I gotta say

I gotta say that there are more than a few splendid exhibitions on right now in Chelsea that for me ends the year on a bright note (with regards to art that is).

Henry Darger: Landscapes. Ricco/Maresca Gallery.

This show of  Darger’s dreamlike and violent landscapes might be hard to take for some at this moment in time, because well his stuff can be unsettling especially with regards to violence towards children. That said I consider him to be a great artist, totally unique in his vision as weird and fantastic as it is. By now the story of Henry is pretty well known, at least to some. A complete loner and eccentric he worked as a janitor by day in Catholic hospitals in  Chicago and by night he became this visionary artist of distorted fairy tales and reality. His huge body of work was almost lost to us after he died, and was basically saved from the trash by a couple of his neighbors. I love the Vivian Girls these 7 little things who took on all the evils of the world and generally won out against most odds. The show is a little too sparse for me, I love Darger best when there are lots of his work covering every bit of wall space, but this show is a good place for folks not familiar with his beautiful compositions to begin. There is also a very good documentary on him In “The Realms of The Unreal” which I highly recommend.

El Anatsui Pot Of Wisdom Jack Shainman Gallery

Stunning and breathtaking show of El Anatsui’s large scale abstract wall sculptures that he makes with the help of many assistants. These beautiful and compelling works are   comprised of found metals, copper wire, bottle caps and other found materials. Weighty and light at the same time they also are autobiographical in that they recall  El Anatsui’s African background in his use of color and form and texture. They have a textile look to them and at first they appear to be just that until you get up close and realize what they are made of. They loom over you, pull you in and mesmerize with their sheer beauty scale and inventiveness. I also wondered how they made them, did they wear gloves to protect there hands, did they get cut by the sharp edges, and what about eye strain. The one free standing work was for me less successful than the wall pieces and the work does come with the wow effect but I for one am looking forward to his show coming up in February at The Brooklyn Museum.

Henry Moore: Late Large Forms. Gagosian Gallery

Ok I admit it I was never a big fan of Moore’s so you can imagine my shock and absolute pleasure of seeing this magnificent show of his. We usually think of Moore as being an of doors sculptor, big organic forms plopped down in the landscape or in a pool at Lincoln Center which I have always disliked. However seeing these huge and monumental works in a clean very big white space was a complete and totally new experience for me with regards to Henry. Sensual and smooth with wonderful skins of color they can’t help but drawn you in, and yes the great big size of them has a lot to do with their allure. A riveting and majestic  show.

 

Romare Bearden: Urban Rhythms and Dreams of Paradise. ACA Galleries.

Large and beautiful show of collages by this great artist from 1945 to 1988, and should be relished by anyone interested in urban pictorial beauty along with fantastic landscapes and abstraction. There are a lot of stories in these works along with lots of joy, passion and sadness. Bearden has long been a favorite artist of mine and this is a top notch museum quality exhibition of his superb art.

Vincent Hamel Works On Paper. Howard Scott Gallery.

Dutch artist who is new to me gives us a show of 30 intimate (most of the drawings are no larger than 8 ½” by 11”) drawings that are beautiful and engaging because of his use of texture and color. Casually pinned to the walls against white pieces of paper that pull you in to get up close and personal. These are special sophisticated yet eccentric little gems of abstraction using all sorts of materials including acrylics, crayons and ball point pen. A lovely show.

Elisa D’ Arrigo. Some Vases. Elizabeth Harris Gallery

Another artist who is new to me who it seems has returned to working with ceramics after an absence of 30 years of working in this medium. This is a large show of marvelous vases that for me work equally well and maybe more so as quirky beautifully made small sculptures. D’ Arrigo has a great feel for the clay and uses it in wonderful ways creating her eccentric shapes with enticing colors and surfaces. I don’t think flowers are necessarily needed to make these vases come to life.  

Sylvia Iskander. Mother Earth Skoto Gallery

Beautiful exhibition of small elegant stoneware sculptures depicting the female form minus the heads by an Egyptian born artist. They have a strong archeological feel to them and are impressive in her use of rich colors and textures. Iskander works the entire figure front and back and enables us to view them this way. Some of the figures are decorated with fruits and flowers and other decorative elements and have a vessel like appearance.