Recent shows I've seen..
Here's a run-down of the shows I've seen over the past couple of weeks:
I hit two different openings at Exit Art:
Biennial II: Traffic
I hate to say it, but I was mostly bored at the Traffic show and somewhat disappointed with the lack of painting and drawing. There were a few interesting installation/sculptural pieces. One involved a huge sheet of clear plastic with thousands of different colored toy cars adhered to it and suspended in a sloping wave shape overhead. The double-sided foam tape used to affix the cars didn't seem to be working too well as there were several on the floor halfway through the opening. Another was a spider web-like cluster which hung in the corner of the room that revealed its true identity as you got closer. The artist had cut all of the major interstates and highways delicately cut from several atlases and carefully pinned to the wall.
World War 3 Illustrated's 25th Anniversary Issue Exhibition
At the WW3 opening, I was pleased to see such blatant narrative picture-making all in one place (albeit in a tiny room in the back). The founders Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman were on had as were other long-time contributors such as Sue Coe, whose wrap-around cover painting was a treat to see close up. The works were all bold and politically unapologetic.
Ed Ruscha: Pools Parking Lots, Gasoline Stations and Sunset Strip @ Yancey Richardson
This show, while quite a mouthful, was a tasteful salon-style show of four of Ruscha's photo essays from the '60s. The bird's eye view parking lots became beautiful geometric abstractions replete with oils stains and fishbone markings.
Colin Burns @ Metalstone
Burns' work seemed designy and illustrative at times, but it was never dull. His use of linocuts within larger, mixed-media works that also incorporated hand-printed type were a joy to look at.
El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers @ ICP
This is a collection of photos taken by photojournalists traveling in El Salvador at the height of the 1980s civil war. The images are stark and sometimes hard to take in. My introduction to political activism was brought on by the US's involvement in a part of the world where we never should have been. I remember seeing some of these photographs back then and they have not lost any of their power. The exhibit is a return engagement as the collection was originally shown at the ICP in 1984.
Yin Zhaoyang @ Max Protetch
These large scale, somewhat social-realist-style paintings were much more interesting when seen through the window on 22nd Street. Not that they were "bad" in any way, it's just that their Richter-like diffusion was less evident from that vantage point. I have nothing against Richter or his softening/smearing technique. I just feel it's his schtick for better or for worse.
I hit two different openings at Exit Art:
Biennial II: Traffic
I hate to say it, but I was mostly bored at the Traffic show and somewhat disappointed with the lack of painting and drawing. There were a few interesting installation/sculptural pieces. One involved a huge sheet of clear plastic with thousands of different colored toy cars adhered to it and suspended in a sloping wave shape overhead. The double-sided foam tape used to affix the cars didn't seem to be working too well as there were several on the floor halfway through the opening. Another was a spider web-like cluster which hung in the corner of the room that revealed its true identity as you got closer. The artist had cut all of the major interstates and highways delicately cut from several atlases and carefully pinned to the wall.
World War 3 Illustrated's 25th Anniversary Issue Exhibition
At the WW3 opening, I was pleased to see such blatant narrative picture-making all in one place (albeit in a tiny room in the back). The founders Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman were on had as were other long-time contributors such as Sue Coe, whose wrap-around cover painting was a treat to see close up. The works were all bold and politically unapologetic.
Ed Ruscha: Pools Parking Lots, Gasoline Stations and Sunset Strip @ Yancey Richardson
This show, while quite a mouthful, was a tasteful salon-style show of four of Ruscha's photo essays from the '60s. The bird's eye view parking lots became beautiful geometric abstractions replete with oils stains and fishbone markings.
Colin Burns @ Metalstone
Burns' work seemed designy and illustrative at times, but it was never dull. His use of linocuts within larger, mixed-media works that also incorporated hand-printed type were a joy to look at.
El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers @ ICP
This is a collection of photos taken by photojournalists traveling in El Salvador at the height of the 1980s civil war. The images are stark and sometimes hard to take in. My introduction to political activism was brought on by the US's involvement in a part of the world where we never should have been. I remember seeing some of these photographs back then and they have not lost any of their power. The exhibit is a return engagement as the collection was originally shown at the ICP in 1984.
Yin Zhaoyang @ Max Protetch
These large scale, somewhat social-realist-style paintings were much more interesting when seen through the window on 22nd Street. Not that they were "bad" in any way, it's just that their Richter-like diffusion was less evident from that vantage point. I have nothing against Richter or his softening/smearing technique. I just feel it's his schtick for better or for worse.
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