May Picks
Christopher Chambers
Lots of picks this month. First, the art fairs: From Scope I remember Jason Clay
Lewis’ fuzzy white blob, which turned out to be a rabbit fur encrusted Buddha,
in Max Henry’s curated room. Max is curating a show for Stefan Stux this
May, and there should be more of Lewis’ creations for our perusal among
other choice items. According to Mr. Henry, the artist is also involved in something
or other at 31 Grand in Williamsburg. From the Armory Show on the piers two things
stand out: One of only a few abstract paintings in the fair was a fairly large,
lovely paint and collage presentation of rectangular afro-perm sheets by Mark
Bradford in the Lombard-Freid booth, and the butterfly umbrella 9/11 memorial
installation by Victor Mathews that was curated by Ombretta Agrò.
In the galleries
William Wegman’s works at Sperone Westwater were amusingly witty, as one
by now expects from the hounded fellow. He continues with his vignette theme
of several years standing; this time by pasting postcards to his canvases and
painting in connecting areas so that a jumbled landscape takes form. It’s
kind of a “one-liner,” but a good one.
Thomas Erben Gallery
showcased noteworthy youngster Sarah Emerson’s first solo in NYC. She paints
in the undisputed paint-by-the-numbers cliché of the moment of hard edges
w/cutesy subject matter. She exhibited four acrylic paintings of wildlife enhanced
with little accents of glitter stuff and one floral piece largely composed of
sparkles. I thought the two endearing bucks were only sleeping, but looking back,
I guess they wuz dead. This month the gallery is doing a tandem showing of subtly
textured minimalist paintings by Paul Pagk and sculptures of abstracted fire
escapes, gas stations and other things arté povera. ~ Andrea Rosen Gallery
had absolutely gorgeous paintings by Gillian Carnegie. Now, this was surprising
for this gallery, because the only conceptual bent was in application and technique,
which ran the paint lover’s gamut of lean to fat and back again. Basically
they were figures in landscapes, and one portrait of a juicy hominid ass.
Universal Concepts
Unlimited is putting on an elaborate installation of sight and sound this month
of May; something about the catacombs of a derelict, obsolete luxury ocean liner
– this by New York man Robert Wogan.
May Pick of the
Month goes to Carlo Ferarris at Florence Lynch Gallery. Ferraris makes conceptual
art objects and videos imbued with wry humor and genuinely touching sentimentality.
Two examples (more of the wry varietal than the other) from his exhibition are
a flashlight that somehow shines darkness on lit areas and a microwave oven that
conversely acts as a flash freezer. He has a simultaneous one man show in Paris
at Galerie Corinne Caminade.
-Christopher Chambersimage:
Sarah Emerson
FLATLAND SHADOWS, 2002
Acrylic and rhinestones on canvas
52” x 84”, 132 x 213cm
