Red Grooms:Torn From The Pages II at Marlborough Gallery March 19 – April 19, 2014

Red Grooms at Marlborough Gallery

Red Grooms: Torn From The Pages II

at Marlborough Gallery

March 19 – April 19, 2014

Commentary by Hanne H7L, NowJournal.com

 Here in Red Grooms new work of nineteen small mixed media three-dimensional constructions Red Grooms  continues to celebrate other artists and their work.

We find Joseph Cornell of course in a box with blue sand juxtaposed with an object in “Sandtrap”.

The red haired Yayoi Kusama in “Galactic Orbs” is seen in three dimensions with her famous colorful dots all over created by watercolor, acrylic, ink and digital print on illustration and foam board.

 

Red naturally selected lots of colors to depict Frida Kahlo and her mexican house in “Casa Azul”.  Frida is clearly in the foreground and in the background is seen her husband Diego Rivera.

There is as always with Red’s work playfullness and a lot of things going on with the use of many different materials. In this exhibit Red has incorporated collages from magazines with other media.

One leaves the exhibit feeling uplifted.

“Sandtrap” (Joseph Cornell) 2013. watercolor, acrylic and ink on magazine pages and foam board.

“Galactic Orbs” (Yayoi Kusama), 2013. watercolor, acrylic, ink and digital print on illustration board and foam board.

“Casa Azul” (Frieda Khalo, Diego Rivera), 2013. watercolor, acrylic and ink on magazine pages and digital reproduction on illustration board.

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Some of the Highlights from the Hamptons November 2013

Some of the Highlights from the Hamptons November 2013:   Parrish Art Museum, The Drawing Room and Peter Marcelle Gallery

Photos and comments by Hanne H7L

This past weekend in the Hamptons offered up a veritable smörgåsbord of art to see, starting at the Parrish Art Museum’s Artists Choose Artist exhibition. A juried exhibition pairing established artists of the East End with a multitude of multi-generational artists of the area, there was no shortage of art to astound smattering the walls everywhere you turned.  I must say that the highlight for me was without a doubt the juxtaposition of

Laurie Anderson’s colossal charcoal drawing “Lolabelle in the Bardo” depicting her dog and the bare feet and coffee mug-baring hand of who is no doubt meant to be her late husband Lou Reed with the artists’ work of her choosing. The mixed media piece by Elizabeth Dow “Memory of a Perfect Day,” striking in its unconventional vertical panoramic dimensions served as an all too timely inclusion in coincidental tribute as well. By extension, Mary McCormick’s “Dream in a Blue Room” depicting a foreboding vision from a dream of six floating coffins for the six members of her nuclear family proved an ominous and oddly synchronic inclusion in itself.

Elizabeth Dow, “Memory of a Perfect Day”, Mixed media

Mary McCormick, “Dream in a Blue Room”

In commemoration of the Parrish’s one year in their new space, highlights from their permanent collection abounded as well. Apropos of local artists, of particular note to me was Jennifer Bartlett’s “Amagansett Diptych #1,” its textural qualities evocative of the late work of Gerhard Richter or Chuck Close in their deconstruction of a photographic aesthetic sensibility. An amusing juxtaposition to see on the wall was the pairing of an uncharacteristically intimate Jackson Pollock piece complemented by a Lee Krasner of similar dimensions (the Pollock of course displayed above the Krasner!).

Jennifer Bartlett’s “Amagansett Diptych #1,” Oil on two canvases

Jackson Pollock / Lee Krasner

Moving on to The Drawing Room I encountered some lovely pieces of clay sculpture by Toni Ross, inspired by ancient “soul houses” she encountered throughout museums in Cairo. The small ceramic cubes present a tidy yet rough hewn package that bring to mind questions about the function of our dwellings to house our corporeal forms, challenging us to consider both the practicalities and impracticalities of what are ultimate a series of simple boxes. Some have windows and doors while others present themselves as hermetically sealed with no defined entrance nor exit. Small and intimate yet wholly unsentimental, these are serious objects to contend with.

Clay sculpture by Toni Ross

clay sculpture by Toni Ross

Last but certainly not least I paid a visit to a rather curious show at Peter Marcelle Gallery by Jim Gemake, “Art of the Discarded Objects.” Though found objects are all too commonplace in mixed media sculpture in this day and age, Gemake’s aesthetic is absolutely timeless and his choice of materials does not pigeonhole him into the pitfalls of pop art and consumerist critiques. The patina of his materials complements but does not override his method of presentation. They are indeed lovely pieces to look at, and clever to boot.

Jim Gemake, Art of the Discarded Objects.
“The Other Side Of The Moon?

Jim Gemake, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”

AREA, The HOLE NYC

AREA

The Hole NYC

312 Bowery, NYC

November 6th-10th, 2013,   12-7pm daily

Text by Hanne H7L,  Photos by Hanne H7L and MC Anton

The spirit of the legendary nightclub AREA, whose attendees represented a veritable who’s who of New York City’s art scene in the 1980’s was well represented at the opening reception of an exhibition of artwork at The Hole and culminating in an after party nearby at The Bowery Hotel this past Tuesday. The exhibition, in conjunction with the release of the 387 page AREA book from Abrams Publishing seeks to recapture the vision of the original club that every 6 weeks would transform the club’s original location at 157 Hudson Street according to a certain theme such as “suburbia,” “natural history,” “gnarly” and more.

 Works from artists Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Chuck Close, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Sol LeWitt, Leroy Neiman, Larry Rivers, Maripol, Kenny Scharf, Julian Schnabel, Survival Research Labs and more were on display at The Hole along with long unseen ephemera and new works inspired by the club’s monumental impact on downtown arts and nightlife. Curated by Jeffrey Deitch, Serge Becker, Glenn O’Brien and AREA veteran and current Bowery Hotel owner Eric Goode and his sister Jennifer Goode, the show did not disappoint in its scope and magnitude of artists and work represented, the space effectively transformed into a nightclub featuring elaborate installation and performance artwork to dazzle the senses.

One of the many surprising forms of performance art at the opening reception

At the after party at The Bowery Hotel the festivities showed no sign of letting up where AREA-inspired performances and installations abounded as well. Arguably the most enjoyable aspect of the entire event however was the broad range of age groups represented, ranging from veterans of the 80’s nightclub scene to younger and middle aged newcomers all co-mingling and having a good time. Such a changeover from the typically youth dominated nightlife scene in New York is welcomed. As the night wound down I was left to wonder why a venue resurrecting the creative energy and all around excitement of AREA in its original inception does not find a permanent home downtown.

Sydney Albertini at Parrish Art Museum …And Also, I Have No Idea

Sydney Albertini at Parrish Art Museum

…And Also, I Have No Idea

August 10th-September 2nd

Photos and text by Hanne H7L

The late painter John Little’s former home/studio at Duck Creek Edwards farm is itself a captivating space, and Parisian-born artist Sydney Albertini has transformed it for …And Also, I Have No Idea in an off-site installation presented by Parrish Art Museum. It is such a rare treat to come across innovative audience-participatory art, and Albertini has crafted such a work of art exquisitely. One can easily see why Albertini has selected Little’s studio for the location of her latest installation, Little having been a textile designer in life and textiles being such a strong component of Albertini’s work. The space as a part of the museum’s off-site series is an excellent complement to the museum’s new potato barn buildings that feature activities and attractions both indoors and outdoors; a refreshing change of pace from most museums that tend to be indoors-only venues.

Consisting of three domestic “scenes;” the bedroom, living room and dining room, Albertini’s work is part design, part performance, part installation and wholly inspired. Audience members are encouraged and in some cases required to don Albertini’s handmade knitted masks which despite their strong resemblance to ski masks have a playful yet mysterious quality, their colorful palette and patterned designs complementing the colors of the bed, living room and dining room sets that integrate both “soft” knitted and “hard” materials. By wearing the masks, audience members are granted admission to these sets to interact and play out archetypically domestic scenes.

I was so pleased to see so many visitors electing to participate in the pieces by wearing the masks and in doing so, act out and illustrate the domestic identities and roles Albertini wishes to explore. In particular there were quite a few families with young children in attendance, all the better suited to enact the household scenes Albertini has set up for them. All said and done, the work is sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and is on view Friday-Sunday from 12-5pm and by appointment.

Albertini’s masks available for viewers to wear

Viewers donning the masks

The Bedroom

The Living Room

The Dining Room

Artists and Writers: They Played in the Game

Artists and Writers: They Played in the Game

Guild Hall Museum

July 15th-July 28th, 2013

Photos and text by Hanne H7L

The Guild Hall Museum (of East Hampton, New York) is celebrating 65 years of its renowned Artists vs. Writers softball game with a special exhibition, representing a cross section of the proverbial “who’s who” amongst the artists and writers who have participated in the game. Starting in 1948 with a pick-up game including the likes of Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, the game began to escalate into an all-out rivalry between an artists team and writer’s team, featuring the likes of Pete Hamill, Tom Wolfe, Kurt Vonnegut and recruiting artists of all other sorts, including famous actors, television personalities, pop culture icons and even politicians such as Alan Alda, Christopher Reeve, Dick Cavett, Abbie Hoffman, Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and many more than one can even begin to name here!

Last weekend visitors were treated to an enlightening and entertaining panel discussion moderated by Ed Bleier featuring the writers team of Carl Bernstein, Fred Grover, Juliet Papa, Mort Zuckerman and artists team Leif Hope, Eric Ernst, Walter Bernard, Ed Hollander and Lori Singer. The good-natured rivalry went to such lengths as to bring up which tool should be on top in the crossed pencil and paintbrush emblem emblazoned on the shirts commemorating the game: pencil for writers or paintbrush for artists (the compromise of course, being 2 different sets of t shirts). Though the writers have consistently performed better at the game than the artists (who often brought in professional athlete ringers to better their chances), the score has never been kept track of carefully.

Though the show is not up for much longer, the softball game itself will be taking place at 2pm on August 17th in Herrick Field, East Hampton. It is surely not to be missed!

The panel of artists and writers at the opening of the show

Cirque de Chien (Circus of the Dog), Jack Dowd, 2009

Commemorative Quilt, Lynne Corwith Fraas, 2013. A & W shirts and hats designed by Walter Bernard since 1996.

Opium Poppy, Dan Rizzle, 2002.

Franz Kline and Ludwig Sander, 1950s (photographer unknown)

Orly Genger at Madison Square Park – Red, Yellow and Blue

Orly Genger at Madison Square Park

Red, Yellow and Blue

May 2nd-September 8th, 2013

Photos and text by Hanne H7L

Year after year Madison Square Park has played host to a myriad of art installations, and artist Orly Genger’s piece Red, Yellow and Blue is a piece that does for Madison Square Park what Christo’s Gates did for Central park back in 2005.

Drawing inspiration from Barnett Newman’s color field titled Who’s Afraid of Red Yellow and Blue?, Genger’s site-specific installation carries itself with a bold magnitude that one cannot help but be drawn in by. Consisting of 1.4 million feet of knitted rope covered in over 3500 gallons of paint, the three different colored pieces that comprise the installation rise and fall in a wave pattern, obscuring and revealing the main lawn of the park which they surround. Beyond the sheer scale of the piece, it is the oscillating shape that the installation forms that truly entices the viewer, the primary colors complementing the green palette of the park’s natural features beautifully. 

Genger’s installation is one that truly carries its own weight through its interaction with the surrounding space and impressive craft sensibility as expressed through the materials, expounding and expanding upon its color field influence.

This is a work that simply has to be seen in three dimensions to appreciate its multifaceted success, and I am glad to see it will remain in the park for another 2 months to come before it is deinstalled and reimagined at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (located outside Boston) in October.

2013 Coney Island Mermaid Parade and Ball

Photos, Video and Commentary by Michael C. Anton

We attended the 2013 Coney Island Mermaid Parade and Ball, and it was pretty much like last year’s event.  And other years.  And that is a Good thing.

This annual extravagnza of sights, sounds and general weirdness seemed at jeopardy at every turn.  First, Hurricane Sandy did it’s nasty work to Coney Island,  then talk of Ruby’s boardwalk bar not reopening,  and then lack of funding for the parade.  It seemed like the Mermaid Parade was destined to be a piece of history.  Then, miraculously the Parade was on again, with record crowds expected.

Kita St. Cyr

I didn’t know what to expect.  Missing landmarks ?,  giant crowds ?  But no, it was the same as ever.  Wonderful.  A Miracle !    The Mermaid Ball later in the evening however was not held at the Aquarium as usual.  I assume  the Aquarium wasn’t fully up and running yet.  Instead party busses were dispatched to take party goers to The Queen of Hearts for a harbor cruise of music and Burlesque.

Want to see more ? Check out NowJournal.Com’s  Mermaid Parade and Ball video, which is intended for mature audiences, or, actually, immature audiences.

Imran Qureshi at The Met Roof Garden Commission

How Many Rains Must Fall Before the Stains Are Washed Clean?

May 14th-November 3rd, 2013.    

NowJournal Photos and text by Hanne H7L 

Opening Word of This New Scripture (2013) by Imran Qureshi. Perhaps the artists’ Mughal-esque model for the installation?

Long have I admired the exquisite balance of fluidity and refined detail in the Persian style of miniature painting, going so far as to use such images as background pieces in my own painting. Nonetheless I am at my core an installation artist, and to see  contemporary artist Imran Qureshi amalgamate these two such desperate genres was an absolute delight on the rooftop garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art this past Monday. The work expresses a quality of quiet contemplation that is anti-monumental in nature, playing contrarian to the three dimensional sculptural fare that typically adorns the roof of the Met. Drawing its title from a poem by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Imran creates a spectacle in two dimensions and in one color.

 

Imran Qureshi kneels over his work on the roof of the Met.

Imran splashes red paint across the surface of the roof and draws in with a tiny paintbrush, treating the rooftop as though it were a vast canvas. I admire this quality of drawing in atypical media; that is to say Imran does not paint with the brush so much as he draws and renders texture with utmost delicacy, true to his miniature painting roots. All the same, this installation is site-specific in its use of the two dimensional floor surface that in the artists’ own words, echoes the violent environment in his city of Lahore in Pakistan around the year 2009 where an area would be transformed into a bloody landscape within seconds of a bomb detonating. Amidst dripping, chaotic splatters that suggest stains of blood emerge meticulously crafted leaves that are right at home in the vast landscape garden that is Central Park. Periodically these patterns converge into the shapes of flowers in bloom, which Imran describes as representing hope in the presence of such chaotic surroundings.

Detail sections of the installation.

Applying miniature painting’s craftsmanship on the scale of an architecturally informed installation, Imran has created a work in two dimensions that transcends the boundaries of its derivative genre. It is indeed much more than a piece of flat art to look at, but an experience to be appreciated for the space on and in which it resides.

Media correspondents in awe of Imran’s work.

Bettie On The Bowery: Bettie Page Clothing

Event Photos by Michael C Anton

Bettie Page Clothing celebrated their first New York Fashion Week with “Bettie on the Bowery,” an event on Saturday February 9 2013 at their newest flagship boutique at 303 Bowery. The event featured fashion shows, an official perfume launch party, and entertainment.

Tatyana Khomyakova, the Russian born lead designer and co-CEO of Bettie Page Clothing states, “This is something we’ve never made available to the public before, but after receiving great response on our dresses seen on the red carpet, I was prompted to produce a new line of formal gowns available for all our customers.”

Strutting the catwalk was model, actress and Latin recording artist, Mayra Veronica. Recently signed as Bettie Page Clothing’s official spokes model, Mayra states, “I’m honored to take part in this event; Bettie Page Clothing epitomizes what a real woman should be—sexy yet classy at the same time.”

Hair andmake up were provided by neighboring store and Sex and the City stylist, Patricia Field Beauty Salon and Wig Bar, with Bettie Page branded shoes provided by Shoes by Ellie. Guests were able to preview the upcoming Fall 2013 collection and view Bettie Page memorabilia.

Food and refreshments were provided by neighborhood icon Veselka restaurant.

Bettie Page Clothing store locations can be found in Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, Hollywood, Santa Barbara, Minnesota’s Mall of America, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Portland, Fort Lauderdale and online at www.bettiepageclothing.com.

Aura Rosenberg – I Know It When I See It

Martos Gallery, Chelsea NYC     Opening Reception Friday February 22, 2013.

Event photos by Michael C Anton

In the movie Goldfinger, M asks Bond: “What do you know about gold?” Bond replies, “I know it when I see it.”

Martos Gallery presents Aura Rosenberg’s first solo show with the gallery.

The Golden Age of Porn:
More than twenty-five years ago Aura Rosenberg made paintings based on images from pornographic magazines. These publications featured fantasy narratives enacted by a cast of porn stars with elaborate sets and props. When she returned to this material a few years ago, she found that the magazines were no longer being published.  Googleing the names of some of the actors, what came up was “The Golden Age of Porn”—a period extending from the late 1960s to the mid ’80s.

The Astrological Ways: (Full sized body impressions in white paint on black background) 

You could once tell time by looking at the starry sky. Celestial bodies formed patterns that told you the time of year.  Based on a black light day-glo poster from 1972, “The Afrological Ways,” links sexual positions with astrological signs. Couples cover their bodies with paint and imprint their images onto black velvet.  There is one painting for each sign.  At tonight’s opening,  a live performance took place creating a new image for the series.

Other sexually provocative works by Aura Rosenberg were also on display.

The show is on exhibit through March 30, 2013.  For further information please contact Mary Grace Wright at gracie@martosgallery.com or 212-560-0670

Martos Gallery,  540 W 29th Street,  New York,  NY  10001