includes works from 2000-present. It is a small but powerful exhibition.
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