photography
The Whitney Biennial 2010 Part III
The Whitney Biennial 2010 Parts I & II
James Kalm returns to the scene of the crime. After being removed from the press list for the 2008 Biennial, and the subsequent getting busted by security and recording of that show on the down low, it seems the Whitney has decided to include the "Kalm Report" as a reputable member of the press for 2010's edition. This exhibition, curated by Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari, is touted as a national cross section of the most important and historical art produced during the past two years. Part I features the introduction by Adam Weinberg, and a walk through tour of the fourth floor.
Martin Wong: Everything Must Go, P.P.O.W. Gallery
James Kalm pays a heartfelt tribute to one of the legendary artists of the East Village. From 1978 to 1987, a sleazy rundown neighborhood on the butt of Downtown Manhattan became the most exciting and controversial battleground in the art world struggles. A cadre of whacked-out disenfranchised artists, using their own wits and energy, grabbed the international spotlight and for a brief skuzzy moment, changed the course of history.
Martin Wong was an essential character within that milieu and it is fitting that on the tenth anniversary of his death this retrospective of his work is presented.
Urs Fischer: Marguerite de Ponty at the NEW MUSEUM
James Kalm braves fall showers and trains his way to the Bowery’s New Museum for the first major museum exhibition by Urs Fischer. Lionized as one of contemporary art’s most distinctive talents, Fischer earned the New York spotlight in 2007 by cutting a hole in the floor of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and digging out tons of dirt leaving a gaping crater for visitors to climb into and explore. As an astute observer of spatial perception, and a master of digital technology with a mischievous sense of humor, the artist uses the most advanced commercial printing techniques to tweak space and challenge “reality”.
2009 Lower East Side Kick-off
James Kalm returns for the 2009 season opener on the LES (Lower East Side). This sampler features run-throughs of five openings that give viewers an idea of the tastes and trends we likely to see more of as the year unwinds. Beginning with the zippy tape stripes of Franklin Evans at Sue Scott, we dash up Freeman Alley to take a peek at the work of one name wonder Carter at Salon 94. From there we visit Khalif Kelly’s “Metamorphosis” at Thierry Goldberg Projects, and take a glance at the video installation of Adam Shecter at Eleven Rivington. Finally it’s up to East 2nd Street to check out the most recent offering at Museum 52.
Tauba Auerbach and Kehinde Wiley at DEITCH PROJECTS
James Kalm drifts into Soho to kick off the new season with a pair of highly anticipated exhibitions. Tauba Auerbach’s “HERE AND NOW/AND NOWHERE” presents five bodies of work that are all related to the duality of space, the here, and, time, the now. Illusionistic paintings are contrasted with “Auerglass” a custom made pipe organ. Kehinde Wiley explores the photographic medium with “Black Light” a series of digitally manipulated photos that continues his studies of young black males. Using various lighting sources, decorative backgrounds, gestures and poses that relate to medieval religious iconography, Wiley creates images that balance precariously between “Boys in the Hood” and “GQ Magazine”.
Dash Snow 1981–2009: A Community Memorial at Deitch Projects
I didn’t know Dash Snow. Like a lot of the New York art world, I became acquainted with him after the feature article that appeared in New York Magazine in 2007. Due to the hyper-competitive nature of so many here, Dash became the butt of nearly every young artist on the make, less a person than a target, a symbol of all the reasons the scene sucks. Now, with his passing, we’ll see what the long term value of his art really is. After this visit to the memorial, the thing that is most striking and sad is how young he was, just a kid. How will his family and young child carry on without him? Sometimes the life of an artist is brutal. Let's try to take better care of each other.
Cindy Sherman at Metro Pictures
Cindy Sherman at Metro Pictures, New York
15 November - 23 December 2008
I enjoyed Jerry Saltz's review of the show in New York Magazine, but added the following comment:
When I saw the show, my first thought was that Cindy Sherman was being remarkably candid in depicting her female collectors. There they all are, up on the walls of Metro, the museum trustee doyennes, oil baronesses, superannuated cowgirls, Upper East Side plastic surgery queens, sexagenarian countesses and aging Foundation goddesses who have acquired Sherman photographs over the years. Or there they all are, caricatures of what she feels we think they look like. It's an homage of sorts, a jolt of recognition, bringing things full circle. John Waters seems to agree, and has been so quoted: “It’s great to see Cindy’s pictures in the same room with some of her best subjects.”
Stefan Nikolaev - Prestige
Stefan Nikolaev - 'Sickkiss', 2006, 35mm film transferred to DVD, 6'25'' loop
As the inaugural show for a new gallery space in Sofia, ARC Projects presents Prestige, a solo exhibition by Stefan Nikolaev.
15 September - 20 October 2007
Exhibition open Wednesday - Saturday, 3 - 8 pm
ARC Projects
4th Floor, Boulevard Vitosha 90
1463 Sofia, Bulgaria
Bernd Becher 1931-2007
“We wanted to provide a viewpoint or rather a grammar for people to understand and compare different structures.” — Bernd Becher
The Artist and Photographer Bernd Becher died last week in Germany.
Bernd and Hilla Bechers current show at Sonnabend Gallery New York is still on view.
