Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
CHELSEA MANHATTAN: A WONDEROUS PLACE
A visit to the galleries of NYC took place on Friday, September 18 of the year 2009.
It was a lovely day.
JAMES TURREL : LARGE HOLOGRAMS @PaceWildenstein
This work, known as "transmission light work", was presented a on large lateral mirrors. I think. Or layers of glass/mirrors. A projection of neon light was shot at the glass in a way that conjured geometrical illusions both within and protruding from the frame. Standing on the side and watching someone else view the image was pretty funny because it looks like they're staring into nothing. The fact that the audience must stand directly in front of the frame in order to reveal the subject is a great way on engaging the viewer. Moving from side to side, and in and out, to make the shapes sway and enlarge, allows for the viewer to get really involved with the work. This was something I had never seen before. It's an innovation in the creation of depth. It's quite curious.
ENOC PEREZ @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash
The artist reveals a strong architectural hand in his work. While the majority of his paintings actually were buildings, it can also be seen in the line of his figures, and more noticeably in the layering of his paint. From far away, the paintings almost seem to have been done with colored pencil; solid areas of color are neurotically streaky due to his palette knife. I was intrigued & confused by the layering and under-painting of his work. I couldn't tell if he was scraping away paint to reveal a bottom layer, or if he was painting around it. Beautifully rich.
BARTHELEMY TOGUO
The artist displayed large ink drawings, installation, and smaller drawings in his first solo exhibition. The ink drawings were beautifully rendered - splashes of color tye-dyed the gray inky areas with ever bleeding beyond the edge. These pieces strongly resembled the ink drawings of Marlene Dumas. The subject matter of these drawings were extremely vulgar - a woman spraying period blood on men and heads vomiting what looked like intestines. I would be interested to see this kind of work with a less-nauseating subject. I thought I would like the installation at first, but ended up not being able to understand what the artist was getting at. The floor was covered in banana boxes. Piled in the corner was an abundance of large plaid "laundry" bags. Four make-shift beds sat randomly in the room. On the beds were high piles of clothing, which were daintily "hidden" by princess-nets. I am assuming that the artist has an issue with laundry.
It was a lovely day.
JAMES TURREL : LARGE HOLOGRAMS @PaceWildenstein
This work, known as "transmission light work", was presented a on large lateral mirrors. I think. Or layers of glass/mirrors. A projection of neon light was shot at the glass in a way that conjured geometrical illusions both within and protruding from the frame. Standing on the side and watching someone else view the image was pretty funny because it looks like they're staring into nothing. The fact that the audience must stand directly in front of the frame in order to reveal the subject is a great way on engaging the viewer. Moving from side to side, and in and out, to make the shapes sway and enlarge, allows for the viewer to get really involved with the work. This was something I had never seen before. It's an innovation in the creation of depth. It's quite curious.
ENOC PEREZ @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash
The artist reveals a strong architectural hand in his work. While the majority of his paintings actually were buildings, it can also be seen in the line of his figures, and more noticeably in the layering of his paint. From far away, the paintings almost seem to have been done with colored pencil; solid areas of color are neurotically streaky due to his palette knife. I was intrigued & confused by the layering and under-painting of his work. I couldn't tell if he was scraping away paint to reveal a bottom layer, or if he was painting around it. Beautifully rich.
BARTHELEMY TOGUO
The artist displayed large ink drawings, installation, and smaller drawings in his first solo exhibition. The ink drawings were beautifully rendered - splashes of color tye-dyed the gray inky areas with ever bleeding beyond the edge. These pieces strongly resembled the ink drawings of Marlene Dumas. The subject matter of these drawings were extremely vulgar - a woman spraying period blood on men and heads vomiting what looked like intestines. I would be interested to see this kind of work with a less-nauseating subject. I thought I would like the installation at first, but ended up not being able to understand what the artist was getting at. The floor was covered in banana boxes. Piled in the corner was an abundance of large plaid "laundry" bags. Four make-shift beds sat randomly in the room. On the beds were high piles of clothing, which were daintily "hidden" by princess-nets. I am assuming that the artist has an issue with laundry.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
! THE NEW MUSUEM !
The artists exhibiting work in the New Museum all contribute to a display of a vast array of social and political inconsistencies and contradictions. As a white American girl who has had a fairly comfortable life, it's these kind of visuals that remind me of the struggles and barriers that people have always and continue to contest in attempts to reach a life like mine: one that is unfortunately unlikely for them to ever obtain regardless of the power in their fight.
EMORY DOUGLAS:
The graphic quality to his imagery combined with large, bold text creates a powerful "in-your-face" effect - an obvious goal of the artist's. The flat imagery and words makes these posters and wall paintings are extremely viewer-friendly. One would not need any sort of prior art history knowledge to understand what his work is about. While I can understand very simply that his work is about the fight for equality and an homage to African-American struggles, it is something that I will never be able to relate to on a personal level.
DAVID GOLDBLATT:
The artist's sequential display of black and white photographs shows the consistency in his work for the duration of his career. This exhibition concentrated on the political corruption and extreme differences of lives and opportunities for the occupants of South Africa. This series acted as an informant to viewer more so than a series of artwork (although the photographs are beautiful.) While one might originally see the pieces only as artsy images, it is the almost overly informative captions that transform the work into news.
Later on in the day I visited the F.I.T. Museum to see the Fashion & Politics show - an appropriate theme for the day. While the themes of the actual works were very different from what I saw at the New Museum, it was interesting to see the role that politics plays in so many different forms of art. When each piece is being made, the artist is probably not considering the idea that what they are creating will turn out to be an artifact, giving tangibility to the time-line of our world's history. Beautiful.
EMORY DOUGLAS:
The graphic quality to his imagery combined with large, bold text creates a powerful "in-your-face" effect - an obvious goal of the artist's. The flat imagery and words makes these posters and wall paintings are extremely viewer-friendly. One would not need any sort of prior art history knowledge to understand what his work is about. While I can understand very simply that his work is about the fight for equality and an homage to African-American struggles, it is something that I will never be able to relate to on a personal level.
DAVID GOLDBLATT:
The artist's sequential display of black and white photographs shows the consistency in his work for the duration of his career. This exhibition concentrated on the political corruption and extreme differences of lives and opportunities for the occupants of South Africa. This series acted as an informant to viewer more so than a series of artwork (although the photographs are beautiful.) While one might originally see the pieces only as artsy images, it is the almost overly informative captions that transform the work into news.
Later on in the day I visited the F.I.T. Museum to see the Fashion & Politics show - an appropriate theme for the day. While the themes of the actual works were very different from what I saw at the New Museum, it was interesting to see the role that politics plays in so many different forms of art. When each piece is being made, the artist is probably not considering the idea that what they are creating will turn out to be an artifact, giving tangibility to the time-line of our world's history. Beautiful.
Friday, September 18, 2009
xoxo ALEX BAG xoxo
In this video, Alex Bag entirely depicts, contradicts, and predicts the behavior of young adults as they attempt to latch on and grow with a world that is simultaneously evolving into a new age of technology and social norms. While some of the video was a little outlandish to me, other parts such as the "CALL NOW" or the punk girls, so appropriately illustrate day-to-day scenarios and nighttime commercials. In her scenes, although she is oddly exaggerating each circumstance, she ends up creating some sort of insight to the future that demonstrates the extremities that we have come to know as "normal" behavior. I love her attitude and concerns, and even more so the shape of her lips.
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