Now that Roberta Smith has had her moment kicking the New Museum / Koons / Joannou fuckfest can we finally put it to bed. The same should go for everyone who is up in arms over this whole fiasco, because lets face it, in a few months when some bright and shiny show opens and the world starts to talk about it, you will be there. Kissing its ass and air kissing the people you’ve been calling out for the last few months.

So lets just put this behind us and realize that it’s just more of the same. From both the museum and us.

I’m really sorry that Ms. Smith chose this week to comment on the New Museum show, it must have been a really slow news week as far as the art world is concerned. I understand there were only over 100 other once a year events happening within a 20 block radius of the New Museum.

Labels: Criticism, Museums, New York

Sarah K. Rich made my day yesterday when I sat down to read a bit of the recent Artforum. Unfortunately it sometimes takes someone’s death to trigger a critical response about recent trends and ideas that seem to be on the way towards canonization. In her obituary for Kenneth Noland, Ms. Rich starts with an assumption that she finds (happily) to be false about the preciousness of an art object once Mr. Noland has finished, as well as the energetic physical engagement towards his finished art object.

Let me cut to the cash here; The part of this article that impresses me – and gives me hope for future critics and curators is this:

“Now that we are several decades down the hill of popular culture, and we’ve all gotten a better idea of how frenzied and mind-numbing kitsch can be, the formalist advocacy of work that might give the viewing subject a place for the exercise of sustained and quiet attention doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Labels: Criticism, Death, New York, Painting, Washington DC

Douglas Witmer, whose work I've spoken of a few times on his blog, has a show opening tonight at Blank Space (511 25th Street) in Chelsea. I spent a few moments at the install with Douglas and the team at the gallery and before I wore out my welcome I snapped a few pictures of paintings still wrapped in plastic.

Even with that, it looks to be a good show. I'll be there tonight, hope I see you.

Labels: Chelsea, Galleries, New York, Painting

Flesh and Blood, Iron and Steel. This lot is worth more - Joe Strummer

Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle, will open May 12th at the Museum of Arts and Design. Displaying the work of six renowned bicycle builders whose work in metal are some of the high points of this individual craft. Organized by Michael Maharam and Sacha White this survey is presented as part of the MADProjects exhibition series, which explores emerging trends and innovations in the design world.

The twenty-one handbuilt bicycles are at the intersection of design, craft, and art, and include a range of contemporary designs: fixed-gear, road racing, cyclocross, mountain, and commuter bicycles, as well as the stripped-down randonneur, designed exclusively for long-distance racing. The exhibition features bicycles by: Mike Flanigan, Alternative Needs Transportation (A.N.T); Jeff Jones, Jeff Jones Custom Bicycles; Dario Pegoretti, Pegoretti Cicli; Richard Sachs, Richard Sachs Cycles; J. Peter Weigle, J. Peter Weigle Cycles; and Sacha White, Vanilla Bicycles.


Above: a Dario Pegoretti bicycle

Labels: bicycles, Museums, New York

Thanks go to Joanne Mattera for including me in her recent post titled "Color Forms Part 1". (URL) It's nice to be included in such company as Richard Bottwin, Stanley Whitney, and Lloyd Martin to name a few.

So, thanks.

Labels: Galleries, New York

February 6, 2010 from Noon to 5pm

The Museum of Modern Art
Cullman Education and Research Building
4 West 54th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Free and open to the public/ Bring your art books and swap one-for-one with hundreds of donated art books.

Seriously? I get to trade books for other books? - see you there...

Labels: Art Books, Museums, New York

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting

For the mention over at Two Coats of Paint for my and Heejo Kim's show that opens tonight.

And a final reminder that you are welcome to drop by the gallery tonight from 6 - 8 for the opening. Blank Space is located at 511 west 25th street. Hope you can make it.

Labels: Galleries, Matthew Langley, New York

The NYT on Kenneth Noland's death

Joe Cameron on photo book value vs. photo book use (Please Note: A former Teacher of mine) While you are at that site - this is the best photo related blog post ever.

The Daily Batman (see above) is just too good not to share

I thought Lenny Kaye looked great at Robert Miller last Wednesday

Hot Gossip: Word on the street is Manfred Baumgartner is about to sign a lease for a small gallery space in a terrific location in D.C. (DC could use his return, his last gallery in DC was always amazing - I still remember his Joan Mitchell show)

Someone seems interested in the whole Deitch saga, see Green, Tyler (here, here, here, here, and here) - in all honesty, it's a pretty interesting story.

Photo of my show being installed (Below) - Drop by Thursday night in Chelsea if you can. (511 25th Street)

Labels: Comics, Los Angeles, Matthew Langley, Museums, New York, Washington DC

Storefront is a new space by Jason Andrew (Norte Maar) and Deborah Brown at 16 Wilson Avenue near Flushing. The inaugural show opens Saturday, January 2nd, and runs through February 6th.

Opening: Saturday, January 2, 6:00--10:00 p.m.

with Roland Allmeyer, Bill Adams, Michele Araujo, Deborah Brown, Jeri Coppola, Judy Dolnick, Hermine Ford, Rico Gatson, Theresa Hackett, Arnold Helbling, Andrew Hurst, Norman Jabaut, Mary Judge, Justen Ladda, Ellen Letcher, Amy Lincoln, Mathew Miller, Jimmy Miracle, Brooke Moyse, Steve Pauley, Olivie Ponce, Kevin Regan, Aurora Robson, Mira Schor, Hilda Shen, Adam Simon, Stephen Truax and Austin Thomas.

As a side note, I've added this to the Bushwick galleries map

Labels: Galleries, New York

The 5 small artworks that make up this show have a presence and gravitas that holds the room. That's no small feat, because in this day of spectacle over quality and loud over quiet, these artworks have a earthy simplicity that belie number and size.

The surface of these paintings - worked - possibly overworked with light pushing through the center reveal themselves as quiet objects that insist on your attention. They carry themselves with a quiet grace and at the same time require the viewer to spend real time - by this I mean more than a cursory glance at the object. They demand almost a short relationship to pull the most out of the experience.

There is a small bit of writing by Robert Storr that was attached to the invite of the show, he mentions the opaque and implacable quality of the works of HF. I agree. The works carry with them a naturalist palette of deep ochres and umbers that bury themselves in the natural world while at the same time reach and achieve something far different.

Labels: Galleries, New York, Painting

Somehow book news is all over me this week - I'm going with the flow of it - for today anyway. The Strand is having "Art Week" with a nice line up of events starting today and going into next week. All of these events are at the Broadway and 12th Street location as well as being free and open to the public. I'll also admit this is straight from the press release...

Tuesday, December 8, 7:00pm
Lisa Kereszi, whose photographs are in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; and the Study Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, will show images from her new book, Fun and Games.

Wednesday, December 9, 7:00pm
Award-winning photographer Joel Meyerowitz will present images from the project he was commissioned to do by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, collected in the book, Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks.

Thursday, December 10, 7:00pm
Robert Polidori, staff photographer for The New Yorker, shows images of Versaille’s conservation project from his new book, Transitional States/Parcours Muséologique Revisité.

Tuesday, December 15, 7:00pm
Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker and author of Building Up and Tearing Down, in discussion with architecture critic James Russell of Bloomberg News.

Above: Lisa Kereszi, Junkyard office with TV, Trainer, Penna. 2001

Labels: books, New York, Photography

I had the amazing privilege of being invited to an event I'll remember for the rest of my life tonight.

That's a pretty powerful sentence, and I mean every word of it. Earlier today I was at the Robert Miller Gallery looking at the artworks on display at ABMB and was lucky enough to be invited to a performance by Patti Smith to an audience of less than one hundred.

If you've read my blog for awhile you might remember that about a year ago I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Ms. Smith when she was in Washington DC promoting the movie "Dream of Life". In that post I pretty much gushed about my fanboy attitude when it comes to both her music and poetry. So I'll skip that part - but I think you can follow along with that quick description.

I was thrilled to hear her read one of my favorite poems Dylans Dog which was performed in a dylanesque twang as well as a great reading of babeloge (in my mind one of the highlights from her album "Easter". She finished the evening with an acapela version of Because the Night that ended in the crowd singing the chorus.

I think these audio files might be of interest to a few people - they are excerpts (almost complete, but excerpts), but very listenable.

Patti Smith - Babelogue (excerpt)


Patti Smith - Because the Night (excerpt)

Labels: Art Basel Miami Beach, music, New York

For including me in her blog series on artists' influences. I could add a few hundred more names to the list but really that's like reading a end of the year list and no one does that, or do they? She was also kind enough to give a plug to my upcoming show with Heejo Kim at Blank Space in Chelsea.

Anyway, check it out, http://lisapressman.blogspot.com

Thanks again Lisa.

Labels: Chelsea, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting, thank you

So you were probably sitting around thinking to yourself - Hey! I wonder when Matt's going to have a show? Well have no fear this post will give you the basic info for the winter and early spring...

Touch Faith, Semantics Gallery, Cincinnati, OH,
Curated by Jeffrey Cortland Jones - November 7 - November 28, 2009

Matthew Langley / Heejo Kim, Blank Space, Chelsea, NY
January 14 - February 2nd

Labels: Chelsea, international, Matthew Langley, New York, Painting

Bad Barbie By David Levinthal
I made the trip out of Bushwick tonight to see the latest show from David Levinthal this evening. The evening turned into a pop culture night that could only happen in two cities here in the states.

First things first. Bad Barbie is hardly new work from Levinthal in fact it predates his more celebrated work Hitler Moves East a collaboration with Gary Trudeau. The interesting thing about the Bad Barbie images to me is the way the culture of the late sixties/early seventies is clearly reflected and amplified. Levinthal Shows Barbie not as a mild mannered woman hoping to marry the right man (her boyfriend Ken) but as a woman who clearly revels in her sexuality and freedom. You could also say that in these photographs Ken becomes her cuckold while her "mandingo fantasy" is played out with (an african american) G.I. Joe.

Either way you read this, these images are charged with enough thought and minimal theatrics to have a honest sexuality about them. For me that was more than enough. The images have a reality about them that seems for the most part to transform the dolls into characters worth watching.

Off topic, but clearly on the evenings pop culture vibe...
Gossip Girl was being filmed tonight as I was leaving the gallery - that made me stop and think - although I'm not a fan of the show, I know enough about it to know what it is. Comparing that to the free wheeling version of Barbie I just saw, I thought how tame Gossip Girl really is.

I saw Neal Casssdy's typewriter. That was pretty big thrill for me (I'll admit to being a beat generation junkie...). FYI Neal Casssdy is perhaps best known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road among others as well as the driver of the bus in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. He also wrote an amazing book called The First Third.

I found myself in a back room for a moment as well and could swear that I saw some of the Vivienne Westwood clothing that Sid Vicious was known for. I wonder ... nah.

Special Note to Sharon Butler - I came face to Face with Alec Baldwin tonight, ok we look something like each other...

Bad Barbie By David Levinthal is on display until December 5th at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller

Labels: books, Galleries, New York, Photography

Some people treat art exhibitions almost like a race, short sprints from piece to piece, giving each piece a 20-second appraisal before we run to the next one. Slow Art is an informal event that aims to expand an excitement towards art viewing. Open to everyone, Slow Art wants you to look at pieces for ten minutes to an hour to find new and illuminating ways of "seeing" art.

This is a great idea, I can't make it on Saturday - but if you can, do. Remember to register first...

Labels: Museums, New York

Today and tomorrow will be my last articles for the foreseeable future on Dia:Beacon. Not that I won't be writing about it reasonably soon - oh I will. It's just that things do keep moving and I need to respect that.

This will come as a big shock to anyone who has read this blog before. The Ryman rooms in my opinion are remarkable. The rooms are just amazing - super active and really quiet all at the same time, in a way very similar to what used to be called ambient music (the Fripp/Eno variety). They have a quiet power that would not surprise you, or anyone familiar with Ryman's work, but the surprises in the paint and especially the sensitivity of the application of the paint was just phenomenal - almost shocking in it's sensitivity.

For those of you who think white is just white - take a look at these rooms. Every (white) painting shows a different depth and tone that is just not an accident. These are not a painted with a bunch of Titanium White to make them "cohesive". They are clearly an expression that has taken it's time to reflect and absorb what they are doing among each other.

Labels: 70's, 80's, Museums, New York, Painting

I made my fist visit to Dia:Beacon on Sunday and I can tell you right now it won't be my last. I have enough notes and thoughts to write about this trip for the next couple of weeks, but will constrain myself to just the next few days.

I want to talk a little bit about Imi Knoebel's 24 Colors—for Blinky.

I've been interested in seeing this group of artworks since they were first installed in May of 2008.

24 Colors... as it is presented today is a new version from what was presented 30 years or so ago (not that I saw it then - this is the first time the work has been shown in the US). Knoebel's work plays with the viewer and space in formal ways, surprising the viewer with unexpected juxtapositions as well as unexpected color choices. You can even "hear" Palermo's voice in the work (although it is secondary - as the work is clearly that of Knoebel's) These large and expansive artworks hold the viewer and with time the shapes extend themselves outward leading my mind to consider further possibilities that this work could continue to develop. I found the works full of this quality. This was impressive to me because they are all monochromatic (reductive) artworks.

There is a secondary subtext for this work - the loss of friendship between the two. Knoebel's forms that make 24 Colors... are similar to a jigsaw puzzle that will never fit together and none of the artworks has a right angle - the works distill and speak of a messier thing than the formalities of either of the two's work. The work speaks obliquely about friendship and loss.

Labels: 70's, Europe, Museums, New York

Jack Tworkov Against Extremes
UBS Gallery until October 27

Jason Andrew of Norte Maar has put together an interesting overview of Jack Tworkovs career, and I must say, I knew the work, but didn't know the work if you know what I mean. His later work seems to really be driven by his internal process to continue to create and at the same time it fully resonates with his earlier work.

Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Guggenheim for a program of readings from Mira Schor's well edited new publication Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov. Among the readers were Robert Mangold, Robert Moskowitz, and Mary Heilman. I resisted the impulse to go gush over a couple of my favorite artists of all time, instead I was amazed by the number of people from Bushwick who all made the journey north for the evening. Austin and Sharon seem to think the Tworkov/Schor book is the replacement for Robert Henri's book. They could very well be right.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Interested, curious? Then point your browser over to "Art We Love" and take a quick tour this new offering from the Gagosian Gallery. My favorite part of this post is unsaid - but shown right off the front - five Jeff Koons puppy vases greet you upon entry to the "shop".

I can only imagine a traditional bookstore being able to afford one of those puppies - much less five of them. Still it's a interesting concept, and I'm thrilled that someone is willing to try something a little different right now.

Labels: books, Galleries, New York

I stumbled over this on Jeffrey Collins blog. It's got a bit of age to it but is really sound and expands on the basic themes of Rymans work. It runs a bit long (almost an hour) but is well worth the time spent. What I enjoyed about this is that it's less conversation about parties and real estate and mostly honest to goodness focus on approaches and ideas.

A tip of the Hat to Jeffrey Collins for this one.

Robert Ryman
Untitled. 1965. Oil on linen, 11 1/4 x 11 1/8" (28.4 x 28.2 cm).
Fractional gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Austin Thomas gets a nice mention from Roberta Smith in this Weekends New York Times. See the story here.

Labels: Galleries, New York

I'm always interested in how people are presented in a gallery / museum setting. Even more so now that just handling some of the artworks for a staged photo could cause serious damage, not to mention serious social drama if the wrong - or should I say right people are involved.



Betty Parsons standing in a NYC gallery.
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: May 1960
Photographer: Eliot Elisofon




Leo Castelli in his NYC gallery.
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: 1960
Photographer: Eliot Elisofon

Labels: 50's, 60's, Galleries, New York, Painting

Pocket Utopia is not quite over yet...there's still some unfinished business...

Pocket Utopia presents "Business Edition," a one-night exhibition of artist-produced editions and prints, and a selection of the recently inaugurated Kris Graves Projects and Pocket Utopia joint Flatfile and recent editions from 246 Editions

The evening's highlights include:

• a Pocket Utopia limited edition by Adam Simon
  
  
• Recent Editions from 246 Editions artists Sharon Butler (above), Douglas Witmer, Matthew Langley, Steven Alexander, Martin Bromirski, Peter Dayton, Alex Paik, Isaac Layman, JT Kirkland, Susan Dory and Jeffrey Cortland Jones
  
  
• Hand-worked print by Andrew Piedilato published by Randy Wray's Element Editions,
  
  
• Brece Honeycutt's Byproduct
  
  
• A recent Maggie Michael painting op paper from +KGP&PU Flatfile,
  
  
• As well as additional works in progress by Pocket Utopia's current artist in resident, Sharon Butler.

Please join us for a wine reception from 6 to 9 pm

Pocket Utopia
1037 Flushing Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11237
www.pocketutopia.com
L to Morgan Ave.

Enormous thanks to Austin Thomas for helping put this together.

Labels: 246 Editions, bushwick, Galleries, New York

Slideluck Potshow is a non-profit arts organization that produces events in 40 cities globally- delicious potluck dinners followed by multimedia slideshows of a variety of talented artists. The deadline is Monday, July 13th, and the theme is "NOW".

As we are sure you have noticed, there is so much going on at this moment that is new, unprecedented, challenging, daunting, inspiring, aggravating, and certainly worth exploring. Show us what is going on in today’s world: in fashion, architecture, fine art, your personal life, politics, to the planet, your community, or whatever else that speaks to right NOW. One half of the show will be un-themed as well, so don’t hesitate to submit work outside the theme

More info is here.

Labels: New York

Richard Hell's The Voidoid, with drawings by Kier Cooke Sandvik. Published by Josh Smith and Todd Amicon's 38th Street Publishers, The Voidoid is a novelina that was written by Hell in 1973. A long out of print edition was published in 1996 and this new editions comes with bells and whistles: drawings by young Norwegian artist Kier Cooke Sandvik that both re-articulates the work while providing their own brash narrative.

Before Richard Hell's well-known life as a musician began, he was a practicing writer. The Voidoid was written as his life shifted from poet to punk-rock icon and reflects the grimy spirit of that bygone era. Perhaps, the artist himself best explains this:

The Voidoid was written in 1973 in a little furnished room on East 10th St. I was staying with Jennifer (‘my thoughts and me are like ships that pass in the night') in her apartment down the block overlooking the graveyard at St. Mark's Church. The Neon Boys was stalled because we couldn't find a second guitar player... Every day I'd take a bottle of wine with me across the street to the $16-a-week room I'd rented for writing. The method was I'd keep going till I got to the end of a single-spaced page, which was pretty far. I'd wake up an hour later and have to drink a whole lot of water.

Available at Printed Matter:: 195 Tenth Avenue www.printedmatter.org

Labels: books, New York

I've been completely remiss in getting this info to you in any kind of timely manner, for that I apologize. I have just had too much in my "little world" that needed attending to. Thanks for coming back to read the blog.



Douglas Witmer at the Painting Center.
I think by now you know I really like Douglas's work so I'm not going to spend too much time about surface, process nor Douglas's approach that essentially allows his paintings to sit in the world as what they are - paintings not representations of paintings or a desire for these objects to be something they are not. I find this approach really refreshing. It's also a good thing that these are engaging and memorable artworks.

Douglas says "I want to believe that the relationship of painting values inquiry over conclusion." I agree with this and believe that his works might just be doing this.

My two favorites from his show, Field + Stream, were Say So and Is and Isn't. Especially Is and Isn't with its field of deep blue that you can just sink into. The visual above is from the installation of both Say So and Is and Isn't.

This show closed the day after I saw it, sorry about that.



Don Voisine at McKenzie Fine Art
It seems like everyone is writing about this show, so I'm not going to present any groundbreaking ideas here - I just want to say what a soild and well executed show this is. The few moments I spent with the gallery staff showing me additional works was also time well spent.

Voisine gets far too much mileage with what appears on first glance to be a jazz like riff on Russian Constructivism, which is a really unfair thing to say as the longer you spend with the work the voices of others quickly fade into the background and you are left with an artist making smart works that go beyond the traditional geometric sphere of approaches that so many artists have - and he becomes a crafty painter pulling surprises out of very seemingly mundane things.

For further reading on this great show, check out Joanne Mattera's and Steven Alexanders blog's.



LANDSCAPE AS GRID, Lloyd Martin and Johnnie Winona Ross at Stephen Heller.
I entered this show with a set of expectations pre-built in I know both of these artists work very well and the leit motif of the show suited them perfectly. Johnnie Ross's work has parts of a landscape aesthetic this comes through in his titles and verbal dialog, however to call him a landscape painter doesn't quite work for me. Although the impulse is there but, only through the dialog of his work not so much in reading the work alone. Admittedly I see more of the post minimal painters in his work and tend to shy away from the landscape readings - although they are there, quietly in the background.



Lloyd Martin's work fits this perfectly, his gridded abstraction works with the rhythms of the urban environment and recalls some of the high points of early 1960's abstraction while staying away from looking dated and stale, the painterliness of his work is engaging and allows the viewer to stay with the work to find unexpected surprises inside the gridded picture plane.



Gordon Moore at Betty Cuningham.
Gordon Moore's work is new to me, however I was instantly taken with his paintings and paper works that mine an approach that is based not on reduction but of a restricted palette and approach. these paintings with the dissolving grid and neutral colors, have disparate parts that eventually relate to and reinforce the whole image. This connectedness seems to be the lynchpin that holds these artworks together. What becomes very apparent as you spend some time with the work is the expansive vocabulary that seems to come from the work. No matter how restricted that vocabulary may seem from a casual glance.

Highly recommended.

Labels: Galleries, Johnnie Winona Ross, New York, Painting, Paperworks

Yesterday I spoke of how museums must be on the run from galleries and how galleries are able to add a little bit of extra titillation with the impact of commerce around the show. The Metropolitan Museum is showing The Pictures Generation 1974 - 1984 and funny enough, it seems to be the show that is the current blueprint for what is being shown downtown right now. Featuring 29 artists - many of whom are now "big names" in galleries it is no surprise that these artists are in sprit leading the current feel for what is being shown. Thats a blessing and a curse. Because yes, you have the big names; Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, John Baldessari, David Salle, etc. you also have some names that maybe were not as accessible especially to a museum crowd; Glenn Branca, MICA-TV, Thomas Lawson.

The down side to this show is very clear. We are as a culture somehow creating and showing work that is clearly in the shadow of these artists. For some reason we are unable or unwilling to push further away or pull even closer to these ideas and approaches. Granted the pluralistic tendency of the period is hard to get past - however there are people going in different directions that seem to be having at least some success.

I confess to just running out of time tonight with this post - tomorrow I'll be naming names and discussing some of the more interesting shows I saw in my weekend in New York.

Labels: 80's, DC Galleries, Museums, New York

There is kind of an interesting vibe in Chelsea right now - one friend referred to it as a personality crisis, the other was just really blunt and said that it seems the galleries don't know what to do about the current economic environment and how they were behaving in the days leading up to it. Of all of them it seems like Gagossian Gallery had a plan and has started executing it with impressive effect. Temporarily turning his back to his living artists, he has created a blockbuster show that any museum would love to get it's hands on.

Just judging by the simple numbers, when I was there Friday afternoon (2-ish) approximately 250 - 300 people were in the gallery. I was shocked by this, I mean lets be honest most of the time you are in a gallery maybe there are a total of 5 people in the space at the same time. The people were not the same "gallery crawler" types either, many of the men were in suits and women were in dresses and made up - I mean everyone had on a "pretty face". There were more people in the Gagossian show than I saw at the Francis Bacon and Pictures Generation shows at the Met combined. Also the catalog for the show is sold out at it's bargain price of 100 dollars - don't worry a second printing is on the way.

I think the really interesting thing and only time will bear with me on this is that the show is a cultural bellwether. By that I mean if an art show will get as many folks attending as a museum and can sell the work to boot - what exactly is the allure of museums to the buyer or even the viewer? Clearly, and for some time now, "The Gallery" is more culturally relevant than "The Museum". It reminds me of reading Douglas Crimp in the Eighties when he references in On the Museum's Ruins, the Theodor Adorno quote; "The German word Museal [museumlike] has unpleasant overtones. It describes objects to which the observer no longer has a vital relationship and which are in the process of dying. They owe their preservation more to historical respect than the needs of the present. Museum and mausoleum are connected by more than phonetic association. Museums are the family sepulchers of works of art." I wonder if the museum crowd is realizing this - galleries right now have found a highly effective way to become even more daunting as you try to build that world class collection and still get people in the door. People who frankly are looking for spectacle and cultural reassurance (usually the domains of museums) can now add the titillation of money to the mix.

Back to the current mood in Chelsea. There are a few galleries doing some interesting shows - some just seem to be scaling back in a wait and see type mode - I don't think that will have good results - but who knows. More and more it is beginning to appear to me that it's time for artists to develop new lines of connecting to both other artists and the public/collectors - clearly the idea that the gallery to museum approach might not be the straightest line anymore. A DIY approach is slowly taking shape in a number of places helping facilitate the building of a fully realized art community.

I'll hit some highlights in the galleries and studios tomorrow and Thursday.

Labels: Galleries, New York

I'm in new york for the next couple of days, and although I have not yet started the grand gallery walk, I've seen a few things worth mentioning quickly for your weekend pleasure.

Douglas Witmer at The Painting Center (soho) I think this ends this week. Go check it out an we can compare notes when I write more about it later this week.

I don't go to the big museums that often, however I spent a fair portion of the day at "The Met" and frankly have forgotten what an amazing place and collection it is. The Pictures Generation (Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Matt Mullican, et al.)is a great show and delivered about what I thought it would (thats a good thing as they say). After exiting the Pictures Generation I found myself walking through the entrance to The Model as Muse and usually I don't care for this kind of show - esp. in DC when it is all "Dresses of the First Ladies" type stuff. However I really liked the photography - a lot of Helmut Newton always goes a long way.

Deeper in I walked into a room of Clyfford Still paintings and that surprised me. It's unusual, I think to see a museum display that many of his works - in such a large size in one room. It was pretty remarkable and really enjoyable.

One thing however - I stumbled over the "Hirst Shark" as I understand it that has been recently repaired/replaced/remade - whatever it recently has been. It's looking a little bit long in the tooth if you know what I mean. This artwork is going to be a white elephant for whoever owns it - I wish them the best in that.

There is also a very solid Francis Bacon show going on right now - more later.



JT Kirkland is the latest Edition from 246 Editions - prices are as low as twenty dollars. So why not start the arts stimulus package yourself and buy one. www.246editions.com.

Credits:
(Above) Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still (#54), 1980, 8 x 10 in.
(Below) JT Kirkland, Lifecycle, Archival Edition, 2009, size variable

Labels: 246 Editions, Galleries, New York

Roberta Smith mentions in Fridays New York Times that the Picasso show at Gagosian looks better than any museum could without wall text and without admission, it assumes that visitors know how to look at art and it keeps distractions to a minimum.

This is a great compliment on a couple of different levels

1. It shows that Gagosian knows how to put on a show together like it's no ones business - and seeing that this is his business, it's good to see he knows what he's doing.

more importantly,

2. It avoids something that I find annoying - especially in group shows or secondary market solo shows. The approach that the work on display is treated like it's some kind of science project. More and more I see the art presented in a way that the curator is putting a predefined conclusion to the work, while treating the viewer as some schmuck that has never seen a show. The main culprits of this are; overuse of wall text, extensive secondary texts and salon style hanging- usually over a table of pamphlets or oblique ephemera.

I've spoken of this before and I'll probably speak of it again, this approach - the high school science fair approach, is doing nothing for the work, the institutions that show the work or in any real way expanding the range of the art's contextual issues. What it does is serve some kind of limp academic curatorial desire. I've seen enough of that to last a long time.

Labels: Galleries, general notice, New York

Celebrating the 45th anniversary of this groundbreaking work will be an all star ensemble the includes the Kronos Quartet, Himself and original In C performers. Plus an amazing assortment of notable guests such as; Philip Glass, Gyan Riley, Mark Stewart, Dan Zanes and about a million others. This is sure to be an interesting event - I recently saw Mr. Riley perform at the University of Maryland's Bang On A Can event a couple of weeks ago.

Terry Riley's In C is at Carnegie Hall April 24th. Go to www.carnegiehall.org for more information.

Labels: music, New York

I recently saw Guest of Cindy Sherman, the new film about the relationship between Paul H-O and Cindy Sherman. The film follows the relationship between the two for a period of about 6 years and is focused on Paul's story. Ms. Sherman, who is notoriously press shy, in a way is the "Rosebud" of the film.

We are introduced to Paul H-O through the lens of his well known 1990's public access TV show Gallery Beat, and spend the first quarter of the movie learning who he was at the time and how that show become known. We also get to see Julian Schnabel be a dick about the review of his show that the Gallery Beat team films. (I watched that part three or four times - it's fun) What we come to learn is that Cindy Sherman of all people is a huge fan of the show, and following a chance encounter at another opening, Paul eventually gets Ms. Sherman on his show. From there, fireworks happen, trains go through tunnels, and love blooms.

The real crux of the movie starts to happen after this part, and it's an interesting idea. The "lesser half" of a couple is a really curious subject for a movie, or even just conversation. I think everyone has dished about a couple they know at some point - it's just human nature. Paul H-O's world starts to turn and what I liked is that the relationship is timed with the early part of the boom of the art market we have just witnessed and it is quite a document of that time, as well as his personal story. The negative aspect to the film is that this is a one sided story. Ms. Sherman refused to take part in the movie, I'm not sure I blame her. I would have no idea how to handle the situation of my former lover making a movie about our relationship either.

The other downside is Paul H-O, he is a big personality, and I could see parts of that working against him in the relationship, as it does sometimes in the film. I wish I could have seen him a bit less "on camera" if you know what I mean.

Bottom line is this, it's worth seeing. bring friends and go for coffee afterword and dish on all the artworld stuff in the movie. At worst you'll have a great time with that, on the flip side maybe being in an entourage isn't like that show on TV.

Labels: Artland: USA, movies, New York

Interesting article on Dean and Britta about the Warhol soundtrack stuff (see my earlier post here). I really enjoyed this for what it is - it's not ground breaking but the music is great, the screen tests are interesting and really the screen tests from a viewers perspective seem to be about time as much as anything.

via ARTINFO.com.

Labels: music, New York

Last Sunday I was at Pocket Utopia for a blogger meet up hosted by Sharon Butler and Austin Thomas, which was great. It was also great to be able to meet some folks I read a good deal of and to put some faces to names, and maybe make a few new acquaintances, truth be known I'm not as nearly social as I probably should be, so this is something that I saw that would be great for me. You know, I like people and all, but I just don't do openings the way that I should.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, it was great to be in a room where even though not everyone agreed about everything, people still had a ton of respect for each other - and that part was amazing. I've seen it go the other way more times than I care to admit. The other thing that really got to me was how kind and helpful everyone was to me - I knew absolutely no one, also I know almost nothing about Brooklyn because I'm never there, I live in Washington.

One thing that was not discussed and really I only figured it out after I left, is that Bushwick really reminds me of the east village in the early eighties - in all the best ways. The small spaces that are popping up, call them micro galleries, bedsit galleries or what ever, these are spaces that may be open like a gallery or only on the weekends or only for openings. These spaces are really taking the notion of an arts community and putting the community in front of the art part and this is an exciting prospect. If you have followed this blog when I spoke of the Jerry Saltz conversation at Art Basel Miami Beach, this is exactly what he and by extension I am talking about, and am very excited about.

Back to the blogger meet up - probably the biggest question posed to the group was about, for lack of a better word, "Obama art". I think the real thought behind the question was really about hope, and of course I read it as artists trying to makes a fast buck, while others thought that we are really discussing the idea of injecting hope into our art and lives. I think we all need to inject some hope into our lives, but i think that the art we make will continue to focused on the thing that we currently think about - I don't see that changing. I do however think that we are about to have some really great things happen, while at the same time, we will have some large obstacles to overcome.

Labels: Galleries, New York

Hiroshi Sugimoto - 7 days 7 nights at Gagosian
In what was probably the biggest surprise to me, this is probably the most intense and rewarding show currently up right now. In the past, I have never been the biggest fan of Sugimoto - he seemed a little easy, and the images seemed a bit boring - I really thought it was the case of the emperor's new clothes. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life.

Here's the easy part, it's a show of 14 photos. Upon entering the gallery you see seven photos in a line in a pristine white room. Everything is equally spaced it is literally like looking at one line of a calendar. The images are close to identical and frankly at this point I went in and studied the images, they reveal themselves slowly and force the viewer to spend some time with the image to get anything out of it. Then a guard led me into a totally black room, I took a corner and saw another line of seven. The night photos are shown in the black room are displayed almost the same way that Avedon showed the miners in the American West show here at the Corcoran in the early eighties, while the two shows have almost nothing in common they have almost everything in common. Eventually your eyes adjust and the images are popping off the wall. Its almost violent how much info your getting from the images. I started to notice that the images were revealing themselves in subtle ways I wasn't expecting, the blacks and grays are so close that when they finally show the differences between each other it is just amazing.

A question I had leaving the gallery was who is able to print these? I mean your talking about some serious tonal differences that I don't think anyone can calibrate these in a standard darkroom environment, the printing of these alone is masterwork, while the installation is genius. Combined it makes for a very special gallery experience.

I know very little of the official approach of the work, however, ideas of time, motion and stillness become the guideposts of the work in its entirety.

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Ligurian Sea, Saviore, 1993
Gelatin silver print
47 x 58 3/4 inches unframed (119.4 x 149.2 cm)
Ed. of 5



Imi Knoebel at Mary Boone
Have I ever said that the Mary Boone Gallery in Chelsea is like a church? It's just an amazing structure, that certain shows kind of get swallowed up in that great space. This is not one of them.

As a friend of Blinky Palermo, Knoebel currently has an exhibition up at Dia:Beacon of works of his from the late sixties that are dedicated to Palermo, however the new work being show at Boone is really interesting These continue to explore his interest in picture space, support and color. The presentation is just amazing and the images themselves quiet but demanding of your attention.

Imi Knoebel, installation view

Worth Noting: Andrew Moore currently has a pair of amazing photographs up at Yancey Richardson. Although not an exhibit the two images by themselves are very close. Currently hung is new work showing the decay of the american rust belt, the images are sublime and tinged with a warmth that is hard to dislike. These were up in the back area, I hope they are still there if you get a chance to go.

Andrew Moore is also the Producer/Director of Photography of one of my favorite art biographies How To Paint A Bunny, a feature about the life of Ray Johnson.



Jim Dine - Hot Dream (52 Books) at Pace
I know that Jim Dine has ben focusing on his poetry quite a little bit, and upon looking at the current show, I think it's the best thing he could ever have done. This show is like someone took his mind opened it up, dumped it on the floor and threw it all over the place. You have everything in this show it's all there, all over the place and it's all right. Those magnificent drawing of tools he did in the seventies are here, as are photos and sculptures of the recent "Pinocchio" works, as well as Santa Claus and every little bit of detritus floating around his brain. It is a brilliant and magnificent show. It's also messy and fucked up and even stronger because of it.

It's almost unbelievable as well, especially when you consider that it is showing at Pace, not a smaller, but larger risk taking type space.

The work on display means less to me than watching dine take over this space and change it to match the psychographic mood of what he does and possibly how he works. The show is fascinating and inspiring. I wonder if we might be moving into an era where only successful artists will be able to take these kind of risks in a commercial space - I want to see even bigger risks being taken with even bigger approaches getting even better results. This is not the show of an artist who is slowing down, but of an artist that is still looking with his eyes, heart, and mind - and then thinking about it to new and unexpected results.

Jim Dine, installation view



Peter Dayton - Black Boards, White Chicks, part II at Salon 94 Freemans
One complaint - what a pain in the ass to find this gallery. I had mapped it and still needed directions.

Other than that the show is a knockout. Peter Dayton has been on my hit list for the last few months and when I received word that this show would consist mostly of his amazing Black Stella paintings, well, I wanted to go. For those late to the party, here is what Dayton does; (in a nut shell) He plays the high culture/low culture game better than anyone I've ever seen. It's that simple.

The Black Stella paintings play with shared images of Frank Stella's "Black" paintings of the fifties through a filter of the california finish fetish movement of the sixties. Although these have one more layer attached - they look almost exactly like a Stacey Peralta Warp Tail Skateboard deck that was manufactured by Gordon & Smith in the late seventies/early eighties. I should know because every little hessian rocker type kid I knew had one - even me. In fact I had two because my first one got ran over by a car and was snapped in half.

Back to the work, earlier Dayton's that I've seen play with color field painting - usually early Kenneth Noland (his stripes before the targets and chevrons), but these, with the Frank Stella "logo" on the top of the board mimic every important signifier that the real boards had, while using the geometric approach that Stella used. The idea is just so well executed it is hard not to be thrilled with the work. It is a show that asks a little bit from the viewer but returns more than asked with a smart approach and pristine execution along with smart aleck humor thrown in for good measure.

Bonus Play: A great little story told to me in a gallery that day.
I was talking to a friend at a gallery about how bad the Diebenkorn show recently at the Phillips was - and we were bummed because we both really like his work but this was just student stuff that probably was best to be shown as a piece of two for guidance in a larger show as opposed to an entire show of immature works he did while pursuing his masters.

Here's the story I was told. It is similar, but kind of worse.

She was at a show and the curator pulls out this painting from a flat file, that even in the best of times is laced with every bad Aryan stereotype you can think of. it's a blond haired, blue eyed mother in traditional german garb (think sound of music here) with a daughter in front, same kind of features, etc. while in the background it's the alps on the cleanest day that there ever was. Both of the figures are staring up and out to the bright future only illustrated in images like that. She turns to the curator and says "what is this?" The curator without missing a beat says. "It's a Franz Kline".

Labels: Galleries, New York, Painting, Paperworks, Photography, Sculpture

I was in New York this weekend for a number of events, this week will be focused on this event, current offerings in the galleries (Chelsea and the Bowery), notes on MoMA's current hangings and the art blogger meeting at Pocket Utopia in Brooklyn.



Saturday night Lincoln Center's American Songbook presented 13 Most Beautiful ... Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, Composed and Performed by Dean and Britta. (Dean Wareham formerly of Galaxie 500 and Luna, Britta Phillips formerly of Belltower, Ben Lee and Luna) Of interest is the fact that this is the first official musical background played live to any of the Screen Tests since the Velvet Underground performed as part of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

The set is composed of thirteen songs - with each track at approximately 4 minutes - the length of the filmed screen tests. The format of the screen tests and in particular the two presentations 13 Most Beautiful Women & 13 Most Beautiful Boys both comprised of 13 shorts is similar to the tracking of a record album, four minute movies are about the length of a "standard" pop song - so the approach that the Warhol Foundation (I am assuming) has found is a great way to extend the reach, presence and relevancy of these most interesting movies. It doesn't hurt that the music is great either. I believe that there are few musical acts that could really only be effective in this performance the Velvet Underground is the obvious choice (good luck with that), Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate, and Dean Wareham (with any of his past bands or with Britta) are the natural choices. Anyway, I approve of the choice.

Of the 13 songs, 4 were covers all well chosen, for Nico, Bob Dylan's I'll Keep It With Mine, a song Dylan gave Nico for her first album, Chelsea Girls. For Edie Sedgwick, It Don't Rain In Beverly Hills made "famous" by The Tadpoles (I think), Cristopher Popora's I Found It Not So for Mary Wornorov (my current Warhol era crush, also known as Miss. Togar in Rock and Roll High School). Finally a lesser known velvet's track for Lou Reed called Not a Young Man Anymore. The originals all have that amazing blend of "dreampop" and Dean and Britta's take on the duet in the manner of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra or Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry.

The stage at the Allen Room s unusual in that the rear of the stage is a wall of windows allowing the viewer to literally look down Central Park South and gaze at the New York skyline. while the screen tests played on a large screen covering maybe a fifth of the window and the band played underneath. It was great watching the band, watching the movie, and watching the city of New York all interact with each other. I really thought how great that was - these movies and people, which could only have been made in NYC in the 60's could sit inside the current skyline and become more interesting as a unspoken dialog between the three opened up in front of me.

One final note, during the song for Freddy Herko (a dancer who legend has it literally danced out of his window and feel to his death) an ambulance with sirens flashing raced down the street. Found poetry indeed.

Labels: 60's, music, New York, Warhol

Austin Thomas and Sharon Butler are planning to have a Blogger Conference/Think Tank/Pre-Inauguration Party at Pocket Utopia (Brooklyn, NY) on Sunday, January 18.

Bloggers: Save the date. With the long-awaited changing of the guard, we have plenty to discuss. Will the despondent installations of the Bush years and the starry-eyed images of "Obamart" give way to something that's actually interesting? Lets find out shall we?

I'm going - hope to see you there.

Labels: New York, working

Good afternoon everyone. Douglas Witmer's Show Today is the Day opens at M55 Art in Long Island City this weekend. If you can get there you really should.

Douglas Witmer
Today is the Day | New Paintings
M55 Art, Long Island City, NYC
November 13 - December 7, 2008

Reception: Saturday, November 15, 6-8pm

M55 Art
44-02 23rd Street
Long Island City, NYC
Gallery Hours: Thurs-Sun 12-6pm

Labels: New York, Painting

This Thanksgiving, after you give thanks for your whatever your thankful for, Check out this film festival it's the BAM punk film festival. The choices are really UK in scope - but still a great way to finish the holiday.

All are at the BAM / Rose Cinemas

Highlights include (with some personal notes)
24 Hour Party People - This is the Tony Wilson Story (Factory Records) and include cameos by all your fave Factory Folks - look for Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) acting as a roadie/deliveryman

Jubilee - Derek Jarman directed this great film - It's not often played - don't miss it.

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten - This is the recent Bio pic of Strummers life by Julien Temple who also did The Filth and the Fury really a great documentary - esp. before and after The Clash

Urgh! A Music War - This is the Classic IRS records showcase movie. I saw this at the Ontario Theater - X played first then they screened the film. No one was really that up for the film after that - it was still a great time.

Follow this link

Labels: movies, music, New York

Before I get to what I should have known, let me remind you that William Eggleston: The Democratic Camera opens at the Whitney this week.

Ok here is the interesting part. After the Velvet Underground many people would consider Big Star to be the most important bands no one really knows. (Bare with me on this poor choice of words) Anyway I was reading the liner notes to the third Big Star record (it's called either Third or Sisters Lovers) and I stumbled over the name of the keyboard player in many of the sessions - that keyboardist is William Eggelston. Consider me floored.

I'm a huge Alex Chilton/Big Star fan and as close to an Eggleston fanboy as there is - so I thought I would share.

Go vote.

Labels: music, New York, Photography

In the Guardian today Jonathan Jones equates Jasper Johns' Flag painting with The Great American Novel. He very quickly touches base on a number of Meta-naratives that are imposed on the artwork since it's creation in 1954 or 1955. He argues that the flag paintings are a love or leave em' kind of thing.

Jones further asks you to Look closer - to experience the work in itself. Mentioning that the original has fragments of headlines and photographs clipped from newspapers, sunk beneath the soft waxen surface of the work. Clearly he is trying to connect a political resonance with current event with the flag artworks - and I think this is interesting and silly at the same time. However after setting up an argument that is somewhat interesting concept he never delivers. I would have loved for Jones to expand his thoughts on The Great American Novel as it relates to the flag paintings. this seems like an opportunity missed.

The Story is here

Labels: 50's, international, New York, Painting

I first became aware of Susan Dory's painting at the Aqua Art Fair a few years ago when Winston Wächter had a strong showing of her work there. Since then it has stayed with me in a way that many other painters work does not.

Dory's work focuses on the repetition of translucent forms, capsulated shapes and bold color. Dory’s technique, slowly reveals itself through time spent actually looking. Dory states: "I am fascinated by the psychology of color and how deeply personal it is. Color is clearly powerful and influential when experienced yet systematically indefinable, immeasurable in the way it is individually perceived"

Susan Dory: Equipoise runs through November 15.

A quick housekeeping note: I've been a bit behind lately on the blog - my apologies. I do have reasons all of which will shortly be explained, but please do understand that things are getting back to where they were.

Marcel, 2008, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 42 x 48 inches

Labels: New York, Painting

Invites are just starting to come out for Douglas Witmer's upcoming show at M55 Art in Long Island City. Douglas is the man behind the Green Line Art Projects as well as an artist I share quite a bit in common with in thought however methods and materials slightly differ. I've seen a number of the pieces (in various states) and believe that this will be a show worth seeing.

Douglas Witmer Today is the Day runs November 7 - December 13 at M55 Art.

Labels: New York, Painting

The Metropolitan Museum and The Museum of Modern Art have brought out a pair of shows that are at once low key and extreme in the approaches in use or via the work that is presented. I'm speaking specifically of Van Gogh and the Colors of Night and Giorgio Morandi, 1890 - 1964.

Lets start with the "easy" show first. Van Gogh and the Colors of Night seems at first blush to be a blockbuster for the fall season to set up a gift shop to make a ton of dollars and make everyone feel really inspired about the trouble that Van Gogh had in his life. Well, sorry to disappoint, but this is a show without a reference to alcoholism, insanity, his "friendship" with Gauguin, or even his ear. What? it is a small show maybe 30 pieces of art, 1/3rd of which are drawings, its a quiet intense and thematically tight show.

There is a thought that goes like; some people paint the same picture their whole life. While some people continue to search for new things at every turn. Then there is the exception that proves the rule. That exception is Giorgio Morandi. The met has put together a collection that will take repeated viewings to fully grasp the subtleties of this show of primarily the same basic approach and really the same image. If your love is Damien Hirst, this show is not for you.

In an age where I've started to feel that The Met and MoMA (MoMA more so) have started to give short thrift to the classic ideas of modern art versus the impact, glamor and curatorial punch of contemporary art it is stunning to me that these shows, as different as they are, are as powerful and complex as anything I've seen lately.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Shimon Attie at Jack Shainman Gallery
Who know that images of car racing could be so interesting? These are very different than the photos that Andreas Gursky exhibited last winter in that these eliminate the background, taking it to black. Frankly these images are a "Strobist" dream. (I'll get back to that in a moment) these images feel as if they are shot in context, but really upon further looking, they really are studio shots - even with the presence of a prop or two (jersey wall, gas container, etc.) All in all a tight little show - it even had a video presentation that was done the right way.

What the hell do I mean by a "Strobist" dream? There is a web site devoted to photography called Strobist that is devoted to highly effective uses of lighting and approaches to images using less gear with maximum results - these images struck me as something that an avid reader of that site would get jazzed by - in no way am I belittling the work, or the site

Untitled Video Still, Racing Clocks Run Slow: Archeology of a Racetrack, 2007



Andres Serrano at Yvon Lambert "Shit"
These are exactly what you might expect them to be - macro photography of shit. Highly glossy, oversized, stylized, polished and over-saturated. The gallery even smells a little bit like shit - although it probably was just the smell of fresh paint - but anything you smell in the gallery this month or so will trigger that kind of response. I'll have to admit the show as a whole seems kind of easy and for a series of images that are as well done as these are, and don't get me wrong - the scope and approaches of these images is really impressive - still the show was kind of a bore.

Shit (Bull Shit), 2008



Christian Marclay at Paula Cooper
Watching what CM does with the detritus of the recording industry and our relationship with popular music as well as the places where our relationship sits with popular music becomes more and more interesting to me every time I see his work. I have been following his work for quite a while and although this show uses re-occuring subject matter (cassette tapes) the approach is very different and a little bit unexpected. The new work is cyanotypes of multiple exposed opened cassettes, pulled out, dropped down and layered in a way that doesn't allow you to see the artists that have "donated" music to the work.

Highly recommended.

Memento (True Love), 2008


One thing to note: Exhibitions that are hung like high school science fair projects. I'm seeing this more and more in Chelsea as well as a few exhibits here in DC. I think it's sad. I get the idea that these are approaches and mechanics that intersect with some kind or real or imagined anthropological or process based approach, however it rarely is as powerful as I think the artist or gallerist would like. More and more it's a bit like the emperors new clothes.



Peter Dayton at Winston Watcher
Peter Dayton has this really great riff on color field work that plays with it's approach to decoration and california surf culture of the sixties. These are great images that gives the viewer both an intellectual kick and a goof at the same time. Susan Dory, who I've spoken of before was also showing - is continuing to produce great work.

Noland #13 "Surf Bunny Beach", 2008



Josef Koudelka: Prague 68 at the Aperture Foundation
I was not prepared for how much I liked this exhibition. Shot over a period of 7 days during the soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia by Josef Koudelka who would have to wait over 15 years to even put his name on the photos he would smuggle out of the country to show what was happening on the ground when no one could find out anything. This is an amazing show with one of the greatest back stories I've seen in quite a long time. This work has never been shown in it's entirety and is well worth waiting the 40 years it took to be able to show it. It is a powerful and urgent show, probably the best of the season.

Highly recommended.

Russian Tank in Prague, 1968

Labels: New York, Painting, Photography

There is a nice little article about a damaged beyond repair Ad Reinhardt painting on display at the Guggenheim in Artinfo this week.

The show "Imageless" is on display in the museum Annex Level 7 through September.

I found this to be pretty interesting read, hope you do too.

Ad Reinhardt in his studio, New York, July 1966. Photo by John Loengard/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images



Reinhardt’s "Black Painting" (1960–66), photographed under ultraviolet light after laser cleaning at Art Innovation, Oldenzaal, the Netherlands. Photo by James Martin, Orion Analytical, LLC

Labels: 60's, New York, Painting

The above quote is from Marc Jacobs from this months Interview. I know I spoke about Glenn O'Brien's return to the magazine that Warhol founded just recently. In fact it becomes even harder (or easier) to talk about because this issue is all about Warhol - some of you may know that I'm currently going through a bit of a "Factory Phase" (for lack of anything else to say).

I'm drawn to this quote because in my mind it perfectly illustrates Warhols entire artistic oeuvre. When you really start to think about this its really obvious (to me anyway) - his desire to be among the wealthy (and unwillingness to rock the social structure thereof), his straight-forward (some would say deadpan) approach to the subjects he created, and his easy, almost ridiculously simple answers to questions about his work, in effect he was (still is?) respectful and disrespectful.

And I think that is the main thing that drive people crazy about him.
And I think that is the main thing that people love about him.

Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1986

Labels: 60's, New York, Warhol

Sonic Youth & The Feelies

Time: 3:30pm
Date: July 4, 2008
Location: Battery Park
Price: Free

Sonic Youth came on the music scene in the early '80s and continues to be a major force in the indie genre today. Known to "redefine what rock guitar could do," they have created a new sonic landscape rich in alternative sounds. Bring a blanket and come Downtown to enjoy the hits that have earned them a dedicated decades-long following. The Feelies will reunite to open.

This concert is presented with special support from WFMU.

Tickets are required and space is limited. The tickets are free and will be available by reservation on this website starting at noon on Thursday, June 12. There’s a strict limit of 2 per person. You will need to pick up your reserved tickets at one of the specified Downtown locations and times BEFORE July 4th, so please be prepared to do so. The times and locations for pickup will be given to you when you reserve your tickets.

Phone: 212.835.2789
Website.

Labels: music, New York