Contemporary Art and Culture
All Photos courtesy Susan Sechler Luss
The Green Door gallery was created at the Divine Mercy Cultural Center to foster a sense of community in the Williamsburg neighborhood. The venue was initiated by Father Thomas Vassalotti, who, along with Father Paul Anel of Heart’s Home, reached out to the artist and curator Elisa Jensen with the wish to connect to the many artists in the neighborhood.
Concern with Climate Change and how it impinges on our planet links the five artists featured in the impressive sculpture show at David&Schweitzer. Running the gamut from minimalist to narrative sensibilities and from found objects to fabricated materials, the sculptures created by Ruth Hardinger, Babs Reingold, Rebecca Smith, Kelin Perry, and Christy Rupp, engage the space in juxtaposition to one another – visually situating the overall exhibition at the intersection of natural history and archaeological excavation, thematically layered and at times poetic. The artworks in the show refer to the underground, trees, atmosphere, underwater, and animals- each of the individual parts that is essential for life on Earth. Continue reading “Planet Ax4+1 at David&Schweitzer Contemporary”
Art Ravels: Arts and Culture Unwound is an eloquent and well curated blog focused on contemporary visual art by Linnea West
In 1582, four recent converts to Christianity were sent from their home in Japan to Europe and the papal court by the Jesuit mission in Japan, as evidence of its success. Called the Tenshō embassy, the four boys met the Pope and saw the great sites of Renaissance Europe before returning home eight years later. Contemporary Tokyo-born, New York-based artist Hiroshi Sugimoto came across the story of the Tenshō embassy while he himself was photographing in Italy. Continue reading “Outside of Time: Hiroshi Sugimoto at Japan Society”
Underdonk started in 2013 as a small experimental project space and later evolved into a vibrant artist-run gallery located at 1329 Willoughby. Underdonk’s eleven members operate an ambitious exhibition program such as the notable 2015 exhibition “Paul Klee,” which featured work by twenty contemporary artists who referenced the 20th century modernist master. Continue reading “Underdonk, A Community Fixture”
Photos by Etty Yaniv unless otherwise indicated
For Ellen Hackl Fagan, ODETTA’s gallerist and curator, titling the current sculpture show Thomas Lendvai: 10 was a no-brainer. When artist Thomas Lendvai came up with the title “Ten,” which marks the first time in ten years that the sculptor has been given a chance to show his large-scale sculptures in a New York gallery, Hackl Fagan embraced it willingly. Serendipitously, it also marks the tenth show at ODETTA. Continue reading “Searching for the Meaning of Art: ‘Thomas Lendvai: 10’ at ODETTA”
Typically, crowded openings are not an ideal setting for experiencing the artwork on display. Nevertheless, the current show at Storefront Ten Eyck, featuring Elise Siegel’s ceramic busts paired with Mie Yim’s abstracted figure paintings, thrives in a crowded space. As in a theatrical experience or a ritual ceremony, the visitors’ presence enhances the psychological tension that these artworks emit.
Continue reading “Duplicate Meanings: Finding What Is Lost at Storefront Ten Eyck”
Suspended murky waterdrops on the verge of dripping from an icicle onto a sheet of paper prove to be almost hypnotic in Kurt Steger’s interactive project at ArtHelix. Utilizing elegant wooden contraptions made of a rotating large-scale low wooden table, a transportable tall crane-like sculpture, and a few low benches, Steger’s participatory performance evokes a genuine urge to behold the genesis of a fresh mark, from the first drip to the final circular tracing. The resulting drip drawings hang on the walls, mostly depicting circular forms that range from dark sepias to vibrant yellows and rusty oranges. Continue reading “A Genuine Urge to Behold: ‘Meltdown’ by Kurt Steger”
Sue McNally’s whimsical series of self-portraits at Auxiliary Projectsresemble pages from a carefully edited diary. Deeply personal, humorous and honest, most of these drawings depict a frontal view of the artist in various states of mind. Caricature-like with sometimes darker undertones, her drawings reveal a no fuss look at aging, femininity and change. Continue reading “Middle Ass Bad Age”