International Art Magazine

Art news, reviews and cultural discourse.

Worlds Collide at Backstory Universe by KIPNZ at Diana

By Audra Lambert

Bar Fight: Scene III 2021/2024. Paul Latislaw. Felted wool 32 x 26 x 27 inches Courtesy the artist and KIPNZ

Figures in tufted felt tumbling out into the gallery. Skulls, side by side, lying in wait for the punchline of a joke. Abstracted alphabetical constructions layered, one over the other, in layers of color and shadow. In Backstory Universe, the meaning lies in the relative madness of what each participating artist brings to the table. Works by Annie Hayes, Paul Latislaw and Rhys Ziemba populate the exhibition, bringing to mind vignettes from a daydream or a scene from Alice in Wonderland. Visitors to this exhibit at Diana New York at 127 Henry Street, curated by KIPNZ gallery’s Kenneth Pietrobono and Natalie Zayne, observe the lack of limitations that artists working at the boundary of comprehension can bring to a three-person exhibition.

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Aesthetics Meets Taste: Japanese Bermutto

By Adam Timur Aslan

Image by Adam Timur Aslan

A baby angel carrying a Japanese flag and riding a giant toad proudly proclaims Japan's first vermouth.

Oka Kura Japanese Bermutto is based with four botanicals: Yuzu – has an aromatic citrus flavor with strong lemon notes, Kabosu - characterized by its fuity acidity, Sansho peppercorn - a Japanese peppercorn, and Yomogi – a Japanese mugwort - that gives tart hints of mint. The result is a unique take on vermouth from Tsutsumi Distillery, which has been producing shochu for over a 140 years.

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Miami Art Week Preview

By Adam Timur Aslan

Ada Friedman, Performance Proposal, Keychain Trilogy, She Can Move Soft Things with Her Mind: Flight Path (2016) Canvas, Cotton Jacket, Mylar, Wax, Oil, and Acrylic 96 x 120 x 3⁄8 in. | 243.8 x 304.8 x 1 cm
Image courtesy of artist

Miami Art Week descends this coming week. Art Basel and Untitled both provide the opportunity to seem some of the world's most talented artists. We highlight two artists here that come from galleries with outstanding curatorial programs.

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Ancient and Contemporary Art Coalesce at the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul

By Adam Timur Aslan

Work by Ozan Ünal. Photo by Adam Timur Aslan

Showing art in the Basilica Cistern can be an intimidating venture. The entire building is one of the most impressive feats in architecture and art. It is art on its grandest scale dating back 1500 years. The opportunity to show work there is as unique as it is challenging. Ancient and contemporary art can complement each other, as they offer different perspectives and insights into the human condition. Ancient art implicitly reflects the culture, beliefs, and values of the past, while contemporary art expresses the creativity, diversity, and challenges of the present. By showing them together, we can appreciate the continuity and change of art throughout history, and also explore the similarities and differences between different times and places.

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Oscillator: Pentti Monkkonen Incorporates Sound in Art at Jenny's

By Adam Timur Aslan

Video by @intartmag

The latest work at Jenny's is an exhibition of Pentti Monkkonen, a contemporary artist who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. The exhibition, titled Oscillator, is his first solo show in New York City

The current exhibition features Monkkonen’s work "Computer" (2023), a sculptural piece that combines technology and art. The work consists of a white cube made of styrene, epoxy, and enamel, with a synthesizer and an amplifier embedded inside. The cube emits electronic sounds that create an immersive sonic environment.

The Ossiclator exhibition was recently featured as one of the Artforum Must-See exhibits.

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Fragility in Miami: Lauren Shapiro and Beatriz Chachamovits at the Jewish Museum in South Beach

Photo of Exhibit at the Jewish Museum. Photo courtesy of artists.

Housed within the radiant stained glass windows of the jewish museum in South Beach, a light is shone into the fragility of life in the ocean. The exhibition called “Fragile Beauty” features works by Beatriz Chachamovits, Mira Lehr, and Lauren Shapiro.

Beatriz Chachamovits and Lauren Shapiro have pondered together ways to highlight the damage humans have done to the local Miami coral reefs through their residencies at the growing Miami art Institution, Bakehouse Art Complex.

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Bushwick: Where does it rank in terms of centers for Art in NYC?

Photo of Work by Manuela Riestra at ZXY Gallery. Photo courtesy of artist.

Where does Bushwick begin? Has Bushwick as a hot spot for art galleries begun to fade? Do the endless waves of gentrification ensure that Bushwick will grow as a hot spot for art?

Along the East Williambsburg (cough...Bushwick) Industrial Park and Bushwick border we see a lot of movement in the art world. The neighborhood has large galleries with spaces like Luhring Augustine and Clearing but still has is a haven for artist run spaces like ZXY Gallery

That is not to mention other artist run spaces deeper in Bushwick such as Underdonk, Paradice Palase Tiger Strikes Asteroid and Mery Gates. On the other hand, galleries have leftt and moved to neighborhoods that they may even say are upgrades in terms of foot traffic, density of nearby art galleries, closeness to collectors, etc.

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Getting to know Good to Know.FYI - Part 1 "PLEASURETOWN"

Photo by Michael Eckblad

At an art week megavent known for its over-the-topness, notably saturated this year with an appendix of cryptobro and NFT influence, the curatorial collective Good To Know.FYI ‘s show PLEASURETOWN punched well above its weight on behalf of all who make art no matter what.

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Exploring the Art of LA

LA has many art fairs happening this week that we are excited cover including Frieze, Spring Break, and Felix art show.

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Review: Portia Zvavahera at David Zwirner

By Adam Aslan

Zvandaona Portia Zvavahera at David Zwirner. Photo by Lily Sullivan.

Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera presented her first solo show in NYC at David Zwirner at the west 19th location. Dichotomies of emotion punctuate the expressive paintings that bring to mind some of life’s most intense vacillations. Liminality is of central focus as dreams find resolution in the artist’s large scale paintings as she explores pleasure, life, love, and their opposites.

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Irja Boden's All Fired Up: Fractured Light at Amos Eno Gallery

By I.A.M. Staff

A new solo show by Irja Boden provides visitors to Amos Eno Gallery with an array of ceramic artworks to reflect upon in "Fractured Light". Boden knows ceramic processes inside and out, exploring a variety of methods in this exciting show of stacked ceramic artwork. In sculptures such as "Phantom Vessel 03" and "Phantom Vessel 06," there are delightful cascades of color that rush along the surfaces of each vessel, with stacked components at times combining harmoniously, while at other meeting points, divulging wildly. Abstract sculpture has rarely been so exciting, as the artist makes a new decision at every turn and with each new work: to glaze or not to glaze, to etch and carve along the surface or to leave the edges glossy and smooth.

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Show Review: Fogo! Group Exhibition at SoMad

By Adam Aslan

Jamie Martinez, The Journey, 2020, Carved Caulk, Paint, Oil Pastel Sticks & Embroidery on Canvas, 24x18in, Unique

Much was done to advocate for the rights of BIPOC over the summer and steps have been made by some art institutions to be more inclusive, but still “FOGO!” an exhibition featuring Latinx artists in support of APIB (Brazilian's Indigenous People Articulation) stands out amongst the rest. The show is powerful and pays beautiful homage to an indigenous aesthetic that is simultaneously historically rich and contemporary.

Carla Maldonado, Noméo (in collaboration with Marli Bárbara Prado Vaz), 2020, 2:45min Loop, Digital Video with Audio

Anytime a group show features 19 artists, one may be a bit scared as to the amplified variety of aesthetics and varying quality of the art, but SoMad did an impeccable job of curation, which makes the viewing experience both pleasant and inspiring.

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“The Process of Jovanni Luna and its Portrayal at Paradice Palase”

By Adam Aslan

Hidden expression marked with strong visual imagery highlight the process by which Jovanni Luna creates “paintskins”. While the final art object is striking the entire process is filled with fulfilling aesthetic moments to which only the artist is privy.

“A paintskin, constructed out of latex paint, is in a constant state of transformation from its initial state of liquid to solid. It gradually evolves through repetitive actions of layering, cutting and rolling the paint. This laborious process of working becomes hidden with each additional layer of material, obscuring the actions before it, allowing only subtle cues to be seen in the end: hints of color, gentle textures, subtle brushstrokes, ” says Luna.

"953”, paintskins on wooden shelves, 36”x36”x2”, 2020 - Image courtesy of the artist

Luna recently showed work at Paradice Palase where he is an Oasis Studio member. Paradice Palase is quickly cementing itself a cultural institution on the far eastern boundary of Bushwick and Bedstuy, which is demarcated by Brooklyn’s heart of commerce, Broadway.

Here is a bit more from Paradice Palase about their platform and their show with Jovanni Luna:

“PARADICE PALASE is an arts platform promoting the democratization of the art world for creators and patrons. We support emerging artists and foster accessible arts patronage by producing collectible arts retails, online content, and exhibitions. We champion a model funded in part by a public members community, where art makers and lovers can subscribe in exchange for benefits.{ Founded in 2017 by Kat Ryals and Lauren Hirshfield, they connected after each recognizing barriers to entry for artists and collectors in the contemporary art landscape. Thus PARADICE PALASE is the love child of DIY and art world utopia, with a flare of the bold and brilliant.

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Microscope Gallery to Show 4-Channel Video "Border Control" at the Armory Show

Article by Adam Aslan

Microscope Gallery will be showing the four-channel video installation "Border Control" at the 2020 Armory Show. The gallery has shown work from Ahwesh in the past at their gallery located at 1329 Willoughby Ave in Bushwick.

"Border Control" employs four flat screens to examine US Border Policy. The video was shot at the border of San Diego and Tijuana. Of particular note is the face that the art piece acts as a witness to man climbing over an existing wall at the border to enter the US, making this piece front line journalism as well as art.

Peggy Ahwesh, “Border Control”, 2019, four-channel video installation, dimensions variable — Image courtesy of the artist and Microscope Gallery

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Dean Cercone at Galerie Manque

By Adam Aslan

Dean Cercone was making art in Bushwick before most of the galleries in Bushwick were even open. If one of the many galleries currently located in Bushwick were to select an artist representive of a wave of artists that helped establish the neighborhood as the creative mecca it is today that actually still live there, few would find a better choice than Dean Cercone, a founding member of Bushwick venues the Glove and Bohemian Grove.

Bushwick has long been considered a haven for artists, but as rent increases at alarming rates, the number of artists actually living there decreases. While there does seem to be a healthy amount of artist studios in Bushwick, one has to wonder how many of these artists are willing to stand as independently in the art world as Cercone.

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Jay Milder's "Unblotting the Rainbow" Shines in Provincetown

By I.A.M. Staff

"Animistic Ark" Jay Milder, Acrylic and Volcanic Ash on Canvas (2015)

Notes of Chaim Soutine resonate in Jay Milder’s “Unblotting the Rainbow,” curated by Adam Zucker and on view at the Provincetown Art Association & Museum through Nov 10.

Paintings on view span works both on paper and canvas from the 1950s through to today. While his work first exploded onto the scene with abstract yet boldly expressive brushmarks in the 1960s, his evolution over time prove that he is able to meet the challenge of changing times. The artist's careful attention to Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah capture the higher consciousness of our immediate reality. Curved, unbroken brushstrokes capture a universal, animated life force.

In addition to being noted by Donald Kuspit as a defining artist of the 20th century, Milder mines influences both modern and contemporary, and his works remain relevant in the present day. Curator Adam Zucker notes, "focusing on [Milder]s use of painterly Expressionism as a means to address physical and spiritual themes affecting the human condition." Milder's ultimately humanist aims in his mostly abstract painting style are compounded by his roots to Provincetown, where this exhibit takes place and where the artist first spent time in a seaside studio in the 1960s.

"Dream House" Jay Milder, Oil on Canvas (1970)

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Thoughts on the Sarah Sze and the New MOMA

By Adam Aslan

Sarah Sze has made a very strong impression on me.

Her art is both technical and wild. One thing that impresses me about art and artists these days, is there ability to create art from something that was never thought of as art before.

So anyways people love lists so here is one:

10 things related to Sarah Sze and her installation at the MOMA

  1. Isnt it great when artists can bring together so many different things that make art beautiful in their own art?
  2. I still can't get over her using the granola bar wrapper in the installation.
  3. I never realized the threat of destruction of the piece from the swinging pendulum in the installation but thanks to MOMA pointing it out, I am even more excited about her piece.
  4. This relates to Sarah Sze's art that was shown at Tanya Bondakar Gallery recently.
  5. One of the installations she showed their was fragiley attached with thin sticks leaving the viewer wondering if it could all come crashing down.
  6. I wonder if the curator, gallerist, and artist herself wondered if such issues would occur on the packed opening night, September 5th.
  7. I wonder if the MOMA is a bit worried about showing Triple Point (Pendulum) which was first exhibited at the 55th Venice Biennale.
  8. While were on the subject of the MOMA, guess who's art is first one shown when you go to their new MOMA page? Sarah Sze.
  9. What did I think of the new MOMA? It seemed a lot bigger than before. I really like the top floor, which is where Triple Point (Pendulum) is installed.
  10. Would I recommend visiting the new MOMA?!? Ummm...duh. If anyone will get the masses to take serious interest in Contemporary Art, it is the MOMA.
Sarah Sze at the MOMA. Photo by Adam Aslan.

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Satellite Art Show Opens Tonight!

By Adam Aslan

Satellite Art Show opens tonight in the enormous Pfizer Building at 630 Flushing Avenue in Bedstuy.

While many larger art shows or art fairs feature more traditional gallery type aesthetics, Satellite has made an effort to incorporate more installation art and performace art.

Here are the fair hours:
   October 3: 5pm - 12am
   October 4: 5pm - 2am
   October 5: 12pm - 5am (Sublimate After Party)
   October 6: 12pm - 6pm

The art show has taken place in Miami for Art Basel and Austin for SXSW as well as in NYC.

Sculpture by Lena Marquise from Satellite Art Show 2017. Photo by Adam Aslan.

Carlito Dalceggio Interview

by Adam Aslan

Works From Canal St Installation - Photo Credit - Olivier Bousquet

Carlito Dalceggio is a multimedia artist based in New York City who has made art in Nomadic fashion in places such as Mexico City, Paris, Istanbul, and Rio de Janeiro. He is in residence at Mana Contemporary. In this interview, he touches upon his philosophy and the importance of words in his art. The dialogue continues to delve into the importance of color and concept in his work. With influences from around the world, he shares wisdom that has been gained globally. He just completed an exhibition at 332 Canal St called Mythologia Libre.

  1. What is your Philosophy?
  2. I am a freedom warrior- from inner revolution to universal liberation,,,, inspiration and imagination are the two key to reach infinity- there are seven keys to create art 1- intuition 2-imagination -3-inspiration- 3- passion- 4-love 5-freedom 6- devotion 7-vision

    I’m driven by a deep desire to transform the world and to transform myself, by pushing further the limits of reality, and to erase all boundaries, my art exists right in between chaos and balance, where freedom can expands .

    I see art as the antidote- art as the fire that will bring everyone together.

  3. What do words do in your art?
  4. Words and calligraphy are a deep source of inspiration for me, I live surrounded by books of visions and poems, and my first brushstrokes have been guided by the mystical calligraphies and ancient symbols. I long to dissolve the boundaries between all medias: painting to sculpture to video to writing, The alchemical fusion of words and image give birth to a new language. I write in the same way as I paint: using the cut-ups technique to defy the reason, and obtain the unknown, automatic and intuitive, a collage.

Works From Canal St Installation - Photo Credit - Olivier Bousquet

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Interactive Artwork "Hurrah!" Takes On NYCxDESIGN

By Audra Lambert

NYCxDESIGN is an exciting design open house across NYC every year, with public design projects presented across the five boroughs. For visitors to this year’s Design Pavilion (Times Square pedestrian plazas between Broadway and 7th Avenue, from West 42nd to West 47th Streets) through May 22nd, a fun new interactive element beckons. Designed by the industrial design students and faculty from both Pratt Institute and The Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, “Hurrah!” gives visitors the chance to dance and drum, on a large vertical xylophone. With sweeping cylinders rising into the sky, this interesting sculpture - arising in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C.,- proves to be one of the most exciting design installations on view throughout the Design festival.

When participants enter the musical instrument and interact with the sleek, streamlined xylophone tubes, the well-known celebratory Polish song - “Sto Lat” - a upbeat, engaging tune celebrating participation and cooperation - plays out loud. This interactive work gives casual visitors an opportunity to dance and make music through this carefully engineered installation.

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Stranger Vibes: A Night of Art and Technology with Aurora Halal, Sam Rolfes, and Friends presented by PopRally

by Adam Aslan

Photo by Adam Aslan

Aurora Halal and Sam Rolfes created two vastly different live performances yet both were assisted by futuristic design like light studio Nitemind. Both kept the crowd entranced with the variety of stimulation and beauty that was flowing through each performance.

Video by Adam Aslan

One of the first events at Moma that started after 9pm in while, Aurora Halal got the colored strobe soaked crowd dancing after Sam Rolfes awed the crowd with collaborators, performance artist Justin Shoulder and DJ Sharp Veins. Who doesnt like a live 3-D performance with projection-mapping

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Tonight in Long Island City

By Adam Aslan

Chelsea, Chinatown, LES, Bushwick....LIC.

Long Island City is making a strong push as one of the most happening areas for art activity in NYC. 550 Gallery has an amazing showing with Andrew Erdos and Yasue Maetake. It is curated by Greg Barton. Yet another great show from rising gallerist Elliott De Cesare.

Happening simultaneously in the neighborhood will be an opening at Radiator Gallery. It is curated by Viola Lukacs

It will be showing till April 19th.

Click here to read more.

For the Hyperallegic to Art News, They Are Publishing Articles that Challenge Colonialism, White Supremacy, and Patriarchy

By Adam Aslan

Who sponsors art press? Galleries and museums.

So why would you ever write anything bad about a gallery or museum if you are art press?

Image by Adam Aslan

Considering that many galleries and museums do give money to art publications, it would be natural to think that these publications are writing nice things about these museums and galleries sponsoring them.

If A, then B, right?

Well at least Art News and Hyperallergic are going against that logic by choosing to publish stories about recent protests at the Whitney and Brooklyn Museum.

Click here to read more.

Art Basel 2018

By Adam Aslan

Art Basel has descended upon Miami!

Years past have featured performances by Rick Ross at the Plymouth Hotel featuring art by Marco Santini, takeovers by the ever evolving performaces and parties by The Box NYC, and the A$AP Mob performing at an open bar beach party to name just a few events.

Works by the Haas Brothers at the Bass. Photo by Adam Aslan.

The Bass was the winner of Art Basel with their exhibit by the Hass Brothers and their opening night featuring cocktails by Gem and Bolt Mezcal.

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Happening in Bushwick

By Adam Aslan

11-2-2018

Come Commemorate 6 years of some of the best art shows in NYC at Signal Gallery tonight at 9pm. This is their last official event.

They request attendees to bring flowers.

Also going on in the neighborhood will be an opening at The Border located at 56 Bogart St.

"Peregrination" curated by Jamie Martinez (@triangulism ), opens tonight at The Border featuring the work of Elisa Pritzker (@elisapritzker), Nyuegen E. Smith (@bundlehouse) and Lina Puerta (@linapuertaart).

The space has been totally transformed from the previous show, which took place with a floor completely covered in fresh soil.

There will also be an opening at Amos Eno Gallery presenting new works by Mimi Oritsky at 56 Bogart St as well.

Click here to read more.

Exciting Flash Feminist Art Exhibit "Eminent Domain" Opens

By Adam Aslan

Eminent Domain, a 3-day "flash feminist art exhibit" features over 90 artists from around the world and opens this Thursday July 12 in Chelsea. . It is organized by ART511MAG in partnership with Alexandra Arts.

The exhibit will feature a panel on Sunday. It is moderated by Katie Cercone and Ultracultural Others. The exbhibit features work from Laura Kimmel, Jordan Piantedosi, and Go Pushpops to name a few.

ART511MAG in partnership with Alexandra Arts PRESENTS: EMINENT DOMAIN - A DYNAMIC, INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST ART EXHIBITION IN THE HEART OF THE CHELSEA GALLERY DISTRICT. This 3-day flash feminist art exhibit features over 90 artists from around the world.

The opening reception art party goes from 6-10 p.m. in the former Robert Miller Gallery space at 524 West 26th St.

Here is more on the exhibit from the press release: Addressing the white male western canon’s discourse drawing from exploiting, misrepresenting and objectifying female bodies and the racial/sexual Other, EMINENT DOMAIN occupies a major white box space in the heart of the commercial art world with a militantly utopic “flash flood” of new media, live performance and traditional visual art of every size and stripe, washing away old, derogative archetypes to tell another story about Art, ritual, community and the divine feminine mysteries. “Artists from all over the globe contributed works of all mediums during a historical moment characterized by the rise of the feminine in all aspects of life, culture and industry. A hand-picked selection of artworks from over 90 women artists from around the world tackle complicated and culturally nuanced issues including sexual violence and abuses against women the world over, xenophobia, body/fat politics, race, sisterhood, the archetypal feminine, colonialism, sex tourism, white supremacy, ageism, religion, gender, sacred art, environmental devastation and repair. Poignant, juicy, sensual, cleverly bittersweet, darkly militant and profoundly magical - whether demanding our horror undivided, reframing an outmoded world view or simply wetting our appetite for a more righteous era of equality and justice - these works engage in challenging, transnational, intersectional dialogue, smash stereotypes and rush boundaries.” The exhibition concludes Saturday, July 14 with a moderated panel discussion “Women in the Arts- Sisterhood & Sustainability.” - Katie Cercone, curator

When does supplemental text become too much?

Article by Laura Grasso

4-9-18

In the most recent edition of the Spring/Break Art Show that takes place annually during Armory Week, I walked away with an overwhelming amount of paper – press releases, business cards, post cards, and in one case, a fan. In experiencing the 144 mini-exhibitions I wasn’t just getting an idea of a single gallery’s current best and brightest, but continually re-orienting myself to interpret both the art in any given room and then synthesize how those pieces worked as a collected unit within the larger scope of the theme of the fair, “A Stranger in a Strange Land”. What sets Spring/Break apart from the other fairs is its curatorial bent, presenting an overarching theme and then inviting curators to run from there, but this open-ended call often comes with a need for definition and explanation for viewers to fully appreciate the goals of both the curators and the artists within those spaces. Enter the paper.

While gallery booths at many other art fairs have some supplemental material or cards for potential buyers, the explanatory press release is an essential element for many Spring/Break exhibitions. Curators also tend to baby-sit their booths and openly encourage viewers to ask questions and create a dialogue about the work they have so thoughtfully selected. While press releases are a standard practice for gallery shows, their presence in this art fair context push Spring/Break into stark contrast with the rest of the showings during Armory Week, catering to the viewing experience rather than the openly sales-driven focus of other fair booths. These single sheets may dig in to the artist’s intentions or the curator’s interpretation of the theme, but most crucially they create context so that the work may exist in a deeper space in the viewer’s mind rather than amass value on a purely aesthetic scale. While visual art is ostensibly a presentation of aesthetics, an artist bears no responsibility to communicate with aesthetic terms that are defined by anyone outside of their own creative sphere. With the work at Spring/Break selected first for curatorial cohesion rather than sales, this investigation between visual communication and the written interpretation that accompanies it begs the question – does the necessity of text help or hinder an artist whose ultimate goal is to sell work that will then be viewed outside of this presentational context?

A few weeks before my viewing of Spring/Break, I saw the latest iteration of The New Museum triennial, “A Song for Sabotage”. The primary focus of the exhibition is a call to action, drawing light to the systematic failure of political and societal structures on a global scale. I read every speck of wall text for every piece, in many cases multiple times. The standard format for the text for each piece or series gave a brief societal context in the first paragraph before delving into how the work responded to or related to that context in the second. The majority of the work in the exhibition is deeply intimate, presenting specific points of view to global events that have shaped and defined cultures, the nuances of which would be lost on American viewers without the accompanying text. By creating an exhibition where so many marginalized voices are given room to speak on their own terms, curators Gary Carrion-Murayari and Alex Gartenfeld have also created an exhibition where the viewer has to first understand the impetus of the event before they can then synthesize the response. In many cases, I approached the wall text before even taking in the work because the meaning of the work was so entrenched in context that was entirely foreign to me. This method of art viewing felt somewhat counterintuitive, as it forced me to take on the artists’ intentions before I could form my own instinctual reaction to the work, and in no case could the work speak entirely for itself – the full thrust of the work was always ensconced in the text. In some cases, the text would completely alter my opinion of the pieces, but not reading it did not seem like an option in the context of this particular exhibition.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

The BORDER, a New Project Space Focusing on Immigrant Art, Opens at 56 Bogart

Article by Adam Aslan

3-7-18

In a climate of intense antagonization against immigrants where youth in the DACA program are fighting just to stay in this country, one art space is opening to aid and showcase talented immigrant artists. The first show called The Border #1 is currently displaying artists from Slovakia, Iran/Greece, Peru, Georgia, and Colombia. Some of them have had or are having museum shows in their respected homelands.

The new project space called THE BORDER, opened last Friday during the storm and surprisingly enough, a lot of people came out to see the show. It was an interesting mixture of immigrants and Americans, networking and getting along.

Click here to see more of The BORDER's first show.

Byron Kim's Sunday Paintings at James Cohan

Written by Laura Grasso

1-16-18

In Byron Kim’s current exhibition at James Cohan, Sunday Paintings, 1/7/01 to 2/11/18, the gallery presents a selection of 14x14 square patches of sky, culled from a larger overarching project of Kim’s to paint a painting every week. All but the earliest canvases in the project contain anywhere from a sentence to a paragraph written in pen directly on top of the paint, with a time, date, and location in the lower corner. In these individual swaths of that day’s sky, Kim doles out tidbits of his life, quick diary entries that vary from the seemingly mundane – “It rained really hard last night and this morning. Ella just left for soccer camp. Addee is in a funk despite the two new kittens in the room. They are gray tabbies named Luna and Jane.” – to the introspective – “I got really mad at Addee last night not because she did anything wrong but because I was frustrated and tense and lonely… .”

Presented in selected succession, the paintings easily invite the viewer to step inside of Kim’s life and to follow a fragmented plotline of the banalities of growing up and growing older. Kim’s style of documentation and the edited nature of the exhibition means the viewer may get two entries from one month and none from the next – cruising handily through the years of soccer games and vacations and musings on art and politics – but the intimacy of the writing means that the viewer can immediately recognize and identify with the truth of the quotidian details. The sky Kim presents each day is a sky that any of us could have seen, and the moments he chooses to document aren’t all moments that could have happened to any of us, but the way Kim writes about them allows the viewer to feel as if they are universal.

Click here to see more of "Byron Kim's Sunday Paintings"

No Vacancy III, the Latest Example of the Power of Art in Brooklyn Culture

Article, Photos, Video by Adam Aslan

11-15-17

Laser Installation by Kip Davis (Room had a 4 person capacity)

Alt Esc showcased an incredibly large swath of contempory culture with their latest exhibition, "No Vacancy III," the third weekend long event in Alt Esc's series of large-scale art exhibitions in alternative spaces in Brooklyn. Similar to the size of many art fairs, No Vacancy III featured work that ranged from traditional paintings to light art installations to 3D animation.

Click here to see more of "No Vacancy 3."

Julie Speidel, "Continuities"

Article by Jessica Reytblat

11-4-17

"Continuties" by Julie Speidel is currently being shown at Winston Wächter Fine Art. Modernist yet imbued with antiquity, each of the sculptures on view is comprised of two parts, the protean nature of the piece’s functionality and an invitation to contemplate the connectivity between the recipient and the object immersed in its surroundings.

The sculptures are compromised of organic material: wood, metal, bronze and stone. Each creation blends the material and the energy within, to create a form that is true to the material, with directness and seeming simplicity. “Sitting on one of the benches made from the elements of the earth,” Speidel hopes, “is to be awakened by the experience in nature,” Spediel’s process contemplates the boundless relationship between oneself or others, and a consciousness of the continuities that are all inherently connected.

"Continuities" is on exhibition until Noverber 25th.

Winston Wächter Fine Art is located at 530 W 25th St, New York, NY 10001.

Travis Boyer, "Ahora y Nunca"

Article by Laura Grasso

Travis Boyer’s Ahora y Nunca, now showing at Signal Gallery in Bushwick through July 9th, is first and foremost a love letter to Selena Quintanillia, the Tejano pop star who was tragically murdered by the president of her fan club. However, this is not immediately clear upon first entering the gallery, as the viewer is initially only confronted with Boyer’s large horse blankets that project from the edges of the room. It is only upon closer inspection that it becomes evident that the blankets feature women’s legs in disco-fabulous outfits straddling invisible saddles. Ahora y Nunca comes together when the viewer enters the second room of the exhibition and can take in the careful cataloguing of Selena merchandise from her defunct retail line, Selena, Etc. Assembled in clear plastic storage tubs, the fashions of 1996 shine through with Selena’s visage or name on every object from playing cards to cups to denim appliquéd vests. Immediately to the left of these bins are dress forms with looks from the last Selena, Etc collection, bringing the singer’s presence to life in once again presenting these fashions on the female form. This merchandise is not just representative of a shuttered brand, but demonstrates the substantial influence Selena held as a cultural icon and the profound depth of her sudden and untimely death.

Re-entering the first room of the exhibition, small clues to Boyer’s devotion to Selena become more evident, a set of pictures and a chalkboard illustration acting as contextual signifiers for the horse blankets that dominate the room. Upon further consideration, the weavings on the blankets depict Selena’s legs in her notable stage-wear, tying the opulent craft of her custom costumes to the craftwork involved in the production of such luxurious blankets. The blankets, woven by a collective in Oaxaca, reinforce the importance of Selena’s Mexican-American heritage as a driving force of her success as well as the significance of this heritage becoming the keystone of Selena’s transition from niche performer to mainstream pop star before her life was tragically cut short. While Boyer communicates his love of Selena through her unique and notable fashions, the underlying influence of Tejano culture shines through each element of his work, emphasizing key factors that helped bring Selena to prominence outside of her talent as a singer.

Boyer’s clear devotion to Selena manifests in Ahora y Nunca as an admiration of her strength as a visual icon, removing her music from the conversation and instead focusing on how she capitalized on commercialization. Contrasting the unique quality of the hand-woven blankets to the bins of Selena branded merchandise, Boyer underlines how her specific Tejano cultural point of view was translated for the masses that adored her, but was so intrinsically tied to Selena that without her, this new mainstream foothold could not be sustained.

Raymond Pettibon, "Th'Explosive Short"

Article and Photos by Mame Bonsu

"Sometimes they seem to have been lost, carried away no one knows where, " ponders Raymond Pettibon's simple black and white painting of sperm traveling. Known for making album art in his early career, it is no surprise that his captions accompany his drawings in a manner not unlike lyrics accompany a composition.

His exhibit TH'EXPLOSIVE SHORT offers commentary using depictions such as an ovary-like creature as a steadfast survivor, a tidal wave as an underestimated entity, and a suffering Christ ignorant of the true extent of his burden. See Pettibon's numerous works at David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea through June 24th.

Thoughts on She Inspires at The Untitled Space

Written by Adam Aslan

5-5-17

Few issues seem as pressing today as women’s rights. The art exhibition “She Inspires,” which opened May 2 at the Untitled Space addresses this issue by presenting works that feature portraits of women that have been at the focal point of the fight for women’s equality acting as role models for women today and throughout history.

The choice to present portraits of famous women acts both as an inspiration and a source of education. While one hopes that most people would know Victoria Woodhull, who was the first woman to run for president of the United States and a leader of the suffragist movement, seeing the painting of her by Indira Cesarine titled, “My Name is Victoria Woodhull” acts as an inspiration to dig a bit deeper in to her life.

Read more on "She Inspires" here.

Photo by Meredith Bloom

Southeast Williamsburg has a new gallery. Jorge Andrew Gallery is about to wrap up its first show and prepares to exhibit Emma Stern this coming Friday April 7th from 6 - 9 pm. Read more about the first show here.

The LED World of Nitemind

Written by Mame Bonsu

2–27-2017

Photo by Meredith Bloom

Nitemind's immersive and interactive approach to visual art employs laser beams and video mapped LED to emphasize as well as morph a space's structures. The International Gallery has at its center a cube nucleus radiating deep blue. The resulting illumination of the gallery invites viewers to adopt a novel lens as they consider the surrounding physical space.

Nitemind's exhibit can be viewed at the International Gallery by appointment throughout Art Week.

Wendy Klemperer’s Salvage What You Can Hypnotizes with Foreboding

Written by Mame Bonsu

2-27-17

Photo by Meredith Bloom

Wendy Klemperer literally swallows her viewer in a sort of purple, blue, and neon graveyard in her exhibition Salvage What You Can . Using material collected from scrap yards and construction sites, Kelmperer constructs the forms of vertebrates in a manner suggestive of skeletons. The black light morphs and illuminates the forms that hang from the ceiling as if in a slaughterhouse.

Wendy Kempler holds a B.A. in biochemistry from Harvard University and a B.F.A. in sculpture from Pratt Institute. She has many large-scale permanent installations on college campuses across the country.

Click here to read "The Bight at Honey Ramka: A Collection of Works by Ben Finer"

Pioneer Works

by Mame Bonsu

2–26-2017

Photo by Meredith Bloom

Office Life as Performance Art at Pioneer Works ExhibitionWORK


by Adam Aslan

2–24-2017

Photo by Meredith Bloom

Pioneer Works has in many ways brought the art world to Redhook with the giant installations that fill the majority of its ground level. Hidden from the casual viewer are the second and third floors of the building that contain installations, studios, and their office…until now.

Now even their office has become part of the aesthetic of large scale art installation with the latest exhibition WORK. The exhibition is directed by Victoria Keddie and Scott Kiernan as part of E.S.P. TV’s first institutional solo exhibition in the United States. E.S.P. TV is characterized by their live television tapings featuring “experimental broadcast collaborations” with underground poets, musicians, and artists via their “mobile television studio”.

More from Pioneer Works on WORK:

“For WORK, E.S.P. TV makes Pioneer Works’ office staff and environment the subject of a six-week performative, televisual installation by relocating the organization’s second-floor, open-plan office to the first-floor’s main exhibition space. Surrounded by a de-centralized control room, the office doubles as both a dynamic sculptural set — painted partly in chroma blue and featuring movable walls, among other features — and the actual site for the staff’s five-day workweek. The staff’s “daily grind” will be mixed live, on-site, with custom video effects and commercial interruptions. Far from peddling in the sensational tropes of reality TV, WORK instead turns banal, day-to-day office routines and patterns — the movement of a chair, a co-worker getting coffee — into the improbable, playful content of a serial program to be broadcast weekly on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network. E.S.P. TV worked closely with curator David Everitt Howe to envision this social experiment and exhibition, which responds to the building’s unique environment and tight-knit, collective office culture.”

Studio Visit: Rebecca Ness

By Boston Arts Editor - Rory Bledsoe - @whoizrory

2–4-2017

Emilie Stark-Menneg's paintings will make you smile, LOL and maybe even tear. She subverts darker themes with a childlike playfulness and brilliant dream-pop palette. Stark-Menneg airbrushes the canvas, after a lengthy and worthwhile preparatory process, effectively rendering digital flatness and imagery. Like video stills from another dimension - one full of danger, magic and the absurd - these paintings will draw you in and blow you away.

Photographed by Rory Bledsoe

Lovely studio visit today with the talented and insightful @rebeccanessart - got to see so much exciting work. Her depiction of women through such a loving and understanding gaze is powerful and unnerving; the viewer feels seen too. Ness' paintings are satisfying in terms of both craft and narrative. She buries clues that reveal further emotional layers; the realization of these aha! moments is gratifying and results in a playfulness that contrasts with darker themes.

This gouache painting is a favorite recent work. At first glance, it almost reads as a woman staying-in to chill, but the scene lacks agency and sadness lurks. One hand clasps an empty wine glass and one hand sits limp and dejected (Ness's ability to imbue emotion into a resting hand is a testament to her incredible talent). The phone lays inaccessible - perhaps she is thinking that no one is going to text her anyways...and so has resolved (yet again) to seek emotional salvation via her screen: to binge-watch the loneliness away. Ness creates poignant (and often darkly comical) moments that revel in the beauty and absurdity of being human, and moreover a woman - through gorgeous rendering and complex storytelling.

Art Basel 2016

Photos and Writing by Adam Aslan

12-12-2016

Here's a taste..Some Highlights

"Cat Art. Sculpture meets light fixture meets kitty cat. Always nice to see a mixture of technical skill and humour come together to create something funny yet functional. Evoking the question, where to place this cat fight light?" - Adam Aslan #carpentersworkshopgallery #carpentersworkshop #kitty #catart #felinedelirium #designmiami #designmiami2016

"Seen some things like this before in San Juan, PR ;) The culture of circus and clowns is being highlighted as a form of art in Puerto Rico as shown by the works presented by Galeria Agustina Ferreyra." - Adam Aslan #payaso #sanjuan #galeriaagustinaferreyra #sanjuanpr #sjpr #abmb2016 #abm #intartmag #artedepuertorico

Here are some more photos from Untitled 2016

Upon Entering
Simple, Yet Effective

Studio Visit: Tim McCool

Photographed and Written by Rory Bledsoe
12–7-2016

Great studio visit with @timmmccool - talking painting, plants and #scrollculture. Digging the digital palette and flatness of these wood cutout paintings and loving how they successfully bring about the "huh -> wow" moment, instead of "wow -> huh", which is way less gratifying and all too prevalent.