September Picks
Christopher Chambers
September Picks
Despite the ups and downs of the economy new art spaces continue to open. Brooklyn and the Lower East Side are such vast subjects that I can’t even face starting a realistic survey, so we will have to settle for a selection of a few new enterprises in Chelsea and a brief mention of a couple of shows that stood out in Williamsburg late last spring. Mind you, this is an opinionated selection; there are quite a few others not mentioned herein.
– Mission: Locate and view David Hunt’s latest curatorial effort (at Space 101 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.A., Earth, Milky Way), titled Burnt Orange Heresy, which is borrowed from a novel about a corrupt art critic by Charles Willeford. The general theme of the show was orange. He included twenty-six catchy artworks, one by each artist. Entering, we were greeted by Ivan Witenstein’s life sized casting of two little kids kissing with painted on flames licking their legs. Lewd text was scrawled around the pedestal. Carl D’Alvia’s Sebastian was my favorite piece in the show. It was an orange painted statue of a cyborg monkey. Lisa Kirk’s mom-me-history stood out, perhaps mostly because of its lack of color, but also it was a strong presentation – a charcoal drawing on white paper of a big eyed girl, in a style like expressionist animae, and a pile of black rocks on the floor below, with a smattering of orange paint that matched the color of the frame. I haven’t the faintest idea what it’s supposed to mean, but it caught my eye, anyway. In the second room I liked Ben Beaudoin’s spiral sculpture on the floor and the glittering panel by Jamie Vasta. As always Mr. Hunt has conveyed the very current, tip-of-the-iceberg sensibility that is the hallmark of his efforts – – He was also good enough to direct me to several neighboring galleries, any one of which had exhibitions up as good or better than anything on view in Manhattan. The most impressive show that I made it to was a Herculean feat of mural painting at Bellewether by Adam Cvijanovic (apparently the entire works can be easily de-installed and relocated). The front room housed a wraparound, floor to ceiling rendering of a crowded beach. Next room placed us in the waves seen up close, and something about the Space Shuttle was last. It reminded me a little of the wraparound mural at Deitch last year, but (ahem), this was way better.
In Chelsea brother and sister Daneyal Mahmood and Kashya Hildebrand have opened an impressive new space on 25th Street. Brother Daneyal is running the New York location, Sister Kashya is minding another gallery across the pond in Geneva (Switzerland). They seem to go for an accomplished, slick aesthetic – September opens with a display of large format color photographs of urban window reflections by Time magazine photographer Jeffrey Aaronson. It’s not a new idea, but he does it well, and at least he doesn’t copy them in paint on canvas. Next month they’ll show solid chunks of color by Kate Dineen. It’s not a new idea, but she does it well, and at least she allows the pigment to stand for itself, and not a simulacrum on canvas. — Jeff Bailey Gallery opens the season with a group show of landscapes, either: 1. painted from life out of doors; 2. from memory or imagination; or 3. from photos or digital images. In October Bailey will host small ink and watercolor drawings “loosely based on existing structures” that appear to be iconic abstractions on blank white backgrounds. – Joshua Briggs and Nick Robinson (former employees of Tony Shafrazzi, who fiiiinaly joined the throngs in Chelsea and will open shortly on 26th Street) actually opened their gallery, Briggs Robinson, almost a year ago, but I think they have their act pretty together and have been running their operation fairly discreetly in a third floor walk up that sorta’ reminds me of Boston for some reason. They’ll kick off the season with a solo by Gregory Ryan featuring abstract cast metal works. — Out of room for now, more Picks next month!
-Christopher Chambers
