Art Jail

My lovely co-worker, Joyce, (aside from bookkeeper extraordinaire) is an independent curator and recently put together an exhibiting titled "Gauge" at a space call Art Jail. From her website:

Gauge
Participating artists: Tiziana Agnello, John Gagliano, Preeya Jensen, Obermeier-Kraatz with ARTJAIL COLLABORATIVE (Sarah Kuhn, Henri Shedds, David Shull and Kyle Simon)

"Backcountry freedom is being able to shoot your gun, get naked, take risks, revel in the wild and face mortality. The participating artists' works consist of natural materials made of wood, metal, branches, rock, leather and bones, warped by the elements and perverted by vices. The exhibition provokes the audience to gauge the innocence as opposed to the ignorance of the proverbial redneck."

I attended the opening with my husband and we were impressed by the artwork in the show. From an installation involving a tree, dirt and other outside paraphernalia, sheet metal ripped to shreds with shotgun bullets, to the skeleton of a deer, all the artwork really took an interesting look at the backcountry theme from an artist's perspective. The opening was well attended with a band playing a set an hour into the opening and the Little Penguin wine and home made jumbalaya were a nice addition to the usual sour chardonnay you get at an opening. Altogether, a great exhibition to see especially if you are around the chinatown area.

GAUGE

ARTJAIL
50 Eldridge Street, 6th Floor
Between Hester & Canal Street
Metro: F on East Broadway / B,D on Grand Street

Art Jail: Emerging art in Chinatown

Hollis Taggert Galleries

October 8th, 2009, Hollis Taggert hosted an opening for their new show "Marking Modernism: A Decade with Carles, Dawson, and Maurer" which yours truly attended. The show was well hung and an interesting look at artists I am not very familiar with. Arthur Carles was represented well with a number of colorful and very "Modern" looking canvases. Some small canvases were hung along a corridor, which was a well curated space for such little "gems." Manierre Dawson's work, with the exception of a few well placed bright canvases, tended to all be in the beige family and blurred from one image to the next. His paintings were executed well, but not my favorite of the bunch. The prices ranged from the mid-twenties up to about $500,000, so we'll see how the gallery fares with their sales. I was unable to find any Maurer canvases as the exhibition was crowded, so I wasn't able to stroll into as many of the rooms as I would have liked. Overall, I enjoyed the survey of Modernism, but unfortunately was not blown away.

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim Museum's 50th anniversary is this fall, and they decided to launch a Vasily Kandinsky retrospective to celebrate. The exhibition consists of over 90 paintings and works on paper, including one of his most famous canvases, Composition No. 8 (the blog is cutting the canvas in half, my apologies:



I was lucky enough to attend opening night, and it was amazing to see so many of his works together. The exhibition was laid out chronologically, which may be a bit boring for the curators but makes an impact upon viewing. It is easy to see how his style progressed as he was influenced by events during the 20th century. You see his canvases start as realist/impressionist which in turn become very abstract, and once he reached influence by the Russians after World War II, his geometric style was realized. Later in his life, the canvases take on a an almost biomorphic feel as he was influenced much more by nature and science. Interestingly, his style drifts smaller as the years go on, and with more detail, which is sometimes the opposite for artists as their eyesight starts to go.

The exhibition is wonderful and encourage as many people to attend as possible.

Art Gallery Openings in Chelsea

The gallerists were out in droves on this chilly but lovely evening in September. Each year, after the dog days of summer have passed, all the galleries in West Chelsea open their doors to the throngs of art lovers and scene seekers who enjoy being out and around art. Last night was no exception! From West 20th street all the way up to West 29th street, people filled the street with glasses of cheap wine and beer, enjoying the culture around them. A few blocks south, the fashion world was also taking the city by storm with “Fashion’s Night Out,” an evening celebrating fashion and shopping in the city. All of the designer stores and large chains hosted parties with DJ’s, special guests, cocktails and raffles all in an effort to boost clothing and fashion sales in these not-so-happy economic times. What a night to live in New York City!