Nicholas Robinson Gallery -> Florian Sussmayr: Interieurs

"★★★"

Review of Nicholas Robinson Gallery -> Florian Sussmayr: Interieurs Solo show:

Florian Sussmayr's work was very good as I walked into the Nicholas Robinson Gallery, this was not surprising since I have been fairly impressed by this gallery's shows. As you can see by the thumb-nail Sussmayr has a wonderful grasp of light and atmosphere. I would guess he is either very talented or he paints on top of photographs. either way the end product is both moody and realistic. There is also a surprising contemporary painting in this art show that looks as if the artist framed a real tile wall within the actual frame, but upon closer examination the wall turned out to be painted! Despite these accomplishments this Nicholas Robinson gallery ultimately fails on the side of content an curating. The subject matter of Sussmayr's paintings was so fractured and disconnected from painting to painting that the show seemed like a random drawing out of a portfolio that show cases the artist's talents. Furthermore, by the end of the show we get the impression that Sussmayr has attended upper class gatherings and events and suggests a life of indulgence. Despite these underlying imperfections Sussmayer has accomplished very good paintings. If you are in the Chelsea area this show is worth a quick look.

Press Release of Nicholas Robinson Gallery -> Florian Sussmayr: Interieurs:

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Lehmann Maupin -> Teresita Fernandez: Solo Art Show

(this is not the actual installation pic, at the gallery theres some impressive additions to the walls)

"Five Stars" "★★★★★"

Review of Lehmann Maupin - Teresita Fernandez: Solo Art Show:

Sculpture at its best! I think this is the third great review I'm writing this week. Don't be fooled There are some less than amazing shows I went to I just didn't write the reviews yet. That said the show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery was wonderfully put together. The space, the art, and the feeling, the emotion, the craziness! (OK maybe I'm getting carried away) Honestly though for me this show was like an epic short film with a wonderful still movement to it. The absolute coolest think was that everything was made of graphite! I never knew the stuff inside a pencil could be so impressive. Fernandez has produced something elemental and raw as f she dipped her hand into the earths core and pulled out one of her thoughts. Set in the sparsely renovated Lehmann Maupin Gallery, the space compliments the work in a setting of plausible post WWIII setting. You should set some extra time in your tour to let this art show seep into your consciousness for a lovely exploratory journey. I enjoyed this Chelsea art show the most out of my tour on October 22nd. Must see!

Press Release forLehmann Maupin - Teresita Fernandez: Solo Art Show:

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Ziehersmith Gallery -> Stephane Calais: Flowers for America art show

"Four Stars" "★★★★"

Online art Gallery of Ziehersmith Gallery -> Stephane Calais: Flowers for America

Review of Ziehersmith Gallery -> Stephane Calais: Flowers for America art show:

This art show has tons of different types of work in it, even plants! It was almost four separate installations in one. In this sense it was a roller coaster ride! Very complex stuff here guys. I didn't get enough time at the show to really figure it all out. I definitely saw the juxtaposition of the portraits next to the flowers and that was enough for me. I felt like the show was a success because the artist really took into consideration of alot of different facts in the layout display and construction of the show. The one thing that didn't fit was the title "flowers for America."
I saw the floral aspect of the show, but I didn't see the America part. I was a shame because maybe that was why I had a hard time figuring the show out and ultimately took away from my viewing experience.

Press release for Ziehersmith Gallery -> Stephane Calais: Flowers for America art show:

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Ramis Barquet Chelsea Gallery-> Rashaad Newsome: Standards solo exhibit

"Five Stars" "★★★★★"

Review of Ramis Barquet Chelsea Gallery-> Rashaad Newsome: Standards solo exhibit:

Rashaad Newsome is just a fantastic artist who is producing fine and well thought out work that is socially and politically relevant. The press release offers some wonderful insight to the deeper meaning of Newsome's work. Both the art and the video definitely accomplished what they set out to do. And like a cherry on the top of a sundae, there was a killer coat of arms in the back room of the gallery through a set of silver (or possibly platinum) gates which changed the common usage of the gallery space from an exhibit place into a mysterious landscape in which you are a guest and you should feel privileged to get access. The symbolic magnitude of this show is way to echoing and far reaching for me to cover in this short review. The general feel for the show is not about emotion or even trying to evoke any kind of reaction. It was educational and a clear personal formulation of idea's. I was impressed that it didn't come across at in an arrogant or posh manner but instead the work was well grounded in the real world. I just realized this review is really vague...so to cut my confusing rambling short: I liked the show and I think you will too.

Press release of Ramis Barquet Chelsea Gallery-> Rashaad Newsome: Standards solo exhibit:

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Winston Wachter Fine Art Inc -> Andreas Kocks:Current Events

"Three Stars" "★★★"

Review of Winston Wacher Fine Art Inc-> Andreas Kocks:Current Events:

The Winston Wachter Gallery was not on my agenda Thursday night when I started my weekly gallery tour of Chelsea, but as always there were some more galleries that I didn't know about that had their doors open with a huge crowd of socialites doing what they do best (socializing). When I walked in I was greeted with a huge peice of graphite covered paper on the gallery wall cut out into an intiguing design. The whole galler was covered in graphite paper feathers and splaters and goo and blood. The title "Current Events" made tied the whole art show together. Kocks made full use of the Winston Wachter's interesting roomy layout and was a sucsess! The only thing thatwas lacking was a deeper emotional conection with the viewer which wasn't comunicated through the work. This coulb be that the work was an not an emotional reaction to the work but rather a conceptual one leaving a tad sense of being forced. The show was still sucessful and I would love to have Kocks set up some work in my condo! (I would be soooo cool!)Gotta see this one. NOTE: The pic above is not from the exhibit.

Press release of Winston Wacher Fine Art Inc-> Andreas Kocks:Current Events:

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DANESE -> Andy Harper: Recent Paintings and Works on Paper

"Five Stars" "★★★★★"

Review of Andy Haper's recent paintings and works:

The DANESE gallery is super impressive with super tall open ceilings and huge oak exposed rafters and a skylight! Also the gallery has lots of floor space. If you walk into this gallery and there is mediocre or sub-par art on its walls the space will totally overpower it.

This was not the case with Harper's recent paintings! The gallery has a perfect mix of scale and grandeur that complimented Harpers paintings perfectly which were large and extremely detailed. He featured colorful intricate leafy patterns in exquisite detail that covered the whole canvass leaving no empty space or white space. Beautifully reminiscent of royal medieval tapestries, the paintings made a grand and kingly impression. These would be equally fantastic sitting in a museum, or in the lobby of a high end doctors office, or in the den of a Soho condo. This kind of presence for paintings is hard to get in today's art world. My guess is that Harper put so much dedication to detailing his patterns that the time and dedication of the artist somehow got infused into the paintings themselves. (a very new age theory, even for me, but you'll know what I mean when you see them) Fantastic work! Another MUST SEE! You can preview Andy Harper's paintings but you should see the show in person!

Press Release for Any Harper's solo show:

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Betty Cuningham Gallery -> Abby Leigh: Solo show

Above: Ikea clocks.

"One Star" "★"

Review of the Betty Cuningham Gallery show:

Minimalism is great! This show is not. Leigh did not make any innovation's in this work. It might look good in your bathroom or as an Ikea clock design but I can't imagine this work impacting the art world down the line. The show went link this: Circle then circle then circle then another circle after another circle...and so on and so forth. If you like circles then by all means visit the show you have a month! It always makes me sad when an artist names a boring show something like the sleeper's eye because its as if they doom their work to put people to sleep! I got little or no benefits from this art. Not Recommended.

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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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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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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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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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Nicholas Robinson Gallery-> Lars Elling: Fictions

Fantastically successful! "Fictions" on view at the Nicholas Robinson Gallery is a perfectly delivered! I had high expectations considering Lars Elling just won an award in Oslo, Norway. I was drawn into each painting's deep nostalgic narrative characteristics. I could have one of these paintings in my bedroom and stare at it for hours without it becoming repetitive. Extremely emotional and dreamlike these paintings were almost portraits of a stranger's childhood memories. This makes sense since Elling took parts of the images from old magazines and family photos, but that's not to say they look anything like a collage. The canvases were large enough and quit satisfying in size and effect. There is nothing that bothers me more that a piece of art that is too small. The space of the gallery was abnormal which accented the work's visual curiosities. Elling makes his own paints. I don't think the show would have been so successful if he had used conventional oil paints instead of the poignant egg tempera mixes.

Well worth a trip before it closes. Originally it was set to close July 3rd, but it has been extended. Over half the collection sold in the first weeks. A must see!

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