Blog This at X-INITIATIVE January 15, 2010 Part I

James Kalm documents this panel discussion which explores the current state of art blogging and the blogosphere. Panel includes: Moderator Robin White, Kelly Shindler of Art21, Barry Hoggard of Bloggy, ArtCat, Culture Pundits, Edward Winkleman gallery owner, William Powhida artist and Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City.

James Kalm immerses viewers in the colored space of Dan Flavin’s Series and Progressions at David Zwirner. These works originally designed in 1968, represent a breakthrough both in their use of “ready made” commercially available neon light fixtures and their “Post-Minimal” radiance of sensual colored light. From the austere to the over the top we next trip into the Susan Inglett Gallery for the Bruce High Quality Foundation University, a learning experience in the absurd. Bruce High Quality is a loose confederation of artists who have recently achieved a high level of visibility with their goof ball antics and pathetic products that mask their wry version of “institutional critique”.

James Kalm slips into Williamsburg under cover of night to bring viewers a look and an extended interview with one of Chicago’s preeminent contemporary artists, Tony Fitzpatrick. Obsessively worked and fabricated from the cast off refuge of down home culture, Fitzpatrick weaves a narrative of tragic heroics recording a poetic portrait of one of the last of the great Native American leaders Crazy Horse. With simple scraps and elementary colors these collage paintings transcend their small size to express a sense of monumental mourning. Includes an extended interview with Tony Fitzpatrick.

James Kalm brings viewers along for a trip down memory lane. 1969 was a seminal year marking the end of the age of Aquarius and the depth of the quagmire in Vietnam. The art world was in revolt politically and aesthetically. Changes were coming fast and furiously. In hind sight many of these “radical” positions have become accepted and represent the current establishment. Still, this run-through allows us to appreciate the first dawnings of this new horizon of creative energy. Organized by Neville Wakefield, P.S. 1 Senior Curatorial Advisor; Michelle Elligott, MoMA Archivist; and Eva Respini, MoMA Associate Curator of Photography.

James Kalm taps on the window and convinces Manager Rob Magness to allow viewers a private preview of this exceptional exhibition. Grown and Sewn is a collaborative arts and crafts space that brings works of art together with a new line of well crafted American made clothing. Purvis Young, from Miami’s tough Overtown neighborhood, is a mythical figure among painters and aficionados of “Outsider Art”. James Kalm brings fans this exhibition which features a cross section of Young’s paintings, drawings and book works. Includes interviews with Rob Magness and Skot Foreman.

James Kalm begins a new year with a visit to the studio of Julian Jackson. As a longtime presence on the New York scene, particularly in Brooklyn, Jackson has spent considerable effort promoting and advocating on behalf of other artists and the local community. He along with wife, Rene Lynch, have carved out a unique place with their Metaphor Gallery in the Smith-lantic district in Downtown Brooklyn. In addition to his commitment to art advocacy Jackson continues to practice a highly evolved mode of atmospheric abstraction. Relating to the “Color-field” painters of the mid sixties Jackson extendes the investigation of subtle shifts of value, tone and the concomitant emotional responses evoked by this employment of pure color.

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.

James Kalm sneaks into the Gagosian Gallery on the “down-low” to take a brisk tour of this recent group of paintings “Horizontal Tracking Shots” by Mike Kelley. Kelley uses the theatrical device of the “set” or “backdrop” as a coloristic ground on which to place his eccentric imagist paintings. These large planes of uninflected designer colors place the applied paintings into a context with high formalism, creating a complex dialog between the abstract and the eccentric.

James Kalm slips in and records a brief walk-through of this exhibition by Gerhard Richter before he is bounced from the gallery. Richter is undoubtedly one of the most highly regarded painters of his generation and the current Godfather of the German Conceptual painting tradition. This show features works created since 2005 and debuts a series of large near monochromatic light gray paintings that represent an approach to Minimalism that further complicates the artists duel approach to his subjects. A room filling multi-panel piece “Sinbad” uses a technique of poured paint on the back of clear plastic panels and delivers a decorative impact that much previous work avoided.