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Category: New York

Photos of the end of CBGB’s & OMFUG

Published June 15, 2011

I stumbled over these at the amazing blog “Dangerous Minds” and thought it might have some interest to anyone who might be looking. Normally I would shy away from someone who just took a bunch of photos – these are a bit different seeing as they are by Chris Stein (of Blondie, Adolph’s Dog and TV Party fame – I know I probably could have stopped at Blondie…). I think the source in this case is worth mentioning seeing as he was there for pretty much the entire run of Hilly’s bar.

Eventually these will interest anthropologists as they find layers and layers of counter-cultural graffiti and stickers creating a historical layer of exactly what happened at 315 Bowery

Visit Chris Stein’s blog at rednight.net

Speaker

“the Bathroom”

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John Chamberlain at Paula Cooper

Published March 24, 2011

Like many folks, I’ve enjoyed John Chamberlain’s artworks of crushed, bent and twisted steel – usually made of car parts. Admittedly my enjoyment is purely from looking at the physical embodiment of some Dionysisian example of this work. Thats not as shallow as it may sound because, yes, I do understand that his work – built with a spontaneous “fit” versus a traditional planned approach is the core of the work. In a way if you were to compare his work to one of his contemporaries such as Mark di Suvero you could make the case that Chamberlain is Dionysian to di Suvero’s Apollonian. And that’s not a bad thing – far from it. In pop music you could call Iggy Pop Dionysian and David Bowie Apollonian. To get back to the point Chamberlains physicality and his control or at the least, his relationship to control is almost always interesting.

However today while I was at Paula Cooper I had the realization that Chamberlain’s work in todays context is political and well as physical. Walking through the gallery with these artworks from the early 60’s through the 90’s I saw pieces of Detroit, bent and twisted, sitting on a pedestal of sorts – waiting to become part of history. Not unlike the Detroit of today.

I realize that is not the “approved reading” of his work – but today it just screamed at me.

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Pat Steir: Winter Paintings at Cheim and Read

Published March 21, 2011

Pat Steir’s current show at Cheim and Read is a dance of the controlled act of painting and the understanding that it (her work) is never a controlled act. Steir’s approach of pouring, throwing and splashing paint has precedent from other painters but it is her intention via the loss of control that breaks down any easy assumptions about the work. Her process, rooted firmly in a position of choices allows for random surprises inside a controlled system that reinforces this cerebral underpinning. The resulting end result is an artwork that is intellectual, mystical and beautiful.

I don’t think the three of these end results are at odds with each other in Steir’s work. More to the point it is that balancing act between beauty and pure intellect that allows the work to find to embrace both sides of the coin and to achieve something far greater.

The physical qualities of the work – multilayered with shimmering colors and metallic’s, divided loosely (mostly into two parts) could be read as metaphorical decisions – really an almost base two binary thought to the image. (Understand this as: left/right, hot/cold, right/wrong, control/random, etc) The work carries a lightness of approach that is neither delivering answers to the binaries nor is it guiding you toward a “correct answer”, whatever that might be. The open ended-ness of the work reinforces the mental rigor of the work while also allowing you enjoy the true decadence that is the enjoyment of viewing something merely for pleasure.

Pat Steir: Winter Paintings runs through March 26 at Cheim and Read

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Last chance at Dia:Beacon: Andy Warhol, Shadows

Published March 4, 2011

My view of Warhol is like a pendulum – constantly swinging back and forth between love and indifference. However this series – especially this presentation of this body of work is one of the true highlights of his work as a painter. The work consists of a number of presentations of the same two images with the only difference being the limited color palette and minor underpainting. While using these minimal tools to great effect, “Shadows” shows why someone once said that maybe only ten people in the world really know anything about painting at any given time – and Warhol was always one of those ten.

Shadows is On view through March 27, 2011 at Dia:Beacon and will be travelling to the Chicago Arts Club in April, 2011 and the Hirshhorn in October 2011.

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Christian Marclay “The Clock” at Paula Cooper

Published February 11, 2011

I’m a fan of Marclay’s work, but with any artist some things hit and some things miss (sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a little) The two pieces by Marclay at Paula Cooper right now – it’s both.

I would guess the big story would be the premier of Marclay’s new video work – which I love the premise of. The video is 24 hours and it corresponds with the time of day in the location it’s being shown in – in other words when it’s 4:18 on the screen, it’s 4:18 in reality or in this case, New York City. In that part it’s clever. In watching it, I became focused on what time it was and how it was displayed that the narrative really went away (this could also be because there is no narrative). I found myself thinking about time, processing time in my head, and waiting for the next image of the clock to appear.

Funny enough, I found myself more interested in this outside the gallery (before and after) than inside actually watching the piece. Was it because I had just connected with a friend from out of town and wanted to talk or was it something else. Not sure. However the piece is a winner – I’m just not sure it’s a winner when you are in front of it. So it may be a bit problematic.

Also on display is a sculpture, Moebius Loop (image above) created of cassette tapes and zip ties, it’s use of reclaimed materials and cheap connections make for a very engaging artwork. In thinking deeper about the use of zip ties on this work – I started thinking a bit about how music connects communities through common language and events. In both of these pieces Marclay gives us a good bit to think about.

Bonus Play: “The Clock” to me carries with it a shared approach with Warhol’s “Screen Tests”. Intial viewing of the screen test may be viewed in many ways, but while viewing the screen tests I always started to become aware of time – knowing these were only three minutes. Often the seemed like the longest three minutes I had encountered.

(above) Christian Marclay. Moebius Loop, 1994, cassette tapes, nylon ties; 24 x 84 x 240 in.

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