Author Archives: Linnea

Ying Li at Lohin Geduld

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Installation View

Better late than never. I saw the Ying Li exhibition at Lohin Geduld this Saturday, the last day it was up as it turns out. Tending toward the small in size, Ying Li thickly painted abstractions are closely painted, dense colorful works. These scenes are recognizable for the most part and common place: trees, houses, and melting snow.

By The Porch

By the Porch is a small 12 x 12 piece that is my favorite of the show. I liked the contrast of smooth almost sheer light blue background upon which the yellow tree thickly stood and how the globs of color hung at the top.

Melting

I fell for her thick and gestural way of applying the paint, and the magical way the density of color resolved itself into suggestive scenes. The materiality of the paint is paramount in all of these.

Window on Town of Tilting

[Was] up at Lohin Geduld Gallery through May 21. More on the artist’s webpage.

Richard Tuttle at Pace Gallery

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Installation View
What’s the Wind is a collection of seven new sculptures that artist Richard Tuttle calls ‘systems,’ and this description makes some sense after seeing the delicate balance of discrete, rough hewn elements. The disparity of parts adds some whimsy as do the simple colors and forms. Existing within the wooden platforms, the pieces create an environment almost like a ecosystem in a terrarium. I expected the parts to move like a Jean Tingley sculpture, but alas, they are frozen in a system that does not move, and is in fact dead. 
So what are these systems we are looking at? The press release describes them as “intensely self-referential,” but perhaps we can deduce something by the helpfully descriptive names if not the works themselves.

System 4, Hummingbird, 2011

The title Hummingbird suggests a flurry of intense movement that turns into a blur of motion. Here we have a duct tape spire rising high over an internal core of small parts flanked by two enormous boards. Or, we have a long beak, small fat body, and two strong wings keeping the hummingbird afloat.

Detail of System 4, Hummingbird

The body of the sculpture is open, and these little circles and plinths seem to me like they should be free moving rather than fixed.

System 3, Measurement, 2011

Measurement has large, candy colored suspended balls hovering over a circle. Here the fixed structure works to create tension as the balls seem to defy gravity. I had the rather more unfortunate impression of a banana split melting into a waiting mouth. Off hand, I’d say the ice cream isn’t going to fit in the “mouth” below, if that was what Tuttle was trying to measure.

Richard Tuttle’s Whats the Wind up at Pace Gallery through July 22.

Discover the Lukhang Murals at the Rubin Museum of Art

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Potola Palace, Lhasa, Tibet

Hidden in the Potola Palace is the secret Lukhang Temple. Amazingly preserved, this temple is a unique expression of Tantric Buddhist art historically available only to the Dalai Lama and his retinue for deep meditation and closed off to the public. The current Dalai Lama has lifted the silk curtains so to speak, and in addition to allowing visitors has allowed the detailed wall murals to be photographed. Currently at the Rubin Museum of Art you can see the Lukhang Murals even better than you can in the actual temple thanks to new photographic methods by Thomas Laird and Clint Clemens.

A separate room at the museum displays life-size, high resolution pigment prints placed similarly to how they appear in the walls of the temple itself, and handily for me are accompanied by audio recordings that detail at least some of what is going on in these complex scenes. The 18th c. wall paintings illustrate the Dalai Lama’s path to enlightenment and are unusual because these mystical teachings of Tantric Buddhism tend to be passed by whisper rather than openly expressed. 

Detail of East wall showing two Mahasiddha
They are also remarkable for their color and complexity, and the sense of order maintained despite the activity of all the tiny figures. While the recording only touch upon the surface of what is going on in each panel, nonetheless it provides a great and enticing background. With such expressive figures and scenes, I found my imagination going into overdrive as I examined them, and I had to promise myself I would come back for a second look.
 

While I imagine these setting isn’t quite as awe-inspiring as ascending by wooden ladder to this hidden secret in the Dalai Lama’s palace in Tibet, it’s certainly more accessible. 

More information here: 
http://hem.bredband.net/ritnyb/lukhang.html
http://www.asianart.com/articles/baker/index.htmll