Laurie Fendrich: Drawings From the South of France

Wednesday I was privy to an opening for a wonderful artist named Laurie Fendrich at Gary Snyder Project Space. For this series, she received a Brown Foundation fellowship and was off to the south of France to begin her endeavor. What she accomplished over the month was a series of drawings, Rayogram* like in appearance, but done all by hand and with black conte crayon no less. The dialog begins to be apparent after viewing several of the drawings together. The small, intimate drawings take on a life of their own with what appear to be repetitious characters that fade in and out of the dark and light compositions:





According the gallery director, she did one drawing per day, which after seeing the depth and detail of the work is pretty amazing. Along with the 32 drawings, the exhibition also included one of her paintings which used similar unique alien caricature forms, although this time they were in color. I found this quote about her work done a few years ago, “A salute to Russian Constructivism, a nod to Art Deco, a bow to 30’s American Modernism, more than a dash of loony cartoony pop culture. But the combos actually work, forming crisp compositions whose bright toylike colors, suave matings of geometric with biomorphic forms, and skilled painting give the work a decorous pizzazz.”

— Grace Glueck, The New York Times
January 17, 2003

Project Space

250 West 26th Street
4th Floor
New York, NY 10001
phone: 212 929 1351


*If you are unsure of what a Rayogram is, it is a series of photographs done by Man Ray using photo paper and the light projection machine. He placed various materials on the photo paper and exposed them to the light machine. He would then move them around, creating interesting light to dark ratios. Please find an example here: http://www2.kenyon.edu/artgallery/exhibitions/9899/douthat/manray.htm

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

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.

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!