Mel Kendrick: Markers
Mad. Sq. Art. 2009
a project of the Madison Square Park Conservancy
Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, New York
September 17 - December 31, 2009

September 18, 2009. Attended an opening yesterday evening for Mel Kendrick's Markers, five striated, black and white, monumental concrete sculptures that will sit in totemic splendor on the main lawn of Madison Square Park for the rest of this year.

They represent both the first public art project for Kendrick, and also incorporate a new materiality - cast concrete - for this formally innovative artist who has previously adhered to one of the more traditional practices, that of a slicer, carver, gouger and gluer of wood.

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.

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”.

James Kalm visits some of the artsy sites on West 11th Street before dropping in spontaneously on Rick Prol. Prol has been a controversial long time presence on the New York painting scene. Coming to prominence during the ascension of the East Village, he maintained a studio/gallery on East 6th Street a stones throw from the original Pat Hearn Gallery for decades. In his involvements he’s seen the tragic culmination of the EV community close up and personal, having worked with Jean-Michel Basquiat Despite the challenges, he’s maintained his artistic practice, as well a serious commitment to music and poetry.

After 42 years of living in the New York Art World, and 9 years working in it, I have decided that it's time to put up a shingle. I'm opening a new art project space in Williamsburg under the name PLAYSPACE. It's located at 38-C Marcy Avenue, entrance on Hope Street, three short blocks and around a corner from the L train at Lorimer Street.

James Kalm endures sweltering heat and summer ennui to bike to the center of Chelsea for this blockbuster show. The inequality of female representation within museum collections is an almost endemic refrain. While not reconciling this state of affairs, “The Female Gaze” does provide examples of some of today’s most influential and accomplished artists’ work. From stalwarts of Post-War American art like Louise Bourgeois and Joan Mitchell, to the essential Feminist works of Lynda Benglis, to the Post-Modern Conceptual works of Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer and Deborah Kass, this exhibition displays prime examples of reflective works inspired by images of women.

The following are brief excerpts from a Facebook dialog that’s taken place over the last four days on the Loren J. Munk page. The impetus of the original post was a demand received through YouTube from a supposed dealer, who threatens “getting ugly” if his demands aren’t met. This subject seems like prime territory for the investigation of “New Media” and some of its implications. Thanks here to those who contributed. I’ve edited due to space limits, but tried to capture the general tone.

Is there such a thing as "Meta-Art"? Ward Shelley delves into the aestheticization of art history, mapping movements and individuals from art and pop cultural history. Despite his neutral approach, these works tend to show how the narrative is shaped, bent and fitted.

James Kalm catches up with conceptual artist Ward Shelley on the closing day of his exhibition “Who Invented the Avant-Garde and other half truths”.

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.

Le Petit Versailles
346 East Houston Street, NY
(between Avenues B & C, additional entrance at 247 East Second Street)
Aurelio del Muro, 7th Avenue, through May 31, 2009

Aurelio del Muro, Twins, 2009

A sure sign that Spring has arrived in the East Village is the opening of the regular season of outdoor events at Le Petit Versailles, which generally runs from early May through October. A community garden and public art space, LPV is the brainchild of a pair of artists, filmmakers, performers, gay/queer/trans activists, green guerrillas and co-conspirators, Peter Cramer and Jack Waters, who are also amalgamated as Allied Productions, Inc., a non profit arts organization established in 1981.

East Second Street gate