Evidence of the Paranormal

Luca Trevisani, Weaving Constellation, 2005 - i think ideally there is supposed to be more helium in some of the balloons and it should look a little more magical, half-suspended in space...(someone from the gallery has photos on his flickr site)... they must switch the balloons and colors when they realize it's become listless.

Evidence of the Paranormal, curated by Chris Sharp, at Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, CLOSES 1/10.


Marianne Viero, Room No. 18, 2007 - fool the eye. the wooden circle is so sharp and clear it's like inlay, even close... but in fact it's a photo of a table placed on a bed, poltergeist-like.

HAD to see this show to see what Chris Sharp would do... he's the guy who reviewed Joe Bradley's show and wrote "it doesn’t get much more retarded than this".

sooky

RELATED: Joy Garnett has compiled a list of the ten most scathing critical zingers of 2009.

small a projects

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SHOCKER!!! - Went to the grocery store Saturday evening and saw what looked like some kind of art show, in an empty space nearby...

It was the opening for a show with Darren Bader, Justin Beal, Sarah Braman, Corin Hewitt, Bill Jenkins, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Dave McKenzie, Joe Montgomery, Carter Mull, Alex Olson, Amanda Ross-Ho, Erin Shireff, Siebren Versteeg!?!?!?

This is a small town of 5,000, about an hour north of Albany. I work on a farm. There is really nothing here. This was shocking... I was not prepared... my camera ran out of battery. I am still stunned.

Small A Projects' Owner/Director Laurel Gitlen's parents live nearby... she decided to have a summer show up here. WOw. It is a great show in a fantastic space... painting, sculpture, installation, video... I will go back and take photos.

The show is open Thursday-Saturday noon-six, through August 16th. If you come up you could also easily visit Mass MoCA (North Adams), the Tang (Saratoga), the Clark (Williamstown), more. Go to the track. There will be a closing reception August 16th.

Abstractions and Contractions

Benjamin S. Jones background, Lisha Bai foreground.

Abstractions and Contractions, curated by Eun Young Choi, at Lumenhouse.... CLOSED March 29th.


Benjamin S. Jones


Ethan Greenbaum - happy to see these because this is the first time I have come across his work since first seeing it at Buia almost four years ago.

from anaba 11/14/05: "Ethan Greenbaum at Buia - Very much liked. My favorites were the most abstract, more sculptural ones like Person, Window, and Landscape. I think they are painted on sculpted and cobbled together pieces of foam or something. Person is a tall mustard-colored construction; part stop-sign, part hangman gallows."


Ethan Greenbaum, at Lumenhouse, detail.


Ethan Greenbaum, at Lumenhouse, detail.


Sandra Eula Lee.


Ivin Ballen. Ivan Ballen at Pulse.

Liz-N-Val Thursday Special!!!

Liz-N-Val are included in TWO good group shows right now... at Sideshow Gallery and Broadway Gallery.

UNNATURAL ACTS and Other Illicit Thoughts About Nature, curated by Chris Twomey (i think), at Broadway Gallery, CLOSES TODAY THURSDAY 1/15!!! It is only a ten-day show... today is the last day.

Even if you can't get to the show take a moment to check out the youtube announcement all the artists made... short and engaging explanations from each exhibiting artist.

Liz-N-Val at Sideshow. This is a HuMoNgOuS show... lots of good stuff... I'll make another post on it.

Liz-N-Val in ILLICIT ACTS.

Elizabeth Riley told me about this show... Chris Twomey has a freaky video of a dolphin making out with a wolf, underneath a blackened and painted tin-foil tsunami... Kim Holleman has a derelict abandoned little GreenHouse, and some other good pieces... Peggy Ciphers has a painting and installation... everybody is interesting.

Liz-N-Val in ILLICIT ACTS.

LIZ-N-VAL PAINTING.

with Liz-N-Val!!!

RELATED: Liz-N-Val on anaba(!!!), Liz-N-Val on The Old Gold.

Without Walls, at Museum 52

Matthew Lusk - like

Without Walls, at Museum 52 - more than fifty artists on two floors; the artists were instructed only that the walls were not to be used, and given approximate dimensions. The dimensions and layout sort of remind me of Keith Tyson's Large Field Array (which reminded me of Martin Kippenberger's The Happy End of Franz Kafka's Amerika)...  and also the first version of the nearby New Museum's Unmonumental, with the bare walls.

Nathan Carter - little David Smith dreamcatcher thing....

So much personality in the work in this show....

David Altmejd -  a Gremlin thing.

David Altmejd - looks so fluffy and light on the floor.... you need to study it close to see it's made up of casts of open mouths and ears... creepy magic.

i see a howling wolf shadow

can you see it?

Ryan Johnson - his Guild & Greyshkul show looked good.

Anya Keilar - liked her work at Daniel Reich last year...  I guess she is not with him anymore, she's got a show coming up at Museum 52.

The gallery is closed December 21st through January 6th. Show closes January 17th!!!

Beyond the Canon

Ethel Schwabacher, ODE X (Intolerable Shirt of Flame), 1951. 

Beyond The Canon: Small Scale American Abstraction 1945-1965, at Robert Miller Gallery, through January 3rd.

The Schwabacher makes me think of Josh Smith.

Signed and dated beneath the "e" of "Intolerable".

Grace Hartigan, Broken Hammer With Butterfly, watercolor and collage, 1972 - the bent hammer recalls the 1963 Lee Lozano painting.

The Hartigan is in the back, in the office area.  

REGRET that I missed the big Grace Hartigan exhibit at Opalka Gallery, in Albany. We're an hour away and I had the card on the refrigerator the entire time. The Opalka show closed 10/19 and Hartigan died a month later.

RELATED: 

- Gregory Coates at Opalka Gallery.

- disagreeing with Dubz on a Hartigan quote.

- Josh Smith's website.

Begin Again Right Back Here

John Beech, Res #4, 2003, Plexiglass, MDF, foam.

Begin Again Right Back Here, curated by B. Wurtz, at White Columns, Oct 2008.

This is the show mentioned when I posted on Party at Phong's House... two of the best group shows I saw earlier this month. Both are artist-curated medium-specific shows built around central artists... the Chris Martin (painter) show stars Ron Gorchov, the B. Wurtz (sculpture) show grounded by a Sol Lewitt.

Begin Again Right Here included a number of favorite artists... John Beech at Peter Blum was one of the best shows I saw last year.


Nancy Shaver, Bluebox, yellow line, 2004, Wooden box, cardboard boxes, charcoal, flashe, acrylic and house paint.

Nancy Shaver had an excellent show at John Davis earlier this year... including this collaboration with Kenji Fujita. John Davis Gallery ROCKS!


Fawn Krieger, Case Study 67, 2008, Wood, plexiglass, carpet, silicone, plastic, photograph.

YAY to Fawn... I didn't even recognize this as hers.. she is multi-talented, everything is always really good. I'm for Fawn.




Fawn on anaba 2/2/06, Fawn on anaba 2/22/o8, Fawn at the Armory Show.


Diane Simpson, Apron no.5, 2002, mixed media.

Has a fifties vibe... a fetish object, some kind of bondage thing... but this piece is more like samurai armor than a kimono. Diane Simpson, featured on a good Chicago artblog.


the rack.


Vincent Fecteau, untitled, 2006 - had to walk around and around this one.


Gareth Moore, Rock painting Turning Back, 1997/2008, Acrylic paint, masonite, glue - gems painted on gem construction, here is another angle.

B. Wurtz and a number of included artists show at Feature... I will most likely never be invited to show at Feature... nor White Columns (scroll down, haha).

Party at Phong's House

Peter Gallo - it says "Clifford Still".

Party at Phong's House, at Galeria Janet Kurnatowski - good show, curated by Chris Martin.

This was one of the best group shows I saw last week, along with the B. Wurtz-curated show at White Columns. Both are artist-curated medium-specific shows built around central artists... the Chris Martin (painter) show stars Ron Gorchov, the B. Wurtz (sculpture) show grounded by a Sol Lewitt.


Keltie Ferris


forget who.... someone please tell me. also, can't remember this artist's name either. UPDATE: Nora Griffin (?)

The show included 80-something paintings by more than thirty artists. I first checked out all of the work thinking about what I liked most before doing it a second time with the identifying artist list... was glad to discover that two of my "crap" picks were by a kid and an elephant. I should be an art adviser.


Ron Gorchov


EJ Hauser


who is this artist? i had it misattributed for a long time.

Really liked the black Matt Connors painting... but couldn't get an adequate photograph.


Alison Fox

Party at Phong's House closed YESTERDAY... sorry if you missed it.

Hrag Vartanian on Party at Phong's.
Roberta Smith on Begin Again Right Back Here.

National Academy 183rd Annual Invitational

Ben LaRocco, Root 2 Scalar, 2007, in the National Academy's 183rd Annual Invitational Exhibition.

Ben LaRocco's was one of the few paintings I was able to get a photograph of.... also liked Lisha Bai, Douglas Craft, Pat Lipsky, Melissa Meyer, Laura Newman, Barbara Takenaga, Dan Voisine, Betty Woodman.

Ben LaRocco on Charles Garabedian, on Gordon Moore, on Bob Thompson, on High Times Hard Times (me on High Times Hard Times part 1 and part 2).

The Longest Day

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Matthew Fisher and Jon Lutz co-organized a day of art in the park a couple Saturdays ago... called The Longest Day... it was the day after Summer Solstice.


J.D. Walsh, Barrow (Fruity Pebbles), 2008, archival ink-jet print on wood.

KIDS LOVE FRUITY PEBBLES!! Fruity Pebbles has won the hearts and minds of children everywhere... every kid in the park came to ogle this box of giant Fruity Pebbles... they could not believe it.. it's like they were wondering when it would be opened, how big would the Fruity Pebbles be, what is the prize??? They pointed and dragged parents. They tried to get on it. They basically just stood around with wide eyes and huge grins.


Jon Lutz - the man... the blog. The latest post is an artist feature/interview with Patrick Brennan, currently showing at Werkstatte.


Stacy Fisher, untitled, 2008, wood, plaster, hinges, paint

It's two pieces propped together, with a couple different possible positions. The wooden part is hinged.




The palette, plywood, lumpy white plaster, and hints of functional possibilities reminded me of the Kenji Fujita/Nancy Shaver collaboration.


Jaime Gecker, wallwork, 2008, photo laminate, latex, and spray paint on plywood, 3 parts.






FRUITY PEBBLES!!! This kid just kept looking from the box to the group and back again, with that huge smile on his face. His eyes were bugging.

Check out Jon's and Matthew's blogs for more info and photos of The Longest Day, at McCarren Park. Thanks Jon and Matt, this was a great afternoon.