june19th

The New York Optimist
June 2008, Vol. 01: Issue 01

June 19th Art Crawl
By
Stephan Fowlkes

There’s really nothing like a nice leisurely stroll through
Chelsea with a good group of friends, popping in and out of
galleries, watching the sun slowly set over the Hudson,
sharing in scintillating conversation and the libations
generously offered by the gallerists, discussing the art we
encounter, making new friends of fellow art crawler,
accidentally bumping into old friends, and generally just
being happy to be alive. You simply can’t match it. This
week’s crawl was one of those days, close to perfect!
And as predicted, the summer group shows are rolling out.

This week, to mix things up, we started on the south end
and worked our way north. I was pleasantly greeted by a
reductive, sparse atmosphere. There were only nine works
in the show, by three artists, so I commend the curator: the
work had room to breathe, and enough space for the works
to be viewed independently of one another. It was not the
usual “quantity compensates for quality.” The show
boasted photographs and sculptures, but nothing too
ground-breaking. The photographs were large and the
sculptures were aluminum sandcastings of…cardboard
boxes, free-standing or leaning against the wall. There was
a clock on the wall which rotated, making it difficult to tell
the correct time. But all in all, the presentation and quality
made it worth while.

“Too Strong to Stop, Too Sweet to Lose”
Juergen Drescher, Melanie Schiff, Mark Soo at Cohan and
Leslie
138 Tenth Avenue
Through August 16th or 23rd (the press release says both),
2008

Melanie Schiff
Untitled (Anna I),
2007
C-print
40 x 50 inches

Melanie Schiff
Anna V
2008
50 x 40in

Cohen and Leslie

In juxtaposition to that almost Zen atmosphere,the show curated by Matthew Brannon boasted almost fifty works from twenty-six artists, most from 2008,
but interspersed by a few pieces from the sixties and seventies. And as expected with such overwhelming volume, there was some very powerful work like
Pistoletto’s “Coniglio appaso (hanged rabbit)” from 1973 to some not-so-effective work, such as Matthew Cerletti’s “Diet Coke” from 2006, a white canvas
with “Diet Coke” painted on it in the proper font. Real (soda) pop art? I think not. But to add to the complexity, the show is paired with a publication
featuring the writings of five others including Brett Easton Ellis and Liam Gillick. Any cohesion or theme eluded me, but that may have been the point.

“Not So Subtle Subtitle” curated by Matthew Brannon
Casey Caplan
525 W. 21st Street
Through August 1st, 2008

Then we came to my favorite of the group shows, “The Stranger”at Yvon Lambert. Here you are confronted with the very unusual, the bizarre, even
verging on the grotesque, some with a dark side and others with humor. You get a child loving a monster as he would his grandparent in “The Long
Awaited” by Patricia Piccinini; you get a deflated corpse-in-a-box in “Robin V” by Berlinde de Bruyckere; you get one of the M&M characters seemingly
getting his fix, but you find HE is actually anatomically correct in “Big Baby” by Richard Jackson; as well as a blue George Segal “Seated Woman Reading”
reading appropriately enough Camus’ “The Stranger.” And we thought she should be reading “L’Etranger” instead. There is also a nice Anselm Kiefer floor
piece to enjoy.

“The Stranger” at Yvon Lambert
550 W. 25th Street
Through July 31st, 2008

Continuing north, we came upon one of
the few one-man shows of the evening.
“Pinocchio’s Library” was a strong
installation of wooden bookshelf-like
structures, towers of an inaccessible
knowledge, as the “books” were but
chunks of wood. This was a perfect
example of how simplicity can evoke or
impose an idea very effectively. Of course
I was a fan, as the wood—well worn with
use and age--was reclaimed from a
scaffolding company, and as we all know
by now, I love wood and the stories it can
tell simply through its history and
materiality. This installation has the
austerity of a library or a house of
worship, both psychologically charged and
formally impactive.

“Pinocchio’s Library”
Peter Belyi at Daneyal Mahmood Gallery
511 W. 25th Street, 3rd Floor
Through July 31st, 2008

And now on a completely different note, there is one more opening I wish to address. I have been ranting a bit about the influx of MFA shows into the
galleries I believed to be for professional artists, and these aren’t grads fresh out of their programs, these are their thesis shows. So we are looking at
student work in the Chelsea galleries, with the idea that this is the new, the up-and-coming “talent,” that—apparently—there aren’t enough professionals
out there to find good work from, that the sensationalism trumps quality that comes from years of personal development as an artist. I remember when
I was a spring chicken fresh out of college, running around galleries with my portfolio, eager, youthful, ambitious and naïve, how they all told me to
come back in a few years, once I had found my personal aesthetic and voice. Many years have passed since then, and now that I have found,
developed, harnessed my own voice and personal aesthetic, I am being passed over in favor of this new batch of spring chickens who are being taken
advantage of while they know no better. It is convenient for the galleries because there will always be next years fresh batch of MFA grads to choose
from, so there will always be the “Next best thing.” However, this trend is short-changing many artists who have devoted their lives to their work,
without immediate recognition. It is as if the MFA is a golden ticket, and not having one makes one less of an artist, or curtails one’s ability or talent.
One doesn’t need an MFA program to read Barthes, Lacan, and Deleuze. Furthermore, I feel all the theory and art history being fed to these students
inevitably makes the creative process too intellectual, no longer allowing for emotional and aesthetic content to shine. Call me old-fashioned. But to get
to the point, I believe Kathleen Cullen is on my side to a certain extent…Yes I reviewed her MFA show from U Conn, but I was of the opinion that if we
want them young, why not skip over the MFAs and go for the jugular…kindergarten art work. She is carrying the ball in that direction with her new
show “Summer in the City.” This is a show of the BFA graduates from Alfred University. How awesome is that?!? Barely old enough to drink the
wine at your own reception in a Chelsea gallery. My, how times have changed. I remember when you had to prove your mettle to get ahead in this
crazy business, and yes, the art world really is a business…big money. A Chelsea art show on your resume must look great when applying to your
MFA programs, so you can be guaranteed more Chelsea art shows, not to mention all those biennials and art fairs. With that in mind, the work is as
you would expect from a bunch of college kids…eager, youthful, ambitious and naïve. Looking back at my own work from that era, I am glad no
gallery picked me up at that age…my work sucked back then, and it has only been through years of personal exploration and development that I have
found my own, true voice and aesthetic as a professional artist.

“Summer in the City: Alfred University’s 2008 BFA Graduates”
Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts
526 W. 26th Street, 5th Floor
Through July 11th, 2008