Art Spiel – Page 118 – Contemporary Art and Culture

Exhibition Review by Etty Yaniv

Wild World closing at Cross Contemporary Art

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.

[caption id="attachment_1965" align="alignnone" width="500"] Ashley Garrett, Sossusvlei, 2017, oil on canvas[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Anne Gilman: Marking Beneath the Surface

[caption id="attachment_1889" align="alignnone" width="333"] Anne Gilman, Up close / in the distance / now, 2018, pencil, graphite, tape, ink, BIC ballpoint pen, matte medium on mulberry paper, 340 x 38 inches, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

The surface of Anne Gilman’s scrolls and drawings is characterized by incisive and often repetitive graphic marks which altogether create portals to the artist’s fluid emotive states. In her Interview for Art Spiel, Gilman reflects on the roots of her intricate process-oriented approach and also sheds light on some of her current projects.

Exhibition Review by Etty Yaniv

Size Matters

[caption id="attachment_1827" align="alignnone" width="500"] Chris Ketchie, “WEST”1000 Paintings of Then, 2015-2017 Ink and Acrylic on Wood, 130” x 275” x 2.5”, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

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?

Exhibition Review by Etty Yaniv

Shari Mendelson: The Beauty of Objects Left Behind

First Look: Shari Mendelson: Glasslike at UrbanGlass

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.”

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Susan Carr – Getting Used to Being Uncomfortable

Susan Carr creates playful and bold paintings, sculptures, and everything in between – all characterized by her thick, chunky, and layered painting application. Carr’s work comes from a deep and highly intuitive place, always guided by her vibrant curiosity. The artist shares with Art Spiel what brought her to art, some of her thought process, and exploratory approach to material and form.

[caption id="attachment_1673" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Susan Carr, Piece of Pi, 2018, hand cut wood with silk over the wood and yarn painted in oil with pieces of wood painted in oil 7×10 inch, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

Exhibition Review by Etty Yaniv

Alienation and Elation at Art During the Occupation

FIRST LOOK at Sharilyn Neidhardt’s solo exhibition

Opening later this week

[caption id="attachment_1797" align="alignnone" width="500"] Sharilyn Neidhardt , If I Can’t Find You There, I Don’t Care, 2017
oil on unframed canvas, approx 54 x 70 in, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

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.

Exhibition Review by Sharilyn Neidhardt

David Wojnarowicz – The Fire Still Burns

By Sharilyn Neidhardt

[caption id="attachment_1770" align="alignnone" width="500"] David Wojnarowicz , Untitled (Face in Dirt), 1991 (printed 1993). Gelatin silver print, 19 × 23 in. (48.3 × 58.4 cm). Collection of Ted and Maryanne Ellison Simmons. Image courtesy the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W, New York[/caption]

Like a gut-punch for the eyes, The David Wojnarowicz show History Keeps Me Awake at Night at the Whitney Museum of American Art hits the viewer with a visceral, almost-physical jolt of emotion. Bodies are veiled in photographic shadow and light, primary colors leap off large canvases stuffed with collage, lighted globes and spoken words combine to map out the passion and rage experienced by the artist in his relatively short life. There is such variety in the exhibition that my friend and I almost missed a whole gallery, mistaking it for a different artist’s work.

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Keren Anavy and Tal Frank – Collaborative Breeding Grounds

Ever since the Israeli born artists Keren Anavy and Tal Frank started working in their nearby studios in Tel Aviv, they have developed a unique artistic collaborative process in addition to their individual thriving art practices. Their collaboration has resulted in multiple imaginative and rigorous installations that have been exhibited internationally. For Art Spiel, each of the duo sheds light on their collaboration, individual art, and upcoming plans. They also share their recent formative experience at the Everglades National Park residency in Florida (AIRIE), where they have further perfected their work process dynamics.

[caption id="attachment_1606" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Keren Anavy & Tal Frank, Compositions for Stones of Gold, 2018, Installation view, site-specific installation, wood, The Gallery of the Cultural Institute Mexico-Israel, Mexico City, oil on linen, each painting 76.7X37.4″, wood, Pyrite stones, video animation screening. Photo credit: Zony Maya.[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Mie Yim – Her Gut Eye

For Mie Yim painting is like falling backward without a net. Her approach to painting is highly intuitive and her process seems to grow organically out of her life experience. In the interview with Art Spiel she shares some background on her art, process, and current show at Ground Floor Gallery.

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Mie Yim, Pearly whites, 2018 ,,Oil on canvas, 16”x20”, photo credit Christian Nguyen[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Christine Romanell – Everything is Connected

Christine Romanell’s fascination with science and math is evident in her artwork. Her installations typically involve kinetic elements, light, and at times she is also collaborating with scientists, engineers, or other artists. Romanell shares with Art Spiel the impetus for her work, process, and exhibitions, including her current exhibition at “Everything Is Connected” at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center in NJ, a culmination of a year of work investigating rotational symmetry.

[caption id="attachment_1702" align="aligncenter" width="355"] Christine Soccio Romanell, Cubed, 2018, 25 x 25 x 60 inches, Laser cut colored acrylic, courtesy of the artist[/caption]