What to See in New York: Andy Harper at Danese

London-based painter Andy Harper is having his first solo US show at Danese gallery this month. The show features an array of mostly large-scale paintings and mono prints immaculately displayed in Danese's lofty sky-lit space.

Harper's paintings of abstracted flora and fauna have to be seen to be believed. Across the smooth surface of the canvasses, thin gels of color are scraped, pushed and blotted to create writhing animated vegetal forms that crowd and push each other in densely packed spaces. The colors are hot, emitting glowing patches of light filtering through the shadowy darkness of his undulating plant forms. They are reminiscent of underwater regions choked with algae and seaweeds, or rich lush tropical rain forests. The overall effect is beautiful but infernal.

There is a decidedly hellish aspect to his work, where survival and the ability to flourish means crowding out or covering up some other living thing. The world shown in these paintings emits the strong scent of decay, underscored by the odd bit of bone-like forms and things that resemble internal organs as much as plant matter, wriggling between the leaves. The best works have a kind of all-over composition: it seems important to have a complex randomness here, as if one were looking at a slice of something which expands well beyond the boundaries of the canvas. Some of the works have more obvious imagery, such as femurs and skulls inserted in them as well. This seems a gratuitous and illustrational route to take when the work beautifully presents it's harrowing subject matter without them.

The surfaces and paint handling in all of his paintings is astonishing. Harper has a swift, virtuosic hand with the brush, and the semi-liquid, gelatinous quality of his paint perfectly serves the curvaceous and rapacious forms he pushes across his fields of canvas. There is a true rapport between the way that the images are formed and what the images themselves depict that make being any more explicit with the content seem unnecessary.

Harper's work paints a funny line between being very old fashioned ( He references Bosch, botanical illustration and 17th C. Dutch painting as much as anything else), and very contemporary: the freshness of his mark-making, the all-over surface patterning are like a re-working of Pollock and De Kooning for a post-Vietnam war era.

An online-catalog for the exhibit is available here.


Andy Harper: Recent Paintings and Works on Paper

October 16 - November 14, 2009

Danese
535 West 24th Street
New York, NY, 10011

T: (212) 223-2227
F: (212) 605-1016

Hours: T-S 10-6
Summer: M-TH 10-6; F 10-4

Yarn Theory exhibit at PS122 Gallery is open!

Yarn Theory is now up and open!

I am really pleased with how all of the work interacts together in the space, and was totally blown away by how many people showed up for the opening!

My stars...

This exhibit is NOT about hats, scarves socks or mittens, it is about exciting soft sculptural work, with an amazing variety of forms, colors textures, allusions and imagery. I hope this show gets some attention, because I really think the artists shown here deserve it.

Many are practicing mathematicians, which makes what they produce closer to Modeling structures rather than making sculpture, a distinction I am intrigued by.

I realize that I am hardly impartial, but I do think the show works well, and offers so intriguing surprises....

what to do (with your kids) in new york

As many of you know, I've been curating an exhibit called Yarn Theory, which explores the relationship between knitting, crochet, mathematics and science. It is due to open on April 25th- hey that's really soon!

artist Karen Eubel and gallery director Susan Schreiber have been putting together a stellar set of workshops and events to go with the show. Here is the first one coming up, which promises to be a real treat. Daina Taimina is an internationally known mathematics professor and author of several books.

She INVENTED hyperbolic crochet, and was the impetus behind that huge institute for figuring crochetted coral reef project. Not only is she showing new work with us, but she is also doing this terrific kids workshop- and it's free!
WOW!
so here goes:

A special Yarn Theory event for kids at PS122 Gallery!

"On Sunday, April 26th from 11 -12:30 am, in the gallery we will be hoasting a children’s workshop with Daina Taimina!

Free and open to ages 5 and up.please rsvp with the gallery at 212.228.4249or email ps122gallery@verizon.net

Daina Taimina, a mathematics professor at the University of Latvia for 20 years and now at Cornell University for the past 10 years, crochets objects to illustrate hyperbolic space. While looking for a creative way to teach her students about hyperbolic geometry, she came across a design for paper models by William Thurston for a surface with constant negative curvature. Daina translated the paper models into crocheted objects. She has crocheted many hyperbolic objects since 1997 and has exhibited the works as art at both the Machine Project gallery in Los Angeles and the Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space in Washington, D.C.
This workshop will include an explanation by Daina on visualizing hyperbolic geometry, how to find negative curvature in nature, as well as a hands-on learning session on creating your own hyperbolic plane. "

Tell me that's not great?

for more information on Yarn Theory and all the goodies that go along with it-

see the related blog: http://ps122gallery.wordpress.com/

a picture of Daina's latest book, above.

What to see and buy in NYC:

One way to beat the post-new year's blahs, and it's even affordable!

this event is fun, for a great cause, and you can take home cutting-edge contemporary art at rock-bottom prices. everyone wins, and who doesn't love THAT?

Postcards From the Edge benefiting Visual AIDS

Metro Pictures
519 West 24th Street, NYC

Saturday January 10, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

$5 suggested admission

The annual display and sale of postcard-size artworks donated from 1,650 artists!



Donating artists include:

Martha Lewis, Alfredo Jaar, Cindy Sherman, RossBleckner, Kara Walker, Jeff Koons, Robert Longo, John Waters, CatherineOpie, Glenn Ligon, Tony Feher, Ann Hamilton, Kiki Smith, Nayland Blake, FredWilson, Mary Heilmann, David Armstrong, Carrie Mae Weems, Barton LidiceBenes, Adam Fuss, Jane Hammond, McDermott & McGough, Vito Acconci, JohnBaldessari, Louise Lawler, Marcel Dzama, Patty Chang, Paul Pfeiffer, T.J.Wilcox, Marilyn Minter, Kate Shepherd, Arturo Herrera, Julie Mehretu, EmilyJacir, Jack Pierson, Barry McGee, Slava Mogutin, Rirkrit Tiravanija,Lawrence Weiner, Annie Sprinkle, William Wegman, Yoko Ono, and many, many more.



A list of all donating artists will be distributed at the Benefit Sale

The Benefit Sale -- ONE DAY ONLY!

Saturday, January 10, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

All works are only $75 EACH.

Buy four, get one free.



Works are signed onthe back and displayed anonymously.

Artists' identities revealed only after purchase.

First-come, first served.

$5 suggested admission



The Preview Party

Friday, January 9, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

$75 admission* includes one raffle ticket.



Additional raffle tickets $20.

Your only chance to get a sneak peek at the entire show!

No sales, but one lucky raffle winner selects the first postcard.

More prizes: the new Rizzoli Keith Haring book, a signed Cindy Sherman catalog, artist multiples fromARTWARE editions and Tulip Enterprises.

Special hosts: The Imperial Court of New York.

Plus a silent art auction.

Wine courtesy of Wine & SpiritsMagazine



*Admission for donating artists is waived

All proceeds support the work of Visual AIDS utilizing contemporary art forAIDS advocacy and historicizing the work of HIV-positive artists whileoffering career support



Questions?

Visit: http://www.thebody.com/visualaids/current/postcards2008_faqs.html

Still have questions?

Call Visual AIDS: 212-627-9855

happy 2009

I think this picture about says it all.

2009 has begun. Lets get serious.

Here are some shows to see soon before they end....

In NYC:

Last chance to see the amazing Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night at MoMa:

it ends January 5th.

This is a jewel of an exhibition: small, well curated, riveting. The works are breathtaking in and of themselves, together they create a surprisingly intimate look at Van Gogh's vision, intellect and strength of will. Truly moving. It is worth the sheer emotional drain of setting foot in MoMa and facing the crowds. Don't let the Baroque and rather draconian admission rules (outlined below) deter you.

"Please note: If you plan to see the exhibition Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night (Through January 5, 2009), be aware that gallery occupancy is limited and timed entry tickets are necessary to visit those galleries. Only same-day Van Gogh tickets remain and are distributed daily at the Museum on a first come, first served basis. Members and accompanying guests are not required to obtain timed tickets. Simply present your membership card and/or member guest admission ticket at exhibition entrance.

Online ticket buyers are not required to obtain a timed entry ticket, but can simply present their online ticket at the exhibition entrance on the second floor. This ticket also permits you to all other Museum galleries, exhibitions, and films. Corporate Members are required to obtain timed tickets. "

For more on this see:

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=5634

Also on view at MoMa, in the "drawing" gallery is:
Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave

December 14, 2008–February 16, 2009

This is an uneven but sometimes magical exhibit of watercolors, drawings and collages by the South African artist. Her figurative, erotically charged watercolors make humans look like the fragile sacks of fluid that we are, and hover strangely close to being photographically real while remaining steadfastly gestural. Of particular note is the striking series of portraits of Jesus, taken from various paintings, which cover a wall like mug shots, blurry and impossible to grasp. A revelation.
Skip the collages and feel free to skim past work that doesn't immediately grab you. This show is huge, ungainly and needs serious editing.

see here for more:

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3994&ref=calendar

While you are at it, scoot over to the 4th floor to see the wonderful display of works by Eva Hesse, Joseph Beuys (be sure to read the list describing the materials used in his works), the Robert Rauchenberg combines and the fabulous Claes Oldenburg soft sculptures. There is also a Robert Morris sculpture using mirrors and discarded thread and wool and a Louise Bourgeois Phallus that are must-sees.

There is also a large Sol LeWitt wall drawing, which will remain up until June, 2009. This is more Diagrammatic than many of his other works and has an almost quilt-like feel to it that seems, in contrast downright pictorial.

See that?

Exhausting, right?

Once you get in it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to leave without seeing too much.

Having tasted the LeWitt,

get yourself over to Massachusetts:
to MassMoca, in Beautiful North Adams, for an eye-popping Sol LeWitt wall drawing extravaganza!
you have time with this one- it's up until 2033.

see here for EXHAUSTIVE details:

http://www.massmoca.org/lewitt/

this picure is from the Dia Art Foundation, but you get the idea...

Yes, it does have three whole floors of them.
There are other intriguing exhibits to see there as well, so give yourself time for this one.

If this is beginning to seem as if I endorse huge, barn-like mega-art-warehouses, don't be fooled. I loathe being overloaded and advise picking and choosing what to look at. The very quality of the above two institutions makes them impossible to ignore, despite their objectionable enormousness.

While in Massachusetts, sidle on over to Lincoln ,Ma.

and catch the last few days of "Drawn to Detail" at the Lovely DeCordova Museum.

The exhibit ends January 4th!

see:

http://www.decordova.org/decordova/exhibit/2008/Drawn%20to%20Detail/Drawn%20to%20Detail.htm for details(ha!)

In Santa Monica California:

RUSSELL CROTTY / Surf Works: 1988 - 2008
January 17 - February 21, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday / January 17 /
5 - 7 pm
SHOSHANA WAYNE GALLERY
2525 Michigan Ave. B1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310 453 7535

I love Russell Crotty's work.
A die-hard surfer and amateur astronomer, Crotty has for years been trying to capture and document the motions of the sea and stars. his highly accurate yet personal night sky drawings are wondrous. His surf diaries and drawings more frenetic, more gestural, as he scrambles to capture in an instant the path and shape of a wave and the surfer riding it. This is investigative, passionate, personal drawing at it's best. If you are lucky enough to be in L.A. by all means go...

In New Orleans:

Prospect One, [P.1], the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, opened to the public on November 1, 2008 in museums, historic buildings, and found sites throughout New Orleans.

closes soon: January 18, 2009

Ok, so it's huge too.

but it was also curated by the brilliant Dan Cameron, and takes one on a breathtaking tour of New Orleans, including the Katrina decimated lower 9th ward, and features a really interesting mix of contemporary art's brightest and best.

the website is very nice-see: http://www.prospectneworleans.org/as is all of the design work for this enormous and ambitious project.

If you can actually visit in person, super. If not take a virtual tour and save the wear and tear on the feet. A worthy project truly well-done.

Back In NYC:

the new "Museum of Art and Design" has opened up!

a goofier, more contemporary counterpart to the venerable Cooper-Hewitt, the madmuseum promises lots of fun, great design, and has finally done something nice with that awful building on Columbus Circle- Yay!
http://madmuseum.org/

So- that's a nice round-up to get the new year started, but really- Huge and overwhelming is SO 2008- we all know that in 2009 the vibe is downsized, low-key, low-cost and ingenuity will be everything.

Pink Poodles are SO 2008, don't you agree?

what to see in New York: Petah Coyne- Vermillion Fog

Katrina is on my mind, and apparently Petah Coyne's as well...

Coyne is known for her baroque, globby sculptures and installations that usually have the crafty lushness of a fairy tale gone bad. Her works are always luxurious and ornate.

Here, for Vermilion Fog at Gallerie Lelong, the works consist of swathes of Velvet, plastic flowers, beads and pins, dead birds, and wax. There is a heavy gothic vibe here, a Miss Havisham's wedding cake aesthetic. This funereal splendour can usually get pretty wearying, but this time she's really hit the nail on the head. The works in Vermilion Fog suggest massive Victorian-style funeral effigies for our environmental irresponsibility.

Her installations, with their swirled lengths of purple and black velvet, evoke oil slicks, puddles of tainted water and brackish tide pools clotted with pearls, beads artificial flowers and dead birds. They rise into the air, matted together. What is really interesting about these clusters is the way they writhe and yet are so patently dead- they are glamorous, funereal stand-ins for nature. This is the concept of "nature morte" taken to it's most logical conclusion, with stuffed mallards dive bombing into velvet and flower clusters that look like hurricane thrown debris. I was stunned by these works, both horrified and touched by them.

Less successful, in my mind, are the ceiling hung chandelier-like works shown in the first room, off to the right. The ruffled cozies holding the ropes or cables bother me, they make the works look clumsy and leaden, not aloft and airborne. Also the space was crowded and all one could do was peer in, with orate works like this, it is MUCH more satisfying to be able to wander around it, sense it's breadth and mass in relation to one's own body. My complaint is really more about installation and spatial choices than the works themselves- they looked uncomfortable and a bit ware-housed in that space.

The white wax and fake flower lattice hanging from the right door jamb in particular needs a different space than the ones the gallery offers. It is also a pity that there were no shifts of natural light over the works, no interesting atmospheric lighting at all, in fact. I have no idea if the fault is hers, or the preparators, but the installation of these works is flabby and lacks drama and energy.

Coyne's latest work verges on greatness here : an anger, a helpless fury seeps through the gaudiness and lavish textures to make a veritable wake for our own selfishness and short-sightedness.She has presented an apt and timely as a statement of our collective predicament, using a truly surprising set of materials to do so.

Petah Coyne:

Vermilion Fog

oct 24-dec. 13 2008

gallerie Lelong

528 west 26th st

ny, ny 10001

t: 212 315-0470

http://www.gallerielelong.com/

let the right one in...

Politics is threatening to ruin Halloween. Incandescent Obama pumpkins and Sarah Palin beauty-queen bikini costumes abound.

I know that this is the most important election of my life-time, and that if Obama should not win we are all doomed to horrors unimaginable and a slow painful demise.

Still: don’t let these all-too-real fears ruin the best holiday of the year. This is the time for monsters and spooky escapes, and creatures that exist beyond our own all too mortal coils.
Let loose with the fantastic metaphors and visions of the darker bits within us all!
If you have no kids for carving jack-o’-lanterns or to trick or treat with,no party to dress up for, then by all means hit the cinema!

The best film I’ve seen in ages is also a horror film.
“Let the right one in” Is a surprisingly tender story of a bullied 12 year old boy who is befriended by a vampire, also –eternally- 12 years old. The story is told in a refreshingly minimal way that allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions, and uses sparse special effects to very good use. Set in a grim and unwelcoming Stockholm suburb, with a cast of adult characters who are warty, gnarled and have been buffeted by the world, the film is visually lush and gorgeous, with lingering close ups, details, bits of color. It is a study in the mundane and the wonder that can be glimpsed therein. Sparse in terms of characters and locations, most of the action takes place in the apartment complex that Eli and Oskar “Live” in. The two kids and their relationship, in detail, take up much of the film. This could not be less Hollywood in terms of treatment.

Oskar is a translucently pale fragile boy, who moves awkwardly through his days. He is brilliantly played by Kare Hedebrant; his character shifts from being dorky, slightly dimwitted looking and fearful to being exquisitely and preternaturally beautiful. He shifts constantly, shimmering between the sublime and the foolish. He is ethereal if mortal, while she is earthy and undead. He is fragile, she is a survivor. If this were Hollywood, he would always be beautiful, his relationships with his divorced parents uniformly bad, and his triumph over the bullies absolute. Happily we are in Sweden and things are more complex.

The scenes with his father, which seem to offer hope and salvation, lulls us, like him, into a sense of security and happiness, only to pull the rug out. There is an extraordinary scene between him and his mother, entirely silent, both brushing their teeth, that speaks volumes about the tender aspects of their relationship, and how well he is really cared for. This is my favorite cinematic moment in ages.


But it is Eli, played by Lina Leandersson, who really steals the film. At first appearing to be ordinary and somewhat unappealing- she boasts one of the ugliest wardrobes in a film, ever-this actress can do more with a raise of an eyebrow and a twitch of the corner of her mouth than one would think possible. She looks every bit the part of a gypsy ragamuffin, dark, unkempt, a bit unwashed and neglected. In appearance she ranges from being tiny, defenseless and messy to being strong, beautiful and fierce in the blink of an eye. At times she is overwhelmingly pretty and charismatic, and at other times it is switched off entirely, like a faucet. The special effects are used most on her- what I assume are huge contact lenses, double exposures with an older actresses face, various impossible athletic feats, she is a sad trapped monster with the desire to help and protect. As is the film’s way, much is implied about her without being said: is she Romany? Is the man who “helps” her by slaughtering victims and collecting their blood, someone she met when he was a boy? How many have there been?


Most of the usual vampire tropes come into play, but to very different ends than usual.
The scene where one of Eli’s victims self-immolates to avoid her vampire fate is full of a kind of gravitas and dignity that is unusual, given the theatrical special effect involved.

Things I didn’t like: not many.
The special effect involving digitally animated cats just really did not work too well- though the implications were horrific, and the music was bombastic and too loud. Why have a full orchestra for a film so full focused on spare details and microcosmic close ups? A string quartet, lone violin or cello would have made more sense and blended well with implied Eli’s Romanian heritage.
Lovingly directed by Tomas Alfredson this film is based on a best selling book by author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrost the film script.

Curiously “let the right one in” is the title to a song by British singer Morrissey, a song that never makes an appearance in the film. It is invoked and then, essentially denied. Odd indeed.

“Let the right one in” is currently showing at the Angelika Film center, Houston st.
NYC. visit http://angelikafilmcenter.com/ for more information.

Another good option:
An oldie-but-goodie.

“Rosemarie’s Baby” is at the Film Forum, also on Houston St., NYC for the next week-see http://www.filmforum.org/ for more info.
Polanski’s horror film about witches living in plush New York apartments is also a wonderful meditation on the strangeness of pregnancy. Mia Farrow is amazing as the tile character, as is Ruth Gordon as the inimitable Minnie. A true classic, totally visually stunning. The rather silly ending deflates it a bit- an example of Polanski-esque humor?

Remember, this is the man who made the wonderfully raunchy and silly romp “the fearless vampire killers”, a b-movie send up, starring himself and his bodacious wife Sharon Tate. This confection is a good choice-Netflix perhaps?-for those who prefer not to have nightmares….

October in New York!

This is truly the BEST time to be in NYC; economic-horror-crisis notwithstanding.
The weather is warm and breezy, the light is golden, the leaves are just starting to change color.For some reason, even the air seems fresher....
This weekend, when you are out-and-about enjoying the bounty of the season ( and ignoring the terrors that lurk inside the tv and jump from the news papers)


Why not come and visit me in my studio- or about 100 other artists as well?


I will be participating in the

4th Annual Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour (HOAST),

Drop in and see my new work in the studio I share with fellow artist Asia Ingalls!

Saturday, October 4 from 12 Noon to 6 p.m. and
Sunday, October 5 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Studio Address:
2331 12th avenue (corner of 133rd street ) 3rd floor
(just opposite Fairway Supermarket and right near Dinosaur BBQ)
1/9 train to 125th street stop

To preview our work please visit:
http://www.marthalewis.com/
&
http://www.asiaingalls.com/



HOAST offers a self-guided tour through the wonderful and varied studios and galleries in Harlem, one of New York City’s richest artistic communities. Each year, close to 100 artists participate and 2,000 people attend HOAST .
The event is free and open to the public!

Visit the HOAST information center, located at :

Casa Frela,
47 west 119th st,
NY, NY.
(212)722-8577,

for walking tours guided by Artists and artHarlem staff, or just download a map ,
and guide yourself!


artHARLEM and HOAST
are supported by generous contributions from the Johnathan Tisch Foundation, The AG Aggie Gund Foundation, NYC and Co., the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Times Foundation and Harlem Community.

To download a pdf map and information visit http://www.artharlem.org/



Other great weekend activities:



This show should be terrific, offering rich lush paintings that will make you really wonder(once again) just what all of the palaver about the death of painting can possibly mean.
It doesn't get more lively than this....

Gregory Amenoff, Violet Fall, 2008, oil on panel, 18 x 18 inches© Courtesy Alexandre Gallery, New York

Gregory Amenoff : PAINTINGS

at the

AL E X A N D R E G A L L E R Y

Fuller Building , 41 East 57th Street

New York 10022 212.755.2828

http://www.alexandregallery.com/

October 2 through November 15, 2008

" The gallery will present its second exhibition of Gregory Amenoff’s work focusing on new paintings created over the past two years. These richly painted small-scale works continue Amenoff’s investigation of the natural world and the American landscape tradition. The curator Rachel Lafo, has written, “In his work the outer world is internalized; the inner world is manifested in visible form.” This show will include twenty new paintings ranging in size from 11 x 11 to 40 x 40 inches. "

Added bonus: the Fuller building is just pure NY nostalgia, a really perfect place to visit for that Autumn-in-New-york, Woody-Allen-esque experience.


So, make hay while the sun shines, I always say.
Go look at stuff, clear your head and feed your eyes, it's going to be a long hard winter!
( or, to quote the inimitable Bette Davis: "fasten your seat belts, were in for a bumpy ride!")