Exhibition Review – Page 15

July 17, 2023July 15, 2023

Remnants of the Past As Omens of the Future at Turley Gallery

Martine Kaczynski, *Threshold,* Installation, Turley Gallery

Why is home so important? Is it like religion, where we have faith that once we turn the key in the door and step over the threshold, we are safe from all those events that we believe cannot happen to us, orhappen in the place we call home? We now live in a world where the mundane, the environment we know as home is threatened. Common places are invisible because they are part of the warp and weft of our everyday existence. Our personal landmarks such as the library, the elementary school, and the ugly grocery store we quickly stop in, are no longer safe spaces. Self help and self care are great strategies for maintaining equilibrium, but may not extract the roots of our anxiety. Art obviously cannot solve these issues, but sometimes an artist who combines intellect, skill, and personal experience can act as the parakeet in the mine shaft.

June 28, 2023June 19, 2023

Sa’dia Rehman walks you through memories of displacement on the colonized lands of Governors Island

Installation view *Desire Lines*, photo Argenis, courtesy of KODA

Sa’dia Rehman: Desire Lines is a solo exhibition as part of artist’s residency with KODA on Governors Island, New York. Rehman’s exhibition focuses on the building of the Tarbela dam in Pakistan in 1968-1976 – a hydroelectric dam responsible for the displacement and forced migration of 184 villages and the climate devastation following the completion of this project.

June 14, 2023November 4, 2024

Rafael Delacruz: Healing Finger Clean Drawings at Mitchell Innes & Nash

RAFAEL DELACRUZ Don't sleep while we explain 2022 — Rafael Delacruz, Don’t sleep while we explain, 2022, oil and cochineal on canvas, photo courtesy @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Neither the exhibition text nor the online imagery, although both generous, adequately primed me for Rafael Delacruz’s spellbinding painting exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash. The moment I stepped into the gallery, I was engulfed in a world with vibrant enigmatic narratives, layered as a fusion of drawing, lino-cut-like marks, and a kaleidoscope of restless patterns, all shimmering under the play of vivid paint. The paintings reveal recognizable elements like cars or figures while hiding drawings underneath, daring us to embark on a delightful game of artistic hide and seek.

June 10, 2023June 5, 2023

George Widener and Terence Koh at Andrew Edlin: Traces of Time

George Widener: Tip of the Iceberg — George Widener at Andrew Edlin

The riveting debut exhibition at Andrew Edlin showcases George Widener’s profound fascination with historical catastrophes, particularly the tragic sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The artworks on the wall, made of patched-together napkins and tea-stained scrolls, bear the marks of accidents, palimpsests, and esoteric knowledge, reminiscent of ancient manuscripts and enveloped in an aura of mystery. The elaborate numerical puzzles, complex wordplay, and prophetic visions informed by historical events become data landscapes that the viewer explores alongside the artist.

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023

Jim Condron: Collected Things at Art Cake

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Description automatically generated — Installation view, Jim Condron: Collected Things at Art Cake, photo courtesy of Etty Yaniv

Collected Things, Jim Condron’s terrific solo exhibition at Art Cake in Brooklyn prompts us to question our relationship with the objects we interact with—objects that we use, discard, and transform through memory and art process. At the heart of this exhibition are Condron’s recent series of sculptures, which brings together everyday objects and ephemeral materials he has collected from artists, writers, and thinkers who participated in the project—these individuals include personal acquaintances like Graham Nickson, Lucy Sante, Rebecca Hoffberger, Carl E. Hazlewood and Cordy Ryman. Among them is the pioneering painter Grace Hartigan, who was Condron’s teacher and for whom he also worked as a graduate assistant in 2004, four years before her death. This body of work highlights how Condron’s process of collecting, editing, and adding other materials, activates the lineage and history of everyday objects, transforming them into playful art objects with renewed vitality and psychological presence.

May 20, 2023May 21, 2023

Just say YES to NADA!

Paul Wackers- First Time, Long Time. Jack Hanley Gallery

I’ve been to more art fairs than I can count, but the ones that I’ve had fun at I could count on two hands. Many are too big, dealers are either stressed out or bored, mundane work or work that is inaccessible or silly. The last show that I went to before the pandemic was The Armory Show at the westside piers. It was a few days before the world shut down and the fair was eerily empty. I wandered alone through a fair that typically had been jam packed with beautiful art lovers. And then everything went quiet for about a year and a half.

May 14, 2023May 17, 2023

ArtYard & Paul Bowen: Drift

A brick building with a sign on the front

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Frenchtown in the Delaware river Valley NJ is home to a fantastic new arts center with cutting edge programming: take note art lovers, ArtYard has come to town. ArtYard is a not for profit, state-of-the-art facility with two floors of exhibition space, sculpture lawn, black box theater with chic little bar and a tiny store. It is spacious, light, and beautiful: everything about this place is “feel good” and functional. It overlooks the river where bikers and hikers pass on the Delaware Raritan Canal State Park Trail an old railway track. The facade is a sophisticated blend of metal overhang elements (think Chelsea Meatpacking) and smart graphics with a large welcoming entrance. The pitch perfect brick building, designed by architects Ed Robinson and William Welch, was inspired by 19C industrial factories. The new center weaves itself perfectly into the historic fabric of Frenchtown NJ.

April 24, 2023April 18, 2023

Out of Character at Pierogi in Brooklyn

James Eber.jpg — *James Esber- Ladybug. 2016. Acrylic on panel. 40 x 40 inches.*

A droll and aptly named group exhibition opened at Pierogi in Williamsburg in early April. Entitled Out of Character, the exhibition has been curated from local artists all working in and around the figure and focused on a humorous take on the human condition.

April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

Rachael Wren: Site Lines at The Shirley Project Space

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Rachael Wren: Site Lines at The Shirley Project Space, March 2023 – installation view. Photo courtesy of Kate Glicksberg.

The Shirley Project Space in Brooklyn is a sympathetic environment for Rachael Wren’s Site Lines, a solo exhibition of six paintings and an unexpected site-specific installation. With two large windows on street level, the gallery’s abundant natural light heightens the relationship between the paintings and the outside world. This bright and airy effect is amplified by the minimalist architecture and tall ceilings, leaving the artist’s painted trees room to grow, an illusion propelled by the restrained installation which leaves ample space around each work.

March 12, 2023March 13, 2023

Non-Profits Shine at The Outsider Art Fair

Creative Growth guy.jpg — From Creative Growth, Oakland, CA.

This past weekend marked the 30^th anniversary of the Outsider Art Fair, which debuted in NYC in 1993 at The Puck Building. Now housed at The Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea, it has come roaring back after a few quiet pandemic years.

Out of the sixty-four galleries exhibiting thirteen were representing non-profit organizations that work with developmentally challenged populations. For me these were the most exciting booths at the fair. The non-profits bring work that is consistently fresh and exciting. This year’s fair included organizations from Germany, Portland Oregon and Chicago that I had not seen in previous years. Several showed work among the most surprising and compelling at the Fair.