Reflections on the work of contemporary artists
“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. Continue reading “Peter Fox – Surface Tension at the Front Room Gallery”
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. Continue reading “Then She Did at The Plaxall Gallery”
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. Continue reading “Cultivate Your Own Garden at the Painting Center”
“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. Continue reading “Thoreau and the Unibomber at Ess Ef Eff”
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. Continue reading “Aspects in Landscape at Galerie Protégé”
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. Continue reading “Slow Motion at john Doe”
Curated by Maria de Los Angeles and Susan Noyes Platt, the group show “Internalized Borders” at John Jay College of Criminal Justice examines the various ways in which language and legal systems create internal and external borders. It addresses urgent issues of immigration, detention, and deportation; especially focusing on how these issues are related to fear, criminalization of identity, economics of migration, and perception of otherness. Continue reading “Internalized Borders at John Jay”
The exhibition James Castle: People, Places & Things, curated by Karen Wilkin and currently on view at the New York Studio School Gallery, features over fifty important works and ephemera, surveying Castle’s diverse modes of working. It runs the gamut from his well-known drawings of farmyards and interiors to the less familiar depictions of house, machines, clothing, and people, to his books and objects. It includes even more rarely exhibited objects – some sources for his imagery borrowed from the James Castle Collection and Archive LP and from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation. In her curatorial statement Wilkin says she aims to affirm why Castle should be regarded as an American master. Indeed, the breadth of his work is jaw dropping and the emotional resonance is deeply moving.
Continue reading “James Castle: People, Places & Things at the NY Studio School”
All Photos courtesy of the artist and Norte Maar Cypress Hills Gallery
In his exhibition at Norte Maar Cypress Hills gallery, Kevin Curran uses interior design elements as a departure point for an installation – combining wallpaper, rugs, vases, framed works on paper, wall-mounted and free standing sculptures. His surfaces merge opulent materials like crystals and gold leaf, with rough-hewn casual aesthetic. This exhibition includes drawings that refer to Afghan war rugs as well as political tensions in the US. The symmetry of rug design paired with natural and man made forces of destruction highlights the fine line between an orderly society and chaos. The imagery brings together a little boy’s enthusiasm for rockets, trucks and guns with the perspective of an adult’s anxiety driven by real world events. Continue reading “Objects from the End of Western Civilisation at Norte Maar”
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.