Gallery Openings

Yesterday I braved the cold with my friend as we made our way through Chelsea checking out some of the new openings.

We started off at Paul Kasmin Gallery which is always a worthwhile. Paul has a very strong group of artists that he represents that have definitely matured in their field. The exhibit yesterday was from Joe Zucker. I believe this is the first showing of this particular work in New York. Zucker has created shallow boxes that have wooden separators in them. Each defined area has poured acrylic paint at different levels within that space. Each is a different color, mostly brights. There is interesting cracks and movement in how the acrylic has dried. Then, corresponding to that piece is one large square piece, same size as the other shallow box, that is one solid color. They are diptects but are different in scope. The separators create images like sailboats and homes. Very modern. I really liked them.

Next stop, Wallspace Gallery. Jane and Janine are true visionaries of emerging artists. The artist in residence yesterday was Ofrit Kinar from Tel Aviv. Photographs of woodsy landscapes. There was also 2 photographs of an inside of a fogged up window looking out. All the photographs are blurred and feel as they are moving. There is something incredibly comforting about these shots. Worth checking out.

Then we strolled over to Clementine Gallery, which I have never been to before. They were having an exhibit called Terrain which represented 3 artists, Rob de Mar, Ashley Prine and Lordy Rodriguez. I really liked Ashley's work the best. Acrylics layered in moving colors that represent floating birds, trees, etc. There was one piece in the back from another artist, Nina Bovasso who I really liked. Very colorful freeflowing paintings that are almost like doodles done on paper and on canvas.

Next door was Robert Miller Gallery. There were 2 exhibits there. The first is a photography exhibit by Graciela Iturbide. These black and white photos capture birds and movement. She has captured the image in your mind when a tree rattles and all the birds fly away. Not easy to capture. They literally fly off the page. I really liked these. In the back was Phillip Pearlstein. Free flowing nude paintings captured in basic ordinary every day things. These paintings did not do it for me.

Paula Cooper Gallery was next. Anres Serrano had an exhibit of large color photographs called America. Studio portraits of circus characters, a boy scout, a fireman, a holocaust survivor, etc. The photos are big, intense and full of color. They were interesting but did not rock my world.

Then we wandered into Feigen Contemporary Gallery that had an installation called Adrift by Matthew McCaslin. I probably wouldn't buy a piece for my home but nevertheless, interesting. He has taken conduit, electrical outlets, wiring and television screens that are connected but isolated. Each work has a flat screen image of something different. One is a tree, another is an astronaut walking on the moon. In the downstairs gallery there were some James Rosenquists if you can't get up to the Guggenheim.

Last stop, Cohan and Leslie that was showing Judith Eisler. She is a young artist that has just been noted as one of the top 10 emerging artists to watch. She takes stills of videos and then paints the still shots so the paintings have movement to them. They are very layered and you can see the amount of energy that has gone into each of these paintings. It appears to be a sell out show. She will be an interesting artist to watch.

Next stop, Pastis for lunch.