Contemporary Art and Culture
In her solo show “No Regrets” at ODETTA, Nancy Baker created intricate constructions which reflect her need for reliable reality through a rigorous process of interweaving mathematical data and text from the US Constitution into interlocking elegant forms.
I have been following Farrell Brickhouse’s work since 2014, when he showed his work at Life on Mars in Bushwick. You do not just “view” Brickhouse’s paintings, you experience them on a deeply intimate level. He unabashadly talks about painting in relation to “soul” and “subconscience”. As a painter who can show an outstanding body of work which convincingly resurects these modernist notions from oblivion, he also freshens these notions for the next generation of artists. Farrell Brickhouse graciously conducted with me the following interview.
As part of their Spring exhibits addressing Climate Change, The Rockland Center for the Arts features three exhibitions – two solo shows: Quotidian Metamorphosis featuring works by Jaynie Crimmins and Aqueous Remains featuring Aurora Robson , as well as The Tipping Point, a group show featuring J. Henry Fair, David Maisel, Alison Moritsugu, Richard Parrish, and Jill Pelto.
[caption id="attachment_491" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Jaynie Crimmins, Accumulations #4 , 12” x 12” x 12”D, shredded household mail, thread over armature mounted on wood, 2016, photo courtesy of Cibele Vieira[/caption]
Wave Hill* is a twenty eight acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the spectacular Hudson River and Palisades. Wave Hill aims to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts. For the ninth consecutive year, Wave Hill opens Glyndor Gallery as workspace for selected New York-area artists, giving them the unique opportunity to explore the winter landscape and develop innovative work based on direct observation from nature.
“Surface Tension”, Peter Fox’s third solo exhibition with Front Room gallery features a series of new paintings in which he manifests a controlled self-reflexive state – the layered painting application itself defines form and gesture. In this new series Fox has reduced his palette to earth tones, creating a rich counterpoint – burnt siennas, dark browns and yellow ochres play off cool blues in Payne’s grey.
The mixed media exhibition “Then She Did” at Plaxall aims to speak instead of shout, invite discussion instead of criticism. It presents diverse approaches on sexuality, strength, femininity, independence, support, societal norms and roles, methodology, art, and activism. Curators Lori Zimmer and Melissa McCaig-Welles say that the featured artists Alexandra Momin, Alice Mizrachi, Alison Mosshart, Allison Sommers, Audrey Dimola, Caitlin Harris, Chinon Maria, Elizabeth Winnel, Indie 184, Janette Beckman, Joanne Leah, Karen Dimit, Kathryn Rose, Katrina del Mar, Kendra Heisler, Lady Pink, Marne Lucas, Paola Martinez, Queen Andrea, Rebecca Reeve, Swoon, Vahge and Vicky Barranguet choose who they want to be, how they want to think, and how they want to influence others. They take us on a journey through the personal revolutions of everyday women in America, whose diverse methods and beliefs are only stronger when unified.
The exhibition “Cultivate Your Own Garden” curated by Patricia Spergel and Shazzi Thomas at the Painting Center features artworks by twelve contemporary artists whose work references garden and landscape in diverse sensibilities – traditional observational painting, narrative paintings with subtle political commentary, and paintings that lean more towards abstraction. Cecile Chong, Elisabeth Condon, Daniel Dallmann, Carlo D’Anselmi, Lois Dodd, Ashley Garrett, Xico Greenwald, Eric Holzman, Wolf Kahn, Judith Linhares, Carol March and Ruth Miller all share in their work a love for nature, paint, and rigor in transmitting that passion.
“Thoreau and the Unibomber”, David E. Kearns’ and Joe Noderer‘s two person painting exhibition at Ess Ef Eff, raises some current existential questions – What point are we trying to access with our progress? What is the apogee of understanding? Is it all for a cosmic awareness and peaceful co-habitation? The show invites viewers to reflect on a dichotomous view of civil disobedience, of living alone in nature, along with the consequent personal and social fallout or success.
All photos courtesy by the artists
“Aspects in Landscape”, curated by Stacy Greene at Galerie Protégé, juxtaposes the work of six artists whose interpretations of landscape range in sensibilities – from sensory to surreal and media. It runs the gamut from two dimensional artworks like drawing, painting, and photography, to sculptural installations.
The two person show at John Doe juxtaposes Michael Chandler’s paintings and Charlie Rubin’s photographs. Both artists deliver meditative and vivid abstractions – Chandler makes visceral paintings founded in nature but informed by the rhythm of the city and Rubin explores the artifice of place, and the post-Instagram void.