Terry Winters' "Knotted Graphs" at Matthew Marks closes tomorrow. Winters creates a conceptual space with layered transparent paints based on scientific ideas of knot theory. This has been in my "write about" list for almost two months now because there's something profound in the way Winters combines personal brushwork and line with seemingly impersonal patterns and scientific illustration ideas. I think a bit of Matthew Ritchie, who also has this fascination with how scientific ideas can be made fleshy. I ran out of time to write about it, but this show is worth taking the time to see. Winters did a recent interview with the Brooklyn Rail....
Obama takes office today. It's an important event that culminates centuries of the American experiment. I chose to commemorate it in the silliest way possible as a way to keep drawing. Although not yet complete, enjoy the wonder of 44 presidents in ecstasy....
Last week I wondered what it meant to be a Yaddo Artist. As it turns out, you can decide for yourself on Jan. 24 (my birthday!), when there will be a Yaddo Artist Studio Crawl through Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. More info here. Participating artists include: David Baskin Andrea Belag Louise Belcourt Peter Sumner Walton Bellamy David Brody JoAnne Carson Patty Cateura Emily Cheng Lisa Corinne Davis Joe Diebes James Esber Rochelle Feinstein Jane Fine Joshua Fried Joanne Greenbaum Stacy Greene Sally Gross Dennis Kardon David Kramer Melissa Meyer Amy Myers David Packer Oona Ratcliffe Gina Ruggeri Katia Santibanez Jonathan Santlofer James Siena Joan Snyder Natasha Sweeten Alexi Worth...
"Sometimes I'm afraid of yellow." -Willem de Kooning "As a picture painted in yellow always radiates spiritual warmth, or as one in blue has apparently a cooling effect, so green is only boring." -Wassily Kandinsky Make up your own mind by listening to The Scene is Now's "Yellow Sarong" (which was later covered by Yo La Tengo). Watch Ken Nordine's "Yellow" put to animation:...
The agenda is on at the NY Studio School. Artist lectures every Tuesday, scholars and critics every Wednesday. David Salle, Mark Greenwold, Joyce Pensato, Jerry Saltz and more. Full schedule after the fold-...
As part of their show "Regift," the Swiss Institute is sponsoring a project by artist Maria Eichorn. Here's the press release for anyone who may have an unwanted Texas-shaped jello mold hiding in their closet: REGIFT, curated by John Miller, will be on view FEB 18 - APR 4 2009; the exhibition focuses on the chains of obligation that gifting generates, on one hand, and the incalculability of gift values, on the other....
I happened upon an exhibit at the New York Public Library that celebrates the storied history of Yaddo, the artists' retreat in upstate New York near Saratoga. Yaddo has hosted many great writers, artists and composers, from Langston Hughes to Philip Guston to Sylvia Plath. The list goes on and on, one luminary following another. I remember when a former teacher of mine told me she was headed to Yaddo; I hadn't heard of it. By the time I Googled it, I was in awe. My teacher kicks even more ass than I thought! Walking through the documents and letters in the show, I began to wonder and dream: Would I ever wind up spending a summer at Yaddo? What does it take to get in? And what does it mean to be a "Yaddo artist"? That's when I stumbled upon a precious display case that deals with sculptor Eva Hesse's application to Yaddo - and subsequent rejection. Hesse is now celebrated as an innovative sculptor whose pioneering use of unorthodox materials, like rubber and fiberglass, blazed the way through post-minimalism. She died of a brain tumor in 1970. But in 1967, Hesse applied for a stay at Yaddo. She...
I've given a piece to this worthy cause. For only $75, you could buy a Jeff Koons and make the world's first Koons paper airplane. Or use it on your Swiffer. Or you could get an Ida Applebroog or Robert Longo and keep it on your wall forever. No matter what, the money goes to a worthy cause. What's to think about? The 11th Annual Postcards From the Edge A Benefit for Visual AIDS Start the New Year off right -- over 1,600 postcards unveiled at Metro Pictures January 9-10, 2009 Hosted by Metro Pictures 519 West 24th Street, NYC The Benefit Sale -- ONE DAY ONLY! Saturday, January 10, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM Over 1,600 original postcard-sized works of art. $75 EACH. Buy four, get one free! Works are signed on the back and displayed anonymously. Artists' name revealed only after purchase. First-come, first served $5 suggested admission The Preview Party Friday, January 9, 6:00 - 8:00 PM $75 admission* includes one raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets $20. Your only chance to get a sneak peek at the entire show! No sales, but one lucky raffle winner selects the first postcard. More prizes: Keith Haring the new 10lb...
Clearly I don't take the Q train enough. I haven't seen Bill Brand's subway zoetrope in person yet, but the NY Times has an article on its restoration. Created in the late '70s, Brand's zoetrope is based on the 19th century invention that showed movement with a series of still pictures seen through slits. Decades later, the subway zoetrope was abused and in disrepair from graffiti and neglect from the city. Brand, getting access with an MTA key someone slipped him long ago, spent years lovingly going back to clean graffiti from his work in this abandoned train station until it was a hopeless cause. Now, after getting funding for clean up and proper lighting, it's back in full force. Below is good video of it since the Times's stinks. I love how the passengers totally dig the suprise in the first video. Here is great vintage news footage from the early '80s, including interviews with passengers and artist Bill Brand talking about the zoetrope's conception and construction....
