mixed media – Page 15

October 14, 2024December 7, 2024, by A.E. Chapman

A Leg to Stand On—Melissa Stern at DIMIN

*Melissa Stern: A Leg to Stand On*, installation view

In Melissa Stern: A Leg to Stand On, the domestic meets the fantastic in the aptly named The Living Room, the front room exhibition space at DIMIN complete with a cozy two-seater sofa. Featuring her drawings and sculptures, Stern’s trademark humor and sense of play persists while the underlying thread of darkness that pervades her oeuvre feels especially heightened in this presentation. Deeply shaken by a fall during a winter walk in 2021, the artist’s works in the exhibition explore the precarious and fragile construction of the human body. Cobbling together disparate elements such as vintage shoes, wooden branches, scrap pieces of bannister railings, a doll’s lost arm, linoleum, wallpaper, resin, clay, paint cans, bolts, and screws, Stern balances absurdity with familiarity.

October 9, 2024October 10, 2024, by Claire Haik

Art Spiel Picks: Philly Exhibitions in October 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

Hanne Friis, The Mountain, hand-stitched faux leather and steel, 37 13/16 x 54 5/16 x 37 13/16 inches, at Locks Gallery, photograph courtesy of the gallery

Sometimes, we are confronted with artwork that hums with possibilities so profound you can feel them taking root in your chest and making a new home. You stand in the gallery, soaking it in, and you want to share it with as many people as possible. That said, I hope you take a good chunk of time to sink into the transcendent earthy abstractions of Warren Rohrer at Locks Gallery. Afterward, head upstairs and marvel, open-mouthed, at the unexpected forms created by sculptors Hanne Friis and Lynda Benglis. Then, journey over to Fleisher/Ollman Gallery and get lost in Sarah Gamble’s glittering forest interiors and interdimensional abstractions, filled with mystery and magic.

September 30, 2024October 6, 2024, by Anna Shukeylo

Art Spiel Picks: Chelsea Exhibitions in October 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

Tim Kent, Edges Off a Model, Courtesy of Hollis Taggart Gallery

The fall season opened strong with some very exciting painting shows in Chelsea and its outskirts. The not to be missed stand alone Monya Rowe Gallery is featuring work by two innovative female painters, while in the heart of Chelsea, Hollis Taggart is featuring Tim Kent’s captivating works in his second solo show with the gallery. Right across the street, Fergus McCaffrey Gallery is showcasing fresh work by a seasoned German painter Reinhard Pods.

September 27, 2024October 6, 2024, by Yasmeen Abdallah and Anna Shukeylo

The Art of Unpacking an Art Fair—Spring/Break NYC

Art Spiel Stew

3RD SPACE installation image. Image by Yasmeen Abdallah

We visited SPRING/BREAK Art Show in its new location in lower Manhattan on Varick St. We went independently, and then got together afterward to discuss our impressions of the fair, and the highlights we came away with. We have ruminated on possible trends and strong impressions that stayed with us long after the fair. Even though it has been almost a month past Spring Break Art Fair, the highlights resonated with us.

September 22, 2024October 6, 2024, by Sara Farrell Okamura

Until the Sun Goes Dark: Taylor Davis Decontructs Power

Installation view, photo courtesy of SEPTEMBER

In Until the Sun Goes Dark, Taylor Davis’s second solo show with SEPTEMBER gallery at Kinderhook, NY, the Boston-based artist takes on the question of why we exist in a violent, volatile universe. She offers no answers, but through sculpture, painting, and works on paper, elicits inquiries into the nature of brutality by researching texts ranging from 2000-year-old biblical scriptures (Job 27:13- 23, Ecclesiastics 12: 5-8 and Psalm 57: 4-5) to modern writings by Ethnographer, Edward Linnaeus Keithahn and literature by William Gass, In The Heart of the Heart of the Country. Davis does not merely execute a plan to create work but relies on systems of chance and logic. She does not force her materials to bend to her intent but defers to the inherent nature of the materials she is using. Working in a similar manner to a call-and-response practice, her final pieces sometimes challenge the viewers’ initial comprehension of what they are actually seeing.

September 19, 2024September 18, 2024, by Claire Haik

Art Spiel Picks: Philly Exhibitions in September 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

Rebecca Rutstein at Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Photograph courtesy of the artist

As the Philadelphia gallery season ramps up, we explore unseen worlds in three very distinct shows. If you are a science or color enthusiast, be sure to see Rebecca Rutstein’s large abstract paintings at Bridgette Mayer Gallery. She uses bold designs and bright colors to tap into the sublime, examining hidden ecosystems fundamental to life on Earth. Delving into the veiled depths of the subconscious, Elena Drozdova’s Riding Fear at PII Galley presents dream-like paintings with powerful symbolic imagery. Across town at InLiquid Gallery, Brotherly Lens: A Portrait of Philadelphia places three exceptional photographers in conversation, inspiring introspection and creating a striking narrative of Philadelphia’s unknown history and communities.

September 18, 2024October 6, 2024, by Melissa Stern

Martin Wilner -The Case Histories: When We Cease to Understand the World (Extraterrestrials on The Couch)

A collage of drawings of people

Description automatically generated — June 2015- Seth Shostak. Pen and ink on Bristol board 161/2 x 171/8

Martin Wilner’s compelling new show at BravinLee Projects is both conceptually and visually complex, the work of an intellect working on several intersecting planes. Wilner is a practicing Freudian psychoanalyst, a scholar, and mentor to analysts in training. He is a self-taught artist whose work reflects his involvement with the human psyche, popular culture, and comic strip art. His artistic practice is intertwined deeply with his psychoanalytic work and comes with an interesting twist; Wilner the therapist invites the public to engage deeply with the world of Wilner the artist via social media.

September 12, 2024October 6, 2024, by Art Spiel

The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita at Flinn

Previewing

Kumi Yasmashita, “Strings”, 2016. Wood panel, brads, seven colored threads, 16x12x1 in. Photo by Paul Takeuchi

The Flinn Gallery’s 2024-25 season kicks off on September 19 with the solo exhibition The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita, curated by Leslee Asch. Situated on the second floor of the Greenwich Library, the Flinn Gallery is known for its commitment to high-quality contemporary art, offering a space for both emerging and established artists. The Flinn Gallery’s 2024-25 season opens on September 19 with the solo show The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita, curated by Leslee Asch.

September 11, 2024October 6, 2024, by Yasmeen Abdallah

Art Spiel Picks: Governors Island in September 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

A room with a large chess board

Description automatically generated — Dario Mohr’s Don’t Forget to Check. Image by Yasmeen Abdallah

Themes of searching and connection to ancestors through practice, ritual, and persistence are intertwined through work that depicts aspects of migration, objecthood, and the complexities of humanity itself. The winds moving across the island dictate the mood as we bow and sway through graceful installations in deeply resonant forms at LMCC Art Center and Artcrawl Harlem.

September 9, 2024October 6, 2024, by Janila Castañeda

Reshaping space through photography: Anna Berenice Garner & Janila Castañeda

IN CONVERSATION

*Anna Berenice Garner, installation view of exhibition titled, Topografías y otras ficciones, image courtesy of Lateral gallery*

For a few months now, Anna and I have been discussing her practice in preparation for her most recent solo show in Mexico City titled Topografías y otras ficciones. As we have been navigating concepts around the notions of landscape and the role of the image in the construction of truth, our exchanges included topics such as the body and its relationship with space, methods of reshaping space through photography, as well as the potential of merging sculpture and photography to rethink the environments that construct the unquestionable truths under which we guide our existence. This interview compiles key points from our face-to-face and written exchanges while capturing insights into the artist’s current approach to her work.