Deitch Projects -> Kehinde Wiley: Black Light

"Four stars" "★★★★"

Deitch Projects is showing the one of the most influential shows of the art season. Black Light by Kehinde Wiley is a series of photographs featuring contemporary black males with a regale floral digital backgrounds which overlap with the photo graphic image at times. Kehinde probably the most important black artist of recent times keeps the overall theme of the series in line with his larger body of work and incorporates some new ideas into the show. Using photography as the main medium he beaks from his pattern of painting his subjects and successfully portrays his subjects to the viewer as possible royal family in this re-contextualization of the male image and then we are able to examine the subtleties of his subjects in more detail and with more reality than his paintings.The background patterns bring to mind classical and neo-classical patterns which might be found on great tapestries or backdrops of a portrait in the metropolitan museum of art. The photography as medium makes his subjects real. The images are very narrative using the very bodies of the male figure to tell their story. Each image deserves its own room and time to absorb and take in. The gallery space didn't add to the work or subtract from it. Unfortunately, as a series the images loose their power and impact due to their similar composer and subject; Kehinde even uses the same models for multiple pictures. I would have given this show 5 out of 5 stars but to to the repetition of the images that reduces the visual diversity I must give it 4 stars. I recommend seeing this work due to its importance to the art world, and I highly recommend buying this work, a very,very good investment!

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I'm reading: Deitch Projects -> Kehinde Wiley: Black Light ~

New material is up on my photo blog!

Portrait of a Power Generator and like Structures.

I give it "★★★★★" because I like it.

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I'm reading: New material is up on my photo blog! ~

Mixed Greens Gallery->Watch Me Slowly Death by Zane Lewis

"Five stars!" "★★★★★"

Brilliant! This IS the best show I've seen all summer. I actually viewed it before the reception last Thursday. Zane Lewis is a fantastic artist and he really blew away his previous work and brought in an amazing new level of meaning. His multimedia project features cutouts of name brand ads in various shapes and then he paints over them. Further more he created two tone mirrors with the impression of a skull. Then he positioned lights shining into the mirror at an angle so that the skull was reflected onto the floor so that when you stood in front of the piece you effectively became part of the piece. On top of that he printed a quote on the wall behind you so you read it in the skull mirror. Quite Brilliant! The evocative imagery and the sheer emotion of the presentation fueled Watch Me Slowly Death to an exquisite level of intrigue and engrosses the viewer. Another plus for the show was that the work interacted perfectly with the gallery space which had a second floor view outside in the front area and a nice sized back section.

This is an ABSOLUTE MUST SEE. I spent nearly an hour going to each piece just so I could take it all in. Apparently the opening was also well Attended at the Mixed Greens Gallery! Check it out!

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I'm reading: Mixed Greens Gallery->Watch Me Slowly Death by Zane Lewis ~

Paul Kasmin Gallery-> Naked!

Naked! Showing at the Paul Kasmin Gallery was at first glance very successful. The show juxtaposes traditional nudes with contemporary art with a wonderful use of interplay between the pieces as they react with one another. As I was looking at a traditional bronze sculpture with a back drop of two hot pink men in a forest I thought to myself "This is pure genius!" There are quite a few different forms and artists who focused on exploring the naked body in a plethora of different ways. You can see the pieces online here: Naked Art Show! The show is a success in that it really gets those rusty gears inside your head moving. This show is very important to any artist that either deals with nudity in their art or who is considering an art project involving nude men or women. Unfortunately, I cannot give this show 5 stars. After the initial fascination with all of the interaction between the works and when you start to come to the end of the show, you realize that it is painfully obvious what race the curators are. Almost 100% of the works deal with Caucasian bodies. Almost all of the artists are also white. And you guessed it the curators are white too. Now I'm not sure but if one is going to explore the history of nudes in art I'm pretty sure one should include at the very least 10% or 20% at least of art that is done by people who are not white. I'm sure there are plenty.

In sum the art in the show is good. But there is an intrinsic flaw (or even racist flaw) with the Creation that negates the pros and insights of the show on principle. Again you can see the art here: Naked Art Show!

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I'm reading: Paul Kasmin Gallery-> Naked! ~

THE ART SEASON IS HERE!

It's time to get your walking shoes out and start hitting the pavement! September is the busiest season for galleries. This week alone there are over thirty openings! With thousands of drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media pieces on exhibit. Now I am not going to see all of these galleries for you, but I will discern which are worthwhile by finding out the word on the street. Obviously if something looks boring I'll let you know. I'll see everything that looks like it has some merit and then you'll have a chance to see it before the show closes. Most of these shows are only open for a month so the urgency is here. For a tip off: google "See Me Slowly Dying" to get the info on this show. I saw it before the reception and I must say it was spectacular; multimedia and conceptual art at it's best! I'll give you a more in depth review later! Keep yourself updated on whats hot and whats not! Visit frequently to get your daily dose of art!

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I'm reading: THE ART SEASON IS HERE! ~

Tina Kim Gallery-> I Stepped Into the Room

Featuring 6 NYC artists "I Stepped Into the Room" at the Tina Kim Gallery is a failure. It is a failure at what it is trying to accomplish and a failure at remotely engaging the viewer. I hope this is not the direction young New York City artists are headed or I'm going to have to move to Italy! Based on Sylvia Plath's, The Bell Jar, the show is supposed to question "identity, etiology, and purpose" but I found all of the work to lack depth, thought, and it was completely self serving to the artists. Cherry picked with this Plath idea in mind from a list with darts and then put into a gallery; is my evaluation. There is a collage painting thing on the north wall which is interesting at first, but then it becomes frustrating to look at because its is way to small and one would have to stoop over and lean towards the wall with ones eyeball to make out the details. Very messy. The rest of the work was too boring to comment on. I'll include a picture for an example on the left.

AVOID. Save your time.

Artists: Tracey Goodman, Kyung Jeon, Shiri Mordechay, Habby Osk, Rocio Rodriguez Salceda, Joanna M. Wezyk

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I'm reading: Tina Kim Gallery-> I Stepped Into the Room ~

Gana Art Center-> In Sook Kim

I was passing by the Gana Art Center in Chelsea when I noticed the photographs from outside the door. Even though I had a bunch of galleries to see I decided to take a quick peek. The photographs were by In Sook Kim a contemporary Korean photographer. Quite frankly Kim's work didn't belong there and were a part of a poorly curated group show with no cohesion at all. Despite that they were extremely impressive! You can't really see the kind of labor that must have gone into this photo from the Internet thumbnail. Fantastically narrative, Kim sets up a scene in each room at this apparent hotel on "Saturday Night" as the image is named. Kim's other two images were also aptly expressive of Kim's world view and engages a critical societal discourse in a successful picturesque landscape.

I recommend catching these images if you are in Chelsea so you can see the details! One "★" for the group show and "★★★★" for the photos.

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I'm reading: Gana Art Center-> In Sook Kim ~

Gallery Henoch-> Summer Group Show

This summer group show is absolutely refreshing and provides a perfect snapshot of what Gallery Henoch is all about; contemporary realism. Every painting at a glance is picture perfect. For some paintings even up close are hard to make out to be paintings not photographs. There were a few sculptures in the show but they didn't hold my attention. The astounding display of skill and craftsmanship reminded me not to get so caught up with conceptual art and the usual avaunt-guard popularity contests. In addition to the skill, the relatively contemporary subject matter was very lovely in redefining painting's usual modern approach. I recommend adding one of these beauties to your collection! The Gallery was very spacious with very high ceilings on the upper floor allowing the work to be viewed without any peripheral distractions. There was also a lower level, so there was not any lack of work whatsoever.

Any person who can see will love this exhibit. Can't wait till the fall shows open!
Artists include: simon nicholas, gary ruddell, patti oleon, robert c. jackson, eric zener, john evans, steve mills, and others.

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I'm reading: Gallery Henoch-> Summer Group Show ~