Wow
There’s
quite a bit of wow going on in many of the galleries that are located
in Chelsea. There is also a lot of kitsch, camp and spectacular
spectacular and I expect soon that some artist will come up with an
installation that turns a gallery space
upside down, sort of like one of those amusement rides or that great
Fred Astaire dance routine where he dances on the ceiling. However
right now and for the time being in the galleries there is a glider
plane, a large wood crafted diorama of an airport checkpoint, large
glass chandeliers, wall to wall and ceiling to floor intricate small
kite like sculptures, and large scale kitschy furniture with ceramic
dogs sitting on them surround by lots of bubbles, bangles and beads.
Crowd pleasers all, judging by the hoards swarming in and out of most of
these shows on Saturday. There are also some exhibitions that are a lot
quieter and for me infinitely more pleasing and rewarding.
Jennifer Wynne Reeves. Bravinlee Programs
The Jennifer Wynne Reeves show at Bravinlee Programs is sadly also a memorial exhibition as she passed a month or so ago. These are small and intimate works that while intricate in scale are pretty big in emotional pull. Reeves mixed up her mediums to invent and invite us in to her magical fairytale like landscapes and views, but horribly her life itself was hardly a fairy tale no prince charming rode in to the rescue. There are ships at sea, strange bits of foliage and trees and buttons, bits of wire all mixed up and in with molding paste which seemed to be a favorite medium of hers, with the images generally placed on paper with rough and torn edges. The colors are delicate yet vivid that seem to have a longing for peaceful interludes. This is a show of grace and dignity.
Richard Nonas. Fergus McCaffrey
The opposite of the Reeves exhibit is a large and expansive display of Richard Nonas’s sculptures that I pretty much stumbled on by accident, having no idea that he had a show on. This is a compelling exhibition of simple yet complex minimal sculptures from the 70’s to the present that are made from wood, granite and steel and are placed on the floor and against and on walls. Many of the pieces surprise with their intimate scale and their interruption of the gallery spaces. Even though they are made from impersonal materials they have a hint and feeling of touch. A rich and beautiful show done by an artist now in his late 70’s with more vigor and inventiveness than most artists half his age.
David Hockney. The Arrival Of Spring. Pace Galllery
Very pretty and elegant (it is the Pace Gallery after all) show of the ever lasting British artist’s output of Ipad prints and charcoal drawings of Woldgate which according to the presssheet is in East Yorkshire. These large prints are bright and colorful and easy to like and also appears to be a big crowd pleaser. Hockney depicts the landscape as it changes from winter to spring and is loaded with bright acidy colors almost looking like they are animation cells. The charcoal drawings are smaller and are of course not as flashy as the prints.
Irving Sandler: Out Of Tenth Street and Into The 1960s. Loretta Howard Gallery Impressive but small group show of 8 artists who had deep ties both personal and professional with the art critic Irving Sandler who was a strong presence in the art world of the 1950’s and 60’s especially in the short lived Tenth Street Scene. The show consists of one work each by Ronald Bladen, Mark di Suvero, Lois Dodd, Al Held, Alex Katz, Alice Neel, Philip Pearstein and George Sugarman. The mixture is nice with primary sculptures, figurative paintings and one abstract work by Held along with photo wall labels of portraits of each artist when young. I like this gallery because it generally puts on historical shows on American artists of the 50’s and 60’s.
Left Coast/Third Coast. Bay Area and Chicago Artists. George Adams Gallery.
Large and crowded chunky group show of paintings, drawings and sculptures by a wide open range of artists including Leon Golub, Robert Arneson, H.C. Westermann, Roy DeForest, Jim Nutt, Wayne Thiebaud and two women Gladys Nilsson and Joyce Treiman. The show is bright, colorful and quirky with mostly small scale drawings, paintings and a few sculptures by artists from Chicago (the third coast and California (the left coast). I have to say that I pretty much liked all the pieces here, which is unusual for me.
Jennifer Wynne Reeves. Bravinlee Programs
The Jennifer Wynne Reeves show at Bravinlee Programs is sadly also a memorial exhibition as she passed a month or so ago. These are small and intimate works that while intricate in scale are pretty big in emotional pull. Reeves mixed up her mediums to invent and invite us in to her magical fairytale like landscapes and views, but horribly her life itself was hardly a fairy tale no prince charming rode in to the rescue. There are ships at sea, strange bits of foliage and trees and buttons, bits of wire all mixed up and in with molding paste which seemed to be a favorite medium of hers, with the images generally placed on paper with rough and torn edges. The colors are delicate yet vivid that seem to have a longing for peaceful interludes. This is a show of grace and dignity.
Richard Nonas. Fergus McCaffrey
The opposite of the Reeves exhibit is a large and expansive display of Richard Nonas’s sculptures that I pretty much stumbled on by accident, having no idea that he had a show on. This is a compelling exhibition of simple yet complex minimal sculptures from the 70’s to the present that are made from wood, granite and steel and are placed on the floor and against and on walls. Many of the pieces surprise with their intimate scale and their interruption of the gallery spaces. Even though they are made from impersonal materials they have a hint and feeling of touch. A rich and beautiful show done by an artist now in his late 70’s with more vigor and inventiveness than most artists half his age.
David Hockney. The Arrival Of Spring. Pace Galllery
Very pretty and elegant (it is the Pace Gallery after all) show of the ever lasting British artist’s output of Ipad prints and charcoal drawings of Woldgate which according to the presssheet is in East Yorkshire. These large prints are bright and colorful and easy to like and also appears to be a big crowd pleaser. Hockney depicts the landscape as it changes from winter to spring and is loaded with bright acidy colors almost looking like they are animation cells. The charcoal drawings are smaller and are of course not as flashy as the prints.
Irving Sandler: Out Of Tenth Street and Into The 1960s. Loretta Howard Gallery Impressive but small group show of 8 artists who had deep ties both personal and professional with the art critic Irving Sandler who was a strong presence in the art world of the 1950’s and 60’s especially in the short lived Tenth Street Scene. The show consists of one work each by Ronald Bladen, Mark di Suvero, Lois Dodd, Al Held, Alex Katz, Alice Neel, Philip Pearstein and George Sugarman. The mixture is nice with primary sculptures, figurative paintings and one abstract work by Held along with photo wall labels of portraits of each artist when young. I like this gallery because it generally puts on historical shows on American artists of the 50’s and 60’s.
Left Coast/Third Coast. Bay Area and Chicago Artists. George Adams Gallery.
Large and crowded chunky group show of paintings, drawings and sculptures by a wide open range of artists including Leon Golub, Robert Arneson, H.C. Westermann, Roy DeForest, Jim Nutt, Wayne Thiebaud and two women Gladys Nilsson and Joyce Treiman. The show is bright, colorful and quirky with mostly small scale drawings, paintings and a few sculptures by artists from Chicago (the third coast and California (the left coast). I have to say that I pretty much liked all the pieces here, which is unusual for me.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home