Newsletter: October 2011 (Studio Visits/Gallery shows)
Laurel Sparks Studio Visit:
Laurel Sparks' studio
Originally from Southern California and Phoenix, Arizona, Laurel attended Boston for her undergraduate degree. Initially Laurel was interested in dance but at 15, she made the switch to the visual arts and attended an arts high school in Southern California where her family now lives. After dabbling in drawing, photography and painting, she knew she never wanted to do anything else. She began photographing friends in her own social environment a la Nan Goldin and then moved to sculptural materials, paper making and abstracted assemblage that evolved into material-based abstract painting. The idea of spectacle is a constant theme in her work. But she also sees pattern in everything. At Bard, where she got her MFA, she began using ornate imagery including Venetian chandeliers, Rococo jewelry and Art Deco (both organic and artificial) forms as surrogate flamboyant figures. It was during this time that she feels she came into her own.
Babylon, 2007, acrylic, marble dust, enamel, watercolor, marker, pigment, unpainted canvas, 72 x 48 inches
I found her process to be fascinating. Based on photographs Laurel takes herself or those she collects from imagery that speaks to her in some way, she makes drawings in a sketchbook, breaking things down into abstracted, unrecognizable forms. One example she showed me was a photograph of a chain-link fence with snow on it. She deconstructed the image and gave it life through the use of bright colors. The color inspiration came from something totally different; in this case, it was a field of tulips.
Jubilee II, 2010, acrylic, marble dust, papier mache, small objects, feathers, enamel, marker, pigment, unpainted canvas, 48 x 36 inches
She selects decorative objects as iconography that has a certain relationship to the figure such as chandeliers and Christmas trees. Then she takes elements from different drawings and combines them into abstracted hybrid compositions. Selecting nine or so, she makes large-scale paintings from that work. The names of her works come from what might be influencing her at a particular time and what is thus affecting the atmosphere of the work. Laurel likes her paintings to be human scale because she sees them as a “cast of characters.” She uses acrylic, papier mache, archival pigment markers, gouache, silver and gold enamel all in bright pop and psychedelic colors. Laurel’s work usually has added “doodads” (yes, that’s right I said doodads) that give the work a three-dimensionality. She likes to think of it as costume jewelry for the work adding to the bombastic and decorative aspect of her creations. She keeps these items that range from glitter (a constant in her work) to plastic campy materials in a small trunk that rests on her studio floor. These elements help give the work theatricality.
Crown of Creation, 2008, Acrylic, marble dust, glitter, papier mache, small objects, marker, pigment and unpainted canvas, 60 x 45 inches
The formal elements of her work involve a mixture of geometric abstraction combined with a deconstructed symbol (such as a chandelier) placed in a patterned environment. In her previous series she almost always includes an ambidextrous version of images to throw off the symmetry of the form. She uses pink/red and blue for these drawings which are important colors to her that represent identity politics and androgeny. In fact, she told me that she saw her sister using those colors at a young age and unconsciously, it infiltrated Laurel’s work. Laurel’s work is all about juxtapositions and contradictions: absence and presence; campiness and sinisterness; flatness and depth; excess and emptiness; cheeriness and darkness; colors that initially appear to clash but somehow work together. The works are neither this nor that of any particular element, but both at the same time.
Pleasantville 2010, mixed media collage on archival print on paper, 19 x 13 inches
The reason I was first drawn to her work that I saw in a group show at Dodge Gallery was the seductive quality of the pop and candy-like campy canvases. To just see the works is intriguing enough but to know all that goes into their creation makes me love them that much more. She explained to me that she can’t just work formally; there has to be some sort of symbolic element to the process. She completes immense research on patterns with symbolic history. She travels to experience works in person. We discussed Fra Angelico’s phenomenal frescos in the San Marco convent in Florence, Italy and how seeing images of them completely does not do them justice. Seeing the wings on his angel in “The Annunciation” is a religious experience (even if you aren’t religious). It is these type of experiences that influence her creative process.
Three years ago she had a fellowship in Venice where she spent a great deal of time soaking up the glass chandeliers in Murano as well as the work of great master painters like Tintoretto whose colorful compositions mesmerized her. In 2008 she had an MFA show centered on the Venice works. Art Nouveau patterns filled the background and the chandelier form is barely perceptible but also clearly there (that same juxtaposition again). I am embarrassed to admit that I was so taken with the form and color as my eyes moved across the works from this series that it took me awhile to notice the drips that can be found in all of her paintings. They add to the abstracted nature of the composition. One of the cool things about Laurel’s work is that viewers see something new with each viewing.
Studio view
Laurel loves the fact that she never knows what will happen with her work next. This allows her to shut the door and have closure in order to give full concentration to her new work. Though she did not have paintings of new work to show me, I did see drawings which have a completely different feel. She is excited and scared about leaving the comfort zone of the iconography she has been using since graduate school. The new work is all about pattern and is much more linear. The patterns are based on ancient Egyptian patterns. Nature was the influence for Egyptian pattern; they were flattened versions of the organic world. Laurel explained that these works all begin with text that is embedded into the composition but that is hidden in the completed work. The word is not the point of the work and she doesn’t want viewers to know about them or look for them. The words are simply inspirational starting points that are symbolically based and guide the ritual but are completely non-objective.
Luminous Procuress, 2011, 37 x 30 inches (sheet), ed 20
She also showed me a print she has just finished with Center Street Studios. Since this was her first time working in this medium I asked her if she enjoyed it and she responded that she loved printmaking. Each work has chine collé, glitter and some hand poured white. So though they are editioned works, they each have unique elements. If you aren’t into prints but can’t afford one of her paintings Laurel has also made a series of “collage drawings.” These are smaller works that are made from digital prints of her drawings that she then adds glitter or paint to in order to create unique works of art.
As we spoke I looked around her neat and organized working space. Everything has its place. And though as she explained, her work “has a madness to it,” she is remarkably organized in her process. Color and pattern inspirations hang on the wall: Morrocan Boucherouite rugs, pictures of fancy macaroons and much more.
Laurel’s works range in price from $1250-9000 which is really affordable by art world standards and considering all of the work that goes into their creation. For more information you can check out her website: www.laurelsparks.com
An interview worth reading
Check out this interview with Ryan Gander from artinfo.com:
Here are my picks to see in Chelsea:
Nick Cave-”Ever-After” at Jack Shainman in collaboration with Mary Boone (513 West 20th Street)
Nick Cave, Mating Season
It is about time the general public discover what the art world has known for awhile, Nick Cave’s “Soundsuits” are genius. The work, which is based on the scale of the artist’s own body, attempts to camouflage characteristics that are often used to define people such as race, gender and class. Unlike his previous works which individualized, the works in this show have a bit of a narrative to them and so the figures are connected both figuratively, and in some cases, literally. As one enters the gallery they are confronted with a wall lined with bunny figures placed in differing positions. Perhaps it is a comment on fornication, perhaps just a clever use of fur. Moving further into the space one sees figures connected together into one being. In this show, works are not just about the sound but the opposite, “the abyss of serenity.”
Nick Cave installation shot "Ever-After"
And at Mary Boone (541 West 24th Street)
Installation shot of Soundsuits
The experience at Mary Boone’s Gallery is a nice complement but very different from Shainman’s Gallery. Here, the viewer walks into the main gallery space and a low platform is filled with a forest of quintessential Nick Cave “Soundsuits” made from twigs, beads, monkey sock toys, rugs and ceramic tchotchkes, fur and buttons. In all of his work the materials he uses stir up associations and memories in viewers. Here color and vibrancy bring a smile to visitors’ faces.
Installation shot of Soundsuits
Lee Bae at Nicholas Robinson Gallery (535 West 20th Street)
Untitled (Landscape) 2000, affixed charcoal on canvas
A student of Lee Ufan, Korean born and Paris based artist Lee Bae works in monochrome. While I did not love all of the work, the two works in the bottom gallery made of charcoal affixed to canvas were unique and interesting enough for a visit.
Haim Steinbach at Tanya Bonakdar (521 West 21st Street)
Haim Steinbach, Wild Things, 2011, "Where the Wild Things Are" figure, "Mega Munny" figure, "Mr. Cold soap dispenser, "Kong" dog toy
If you are familiar with Steinbach’s work then this show will not disappoint. In his usual manner, Steinbach uses everyday objects but through positioning and display, raises them to the level of fine art. Steinbach explores the “social ritual of collecting, arranging and presenting objects….and the meanings and associations of our individualized, mass-produced and collective culture. It might be a leap for some viewers to understand what makes a “Kong” chew toy or a “Star Wars” action figure art. But when placed in a certain context with other objects on a bright blue shelf, these functional objects “inspire the seeds of imagination” as the press release tells us. These installations offer a whimsy and relatability that other art exhibitions may lack, but there is also a new appreciation for the formal qualities and beauty of their simplicity.
Haim Steinbach, "Creature" 2011, installation with vinyl "Creature from the Black Lagoon" figure, metal, wood wall board, beam, incline, and wall
Andy Warhol: Liz at Gagosian Gallery (522 West 21st Street)
Early Colored Liz, 1963, silkscreen on canvas
Liz Taylor was the stuff dreams were made of for an artist like Andy Warhol. Her celebrity and highly publicized life filled with drama, scandal, and sex provided the perfect subject for Warhol. She was instantly recognizable and a beloved American icon. He used press clippings, film stills and head shots to make over 50 silkscreen portraits of the actress. This exhibition includes some highlights.
Blue Liz as Cleopatra, 1962, acrylic, silkscreen and pencil on linen, 82 1/2 x 65 inches, image courtesy of Gagosian Gallery website
The first gallery includes iconic images from National Velvet, Cleopatra and a headshot from the early years of Liz’s career. My favorite in that room is Men in Her Life from 1962. In it, she is shown with her third husband, Mike Todd, as well as the man who would become her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher and his then wife, and her friend, Debbie Reynolds. (It was like the Real Housewives of Hollywood way before its time.)
I love the way the second gallery is hung. One wall contains five all silver works (Studio Type) with different printed qualities, some are much blacker than others and some have less paint. Another wall has Liz’s with colored backgrounds in red, green, teal, and yellow. In some of these, the way Warhol painted her mouth, it looks like the mouth of the Joker from Batman extending way past the line of her lips. On the third wall hang the Ferus Type, silver backgrounds with color in her face, eyes and lips. And the final wall has a double silver canvas one with Liz and one blank, and a teal Liz with color in which the silkscreen is textured with lots of negative space.
Paula Cooper– Lichtenstein Entablatures (534 West 21st Street)
Entablature detail, 1975,
I really enjoyed this show at Paula Cooper. The installation of Lichtenstein’s “Entablature” series, made between 1971-76, is wonderful. These have never been my favorite works by the artist but hung in Paula’s space, they look marvelous. Some are hung low allowing for close inspection of the works, while some are hung high as they would have actually appeared on Greek temples at the top of the architectural structure. Forms were completely abstracted during a close viewing of the paintings, but when I stepped back, I was able to gain perspective and make out the subject. One sees the tongue and groove, s-shaped and iconic Benday dot patterns. His use of bright yellows, saturated blues and his use of silver make the works pop (no pun intended). And the front gallery has some great drawing and collages used as studies for the works on view.
Entablature, 1974, 60 x 90 inches, oil, magna, sand, aluminum powder on canvas
Across the street at 521 West 21st (another Paula Cooper space) Bruce Conner’s Falling Leaves: An Anonymous Memorial is on view
Bruce Conner, 2001, ink on paper on cloth and paper scroll
The works on view all date from 2001 and were the artist’s response to the events of 9/11. Known more for his assemblage art from the 1950s, these works seemed atypical. Ink on a paper a cloth scroll is used to paint falling leaves, in some, the coloration of the leaves look like they are made of ash, others are jet black. The works are haunting and elegant.
Ceal Floyer at 303 Gallery (547 West 21st Street)
Installation shot of Ceal Foyer exhibition
I was unfamiliar with the work of Ceal Foyer before going to see the show; I liked it. Like Haim Steinbach, Foyer uses common objects in her work. However, her final product is less accessible and more ambiguous. Why, for instance, does she create a work made of speakers called Line Busy in which the tone of a failed phone call emanates? What is it supposed to convey to the viewer. I preferred Page 8680 of 8680 in which the artist stacks single sheets of paper numbered 1 through 8680 in a plinth-like form. Thus she is making a statement about the art world while at the same time harking back to minimalism and more recent works like Rachel Whiteread’s Plinth created for Trafalgar Square in which she recast the plinth her artwork was intended to sit upon as her actual final work of art.
Vik Muniz at Sikkema Jenkins (530 West 22nd Street)
Vik Muniz, After van Gogh
Just when I begin to feel like Muniz has run out of ideas for materials in the creation of his works, he surprises me. Torn up pictures of magazines (faces of fashion models, religious imagery, text, etc.) are carefully placed in the re-creation of famous works of art which Muniz then photographs. Degas’ Bather, Caillebotte’s Floor Scrapers, as well as works by Eakins, Courbet, Cezanne and van Gogh are all used as inspiration. Peanut butter and jelly, ashes, diamonds, junk and now magazine scraps. What will he think of next?
detail
Richard Serra at Gagosian Gallery (West 24th Street)
Serra, Junction, 2011, weatherproof steel
I never tire of seeing works by Richard Serra. As the press release states Serra explains, “I attempt to use sculptural form to make space distinct.” He does a damn good job of it. The ribbons of steel feel both heavy as if they will collapse in on you due to their immensity, and weightless at the same time when you enter into an open space. The labyrinths he creates to fill the space cannot be captured in images–you have to experience this work to fully appreciate it. Be sure not to miss the paintstick drawing in the window viewed from the street on 24th.
Serra, Cycle, 2010, weatherproof steel
Do Ho Suh “Home Within Home” at Lehman Maupin (540 West 26th Street)
Fallen Star 1/5 2008-2011
detail of Fallen Star 1/5
exterior shot of Fallen Star 1/5
If you look back on earlier blog entries, you will see that I have been following the career of Do Ho Suh for years. I think he is a very interesting artist. Coming to the United States to study at RISD in 1991, Suh felt out of sorts. Thus his work has since been about “cultural displacement and the co-existence of cultural identities.” His work is deeply personal and intimate and activates viewers’ own experiences of memories of certain places and spaces. As one enters the space s/he is confronted with what appears at first to be an enlarged doll house. The immaculate detail in the rooms is unbelievable, food in the refrigerator, a newspaper lying on a bed, etc. One could spend hours combing through the fine details of the space. But as one rounds the corner to view the exterior of the home, they are surprised to see that another smaller Asian home has crashed into the larger one. Based on a story that Suh created about his own journey form Korea to Providence, RI, this work shows his Korean home “being dropped from the sky” into the Rhode Island home he would occupy. In some ways, Suh did in fact bring his Korean home with him, in his mind.
wall of objects in fabric
Home within Home, 2008-2011, translucent resin
In Home Within Home, there is a seamless union of both Suh’s Korean home and his Providence home. The walls in the main gallery have wonderful drawings and fabric objects that are “replicas of objects remaining in his New York home if all of its walls were to be removed.” Light switches, a toilet seat, a sink, and an ice tray are all sewn in blue transparent fabric. Again, the detail is what makes these works so astounding. As a person who moved a lot as a child, I struggle to remember details of the homes my family has occupied. I am envious of Suh’s memory.
Leandro Erlich “Two Different Tomorrows” at Sean Kelly Gallery ( 528 West 29th Street)
Stuck Elevator, 2011
Elevator Maze, 2011
This installation, full of elevators, is amazing! The first gallery has an elevator stuck between two floors, a maze of elevators waits for the viewer in the next gallery which leads to an elevator shaft turned on its side, and finally elevator doors which open to a video of people filmed in an actual elevator in Tokyo. All of these experiences of a common object tweaked in some manner make the viewer question what is real.
Elevator Shaft, 2011
Elevator Pitch, 2011
Just for fun:
Robert Melee at Andrew Kreps (525 West 22nd Street)
installation view of the exhibition "Triscuit Obfuscation" by Robert Melee
Once one enters the world of Robert Melee they see a bit of performance, video, assemblage and painting. Kitschy colors can be found on everything. Objects with colored drips look like melted candle wax and bleachers with faux marble stairs offer a viewing area for the shrine-like structures housing videos.
And if you have time:
Keren Cytter’s videos at Zach Feuer (548 West 22nd Street)
Amy Cutler’s prints, drawings and paintings of fantasy worlds at Leslie Tonkonow (535 West 22nd Street)
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