| The New York Optimist October 2008 |
| October 9th, 2008 Chelsea Gallery Crawl by Stephan Fowlkes |
I don’t know...maybe Friday IS the new Thursday. Again this week, there
were more openings on Friday in Chelsea than there were on Thursday. But
fear not; what lacked in quantity thrived in quality. I got to see some fantastic
painting, sculpture and drawing which more or less completely sated my
creative appetite for the evening.
First off, we got to take in Dusty Boynton’s large canvases at Denise Bibro
Fine Art. Boynton’s paintings present the viewer “with a motley cast of
characters, human, animal and in between, painted with confident, gestural
strokes in radiant color.” At the opening, Boynton told me that much of this
work was inspired and/or based on memories of childhood, and this is
supported not just in her subject matter, but also in the style of the work--a
whimsical innocence and child-like approach. Some even look as if they
actually were painted by children, in the best sense. It reminds me of Miro’s
saying that he spent his life trying to paint like a child again. If that is the case
here, Boynton has succeeded beautifully. There is a freshness and immediacy
to these works, whilst maintaining masterful control of her painterly technique.
Recent Work
Dusty Boynton at Denise Bibro Fine Art
529 W. 20th Street
October 9-November 1, 2008
were more openings on Friday in Chelsea than there were on Thursday. But
fear not; what lacked in quantity thrived in quality. I got to see some fantastic
painting, sculpture and drawing which more or less completely sated my
creative appetite for the evening.
First off, we got to take in Dusty Boynton’s large canvases at Denise Bibro
Fine Art. Boynton’s paintings present the viewer “with a motley cast of
characters, human, animal and in between, painted with confident, gestural
strokes in radiant color.” At the opening, Boynton told me that much of this
work was inspired and/or based on memories of childhood, and this is
supported not just in her subject matter, but also in the style of the work--a
whimsical innocence and child-like approach. Some even look as if they
actually were painted by children, in the best sense. It reminds me of Miro’s
saying that he spent his life trying to paint like a child again. If that is the case
here, Boynton has succeeded beautifully. There is a freshness and immediacy
to these works, whilst maintaining masterful control of her painterly technique.
Recent Work
Dusty Boynton at Denise Bibro Fine Art
529 W. 20th Street
October 9-November 1, 2008
| Denise Bibro Fine Art 529 West 20th Street 4W New York, NY 10011 Tel: 212-647-7030 Fax: 212-647-7031 info@denisebibrofineart.com Gallery Hours Tuesday-Saturday 11AM-6PM Director Denise Bibro |
| Whilst a loose playfulness features prominently in some artists’ work, others choose a different path, and a beautiful example of this juxtaposition is going from Boynton’s vibrant, whimsical paintings to the meticulous graphite drawings of Eric Beltz at Morgan Lehman. I have to say, I feel drawing gets somewhat of a bum rap in the art world, like the art world’s ugly step-child. I feel it is way under-rated in the grand scheme, almost as if it is too passe and old-school, especially when all the new media and crazy installations are all the rage. To think of something made simply with a pencil and a piece of paper as being valuable in its own right as opposed to being but a sketch for some greater thing seems out of place in this contemporary environment, if not downright archaic. A drawing that has no collage, or digital manipulation, burnt or torn seems preposterous in this day and age, but Beltz does us right with his allegorical drawings. And although the technique is masterful in a traditional sense, the subject matter is imbued with profound historical and philosophical references. “Beltz’s narratives are populated with figures of anonymous farmers and our founding fathers, and incorporate images of medicinal plants, native animals and texts from the Bible and the Egyptian and Tibetan books of the dead. Beltz seems to navigate a narrow path between respect for and criticism of the roots of the American past and our relationships with nature and the divine. The weight of the content of these works is refreshingly delivered with a sense of humor and honesty.” It is truly amazing what can be accomplished with just a pencil and piece of paper The Good Land Eric Beltz at Morgan Lehman 317 Tenth Avenue October 9-November 8, 2008 |
Ceaseless Devotion 26 x 19 in. Graphite on bristol |
| Tree of the Evil Eagle 40 x 30 in. Graphite on paper |
| And to end on a high note, my favorite experience of the night was “Shanghai At Last,” a show of recent works by Isidro Blasco at Black & White Gallery. Blasco’s large and small sculptures at first glance read as photographs--elaborately manipulated and mounted photographs. But as one investigates further, the sculptural properties of these beautifully constructed armatures or supports for the photographic elements assume a greater role in the work as a whole. The painstakingly built wooden forms mirror the architectural images all shot in Shanghai to the point there the back of the piece is of equal interest as the front. The images themselves are fractured, composed of many individual facets or fragments of the larger cityscape, effectively adding a third dimension to what is predominantly a 2-D field. Again, the work is meticulously rendered and the results are spectacular. Definitely a must-see show! Shanghai At Last Isidro Blasco at Black & White Gallery 636 W. 28th Street October 9-November 15, 2008 |
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