In The Galleries

Some good shows on now in Chelsea. Alfonso Ossorio at Michael Rosenfeld. Glad to see this show of his beautiful but generally unknown work mostly from the early 50's. I've been seeing his work here and there of late, and I really like what I see. He was well placed and had money and close friendships with many of the abstract expressionists especially Pollock and you can see his influence on Ossorio's

work, he was also close with Dubuffet who also provided major influence on his art. A terrific show. Also brilliant is the Sol LeWitt show at Paula Cooper. This is a monumental wall drawing that has been reproduced for the first time since it was shown at the 1988 Venice Biennale. This is one breathtaking installation, minimal but rich in color and spectacle. Also I checked out the large Raymond Pettibon show of his drawings that fill the big David Zwirner space. I've always liked his comic like loose free flowing imagery that uses all sorts of pop images and cultural leftovers. He also uses text and all kinds of textures. Also on view at one of the Zwirner spaces is a large show of the late minimal California sculptor John McCracken. The shinning surfaces and bright colors are clear, clean and refreshing, I especially like the leaning planks, these are luscious works maybe a little too pretty. But man the gallery itself is horrible. It's like a badly designed chic hotel, with lots of Zwirnerettes running about here and there. What time is checkout?