Contemporary Art and Culture
All Photos by Sharilyn Neidhardt
Cadences, a lovely show in the Equity Gallery curated by Michael Gormley, teases at the language of abstract expressionism without overwhelming the viewer. Continue reading “Cadences at Equity Gallery”
It is the nature of performance art that each iteration will be unique. Remnants: Hour Upon Hour by Rena Leinberger and Thomas Albrecht at Woodstock Artists Association & Museum on Sunday, 16 September 2018 was distinctive and captivating.
All Photos courtesy of Nina Meledandri
When an exhibition feeds you, enlightens you, or centers you, it remains with you. Each of the three shows below resonate with me for very different reasons and collectively they create a rich and thought provoking reminder of why we look at art.
Sutures at Mark Straus Gallery presents works which rely in some way on fabric, thread, weaving and/or sewing. The title is shared with one of the show’s focal points: a Louise Bourgeois sculpture, that is itself worth the visit. Continue reading “Paint, Film, Thread: Three Current Shows”
Melissa Stern‘s artworks depict abstracted narratives with complex emotional layers, projecting altogether an urgent psychological presence. The figures in her drawings and sculptures inhabit an absurd universe which is darkly funny in a deeply felt way. Her imagery is precise, poetic, and overall underscores a close affinity with language – bringing to mind an artist who is both an acute observer and a witty commentator. That said, it is Stern’s sensibility of raw and expressive forms that makes her not only an observant narrator but also an empathetic participant in her own human comedy. The artist shares with Art Spiel her modes of thinking, process of making, and some plans, including her solo show opening on Oct 11 at Garvey Simon Gallery.
Wild World: Ashley GARRETT, Catherine HOWE and Lily PRINCE, the current painting exhibition at at Cross Contemporary Art opened on Sat. September 8th. On Sunday, September 30th Richard Klin will be reading from his novel, Petroleum Transfer Engineer, at the Cross Contemporary Gallery in Saugerties, NY at 4:00 PM. Klin is also the author of two nonfiction books. Klin’s work–fiction and nonfiction–has been featured on Public Radio International’s Studio 360 and has appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, the Atlantic, the Forward, Flyover Country Review, Adelaide, NPR’s All Things Considered and others.
Continue reading “Wild World closing at Cross Contemporary Art”
In Size Matters artist and curator William Norton brings together seventeen visual artists and four performance artists from Japan, China, the USA, and the UAE, for whom the notion of scale is central. The curator questions in what ways does scale impact form? How does it affect meaning? And more specifically, how is our perception of scale affected by cultural differences between Asian and Western cultures? Continue reading “Size Matters”
Shari Mendelson, Walking Animal with Vessel in Net, 12″ x 6″ x 9″, Repurposed plastic, hot glue, acrylic polymer, metal, resin, paint, mica, 2018, photo credit: Polite Photographic
The glasslike sculptures in Shari Mendelson’s current exhibition at UrbanGlass conjure mythical narrative with an urgent sense of the present. Based on rigorous study, the artist draws upon primarily glass artifacts from ancient Rome and early Islam, to form imaginative, witty, and playful sculptures made of throwaway plastic bottles. While avoiding simple mimicking of ancient artifacts, Mendelson’s vases, urns, animals, and figures alike create forms and forge narratives that link present to past in fresh and multilayered ways, as the show curator Elizabeth Essner puts it – “the previous lives of her [Mendelson’s] materials emerge: the bottoms of bottles are reborn as faceted ornament, a milk jug becomes an animal, the visage of a figure appears, formed from the tiniest bits of plastic.” Continue reading “Shari Mendelson: The Beauty of Objects Left Behind”
FIRST LOOK at Sharilyn Neidhardt’s solo exhibition
Opening later this week
Sharilyn Neidhardt’s vivid paintings in SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE, at Art During the Occupation Gallery resonate with the zeitgeist of late-stage capitalism, when human connections are strained by a barrage of information and convenience. The fractured urban landscapes she portrays bring to mind reflective surfaces and fragmentation, altogether projecting a simultaneous sense of alienation and elation that are associated with any big city life. Continue reading “Alienation and Elation at Art During the Occupation”
By Sharilyn Neidhardt
Get Loose, the three person show Curated by Tracy McKenna at Rick Wester Fine Art, features work by Cat Balco, Ben Godward, and Jason Rohlf, who all show a knack for unexpected twists of material resulting in exuberant abstracted forms and unorthodox color across the board. The abstract paintings and sculptures in the show prompt loose interpretations of Geometric Abstraction, where the hand is rigorously present. Continue reading “Get Loose at Rick Wester Fine Art”