Fischbach Gallery

FISCHBACH GALLERY
210 11th Ave. New York, NY 10001

NANCY HAGIN: KEEPSAKE

Earlier this month I had the chance to visit the Fischbach Gallery in Chelsea to see the exhibition Keepsake which features a series of still lifes by Nancy Hagin. I was very impressed with the photorealistic quality of the paintings at Gallery Henoch and knew I had wanted to see something similar stylistically.

Once again I was quite impressed with the overall craft and skill of the work, as well as the realistic depiction of forms. Each painting is either done in watercolor or acrylic and focuses on "found objects" arranged in different ways and sometimes in different settings. There's certainly a sense of crispness in the work. Hagin uses light, texture, as well as vibrant colors in each painting to achieve that photorealistic quality.

I found the overall feel of the work to be somewhat feminine partly because of Hagin's choice of still life setups which include various vases, plates, cups, as well as fabrics and also partly because of the warm color palette. I also found the work to be slightly nostalgic. There was just something about it that reminded me of my grandma in particular and where I grew up. I'm actually taking my first painting class here at Mason Gross, and I think that is the reason why I have such a high appreciation for artists who can paint this way.

Chapter 2: The Crit

Chapter 2: The Crit

"Group critiques offer a unique - some say "utopian" - situation in which everyone focuses on the student's work with a mandate to understand it as deeply as possible. Crits can also be painful rituals that resemble cross-examinations in which artists are forced to rationalize their work and defend themselves from a flurry of half-baked opinions that leave them feeling torn apart." p. 47

"...the prevailing belief is that any artist whose work fails to display some conceptual rigor is a little more that a pretender, illustrator, or designer." p. 53

"They are social occasions that reinforce the norm. They impose a standardized discourse. They privilege unfinished, incompetent art." -Dave Hickey p. 54

"Moreover artists often don't fully understand what they've made, so other people's readings can help them "see at a conscious level" what they have done." p. 55

"MFA stands for yet another Mother-Fucking Artist." p. 58

"Creative is definitely a dirty word....You Would not want to say it in Post Studio. People would gag! It's almost as embarrassing as beautiful or sublime or masterpiece. For these students, creativity as a "lovey-dovey cliche used by people who are not professionally involved with art." p. 63

Chelsea Gallery Visits

PACE WILDENSTEIN
Maya Lin: Three Ways of Looking at the Earth
September 10, 2009 - October 24, 2009

The Pace Wildenstein gallery on W22 currently features the work of Maya Lin. The exhibition is based on Lin's interest in landscape as well as topography and allows the viewer to re-imagine the natural world in the interior space of a gallery. The three large scale installations are based on two real topographies and one that has been imagined. The 2x4 Landscape, perhaps has the most presence in the interior space. It is made up of 50,000 vertical 2x4 pieces of wood arranged in such a way that it ends up resembling a small mound or a hill. It is a quite impressive piece, especially considering the amount of time it probably took to make.

The two other works, Blue Lake Pass and Water Line are based on actual topographies. Blue Lake Pass is composed of 20 individual units that form narrow passageways resembling those of a mountain pass, while Water Line is a suspended wire installation which explores the underwater landscape.

What's perhaps most successful and interesting about these pieces is the fact that we can interact with work. We can view it from different angles as well as navigate through and around it. In a way. Maya Lin is making these somewhat inaccessible landscapes accessible to the viewer.




PACE WILDENSTEIN
James Turrel: Large Holograms
September 10, 2009 — October 17, 2009

Jame's Turrell's solo exhibition at PaceWildenstein on W25 features fifteen large scale transmission light works all ranging between five and six feet. I have seen this exhibition a few years ago, but it's always nice to revisit and perhaps gain a new perspective or outlook on the artwork.

Turrell plays with geometry and color but also with the aspect of illusion and the physicality of light. The geometric shapes and colors change depending on where you are in relation to the work. This results in an interaction between the viewer and the piece itself. Although at first glance the holograms appear to be similar, as you walk through the gallery each piece is actually quite different from the previous.


LEHMAN MAUPIN GALLERY
September 10, 2009 - October 17,2009
Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller's work did not resonate with me in the same way that perhaps Maya Lin's work did. The exhibition featured large scale photographs of two nude women in the Louvre. The women were juxtaposed against classical marble sculptures from antiquity. It appeared almost as if the women were trying to imitate of mimic the actual statues. However, Teller's snapshot quality did not portray the female nude in the best light. When we look at or think of classical sculpture, we think of something beautiful. By placing these women amongst these statues and shooting in the way that he did, it seemed almost as if he was trying to mock classical sculpture or the concept of beauty in general. I'm not quite sure...but maybe that's what he was going for.



ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY
Josiah McElheny
September 12, 2009 - October 17, 2009

Josiah McElheny focuses primarily on glass blowing as well as the assemblage of glass and mirrored glass objects. The main piece, is located in the center of the gallery. The artist has assembled and stacked up colored blocks of glass creating a kind of architectural sculpture resembling a miniature skyscraper. This specific piece somewhat reminded me of Donald Judd's work, simply because of its minimalist approach and nature.

The exhibition also features a series of white "paintings" (nothing I haven't seen before) which I couldn't help but associate with Rauschenberg's work. The other pieces are actually wall mounted cabinets which hold glass blown vessels all in sets of red, yellow, blue (primary colors). The cabinets play with the concept of the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use. I thought they were kind of cool and contemporary looking.

HENOCH GALLERY

555 West 25th Street New York, NY 1001

STILL LIFES
October 3 - 31, 2009

The Henoch Gallery in Chelsea is known for exhibiting work by both artists and sculptors who demonstrate the best in American, European as well as Asian realism. The current exhibition STILL LIFES includes work by Olga Antonova, Kirill Doron, Daniel Greene, Steve Mills, Janet Rickus, Jaye Schlesinger, Steve Smulka, Sharon Sprung, Ellen Wineberg, as well as Darryl Zudeck. Because the work focuses on skill and craft, each piece is depicted with stunning realism. There are moments when you feel like you need to get up and close to the painting in order to see the actual brushstrokes, just to remind yourself that this is in fact a painting and not a photograph. The work is really quite exquisite and so much attention is paid to representing the precise textures, surfaces and lighting as realistically as possible. You can just imagine how much work and time goes into each meticulously painted detail. I was perhaps the most impressed by the works of Steve Mills, Janet Rickus, and Steve Smulka, although all the artists were able to accomplish that photorealist effect. Sometimes I feel like artists pay so much attention to concept and idea that they forget about actual craft and skill. So,it was certainly nice to see artists who do away with all of that and just focus on painting. I had also learned that the director of the Gallery, George Henoch Schechtman, graduated from Rutgers. But anyway, if anyone is interested in this type of work I would definitely recommend paying a visit to this gallery.

Alex Bag Video

The Alex Bag video....a little cooky, a little out there...but strangely I found myself relating to her character just a little. But I'm sure any art student who watched the video found themselves nodding along at some point. I realize that there's somewhat of serious undertone to this video, especially about issues like mass production and consumerism. But when you see Ronald McDonald trying to put the moves on Hello Kitty, well that's just something else.

New Museum Visit

Overall, I was perhaps more impressed by David Goldblatt's work. His photography certainly succeeds in raising awareness of South Africa's history and what is happening there today. It truly sheds a light on the realities these people have been living with. The quality of the prints was great. I was especially drawn to some of the individual potraits shot by Goldblatt. There was one photograph in particular of an African man who was sitting in a chair and looking directly at the viewer. There was just something about his somber expression that truly made you feel for him. I think that art achieves a level of success when it stirs up emotion in the viewer, much like this series of photographs did for me.


I was slightly less impressed by Emory Douglass's compilation of work. Although the images were successful at making a statement, I didn't feel that same connection with the artwork. I found it to be somewhat repetitive. You get the idea/message by simply looking at a few of the prints. Nonetheless, the use of color and form, from a design perspective, was interesting to look at.