Category Archives: Chelsea

Grown-Up Mobiles: Nathan Carter at Casey Kaplan

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Williamsburg Brooklyn Public Housing Project Concealed Swinden Call and Response  
I’m really over long, evocative but gibberishy names for exhibitions– POCKET SHRAPNEL SET-UPS VERONICA VEX AND BROOKLYN STREET TREASURE –being a great example of such. That being said, the art itself in this Nathan Carter exhibition at Casey Kaplan was quite good–small scale Calder-esque with a bit more intricacy. The wall-sized installation above could have been a Miro if flat, but Carter brought out the dimensions by creating the composition from large metal pieces at varying depths to good effect (hard to capture in a photograph).

There was another fabulous, playful piece reminiscent of the game Mousetrap that I loved. However I am in a sad state–camera-less– and so will have to leave you with this one image pulled from the web and tell you to go see for yourself before October 23. For some reason Casey Kaplan doesn’t have any of his new work up.

Ballroom Dancing: Zilvinas Kempinas at Yvon Lampert Gallery

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Installation shot from Flickr. Ballroom by Zilvinas Kempinas.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” ~Nietzsche
One of the more fun works I stumbled into last night was this room by Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas entitled Ballroom at Yvon Lampert Gallery. The constant hum of fans suspended from the cieling kept the black circles of tape on the ground in constant motion, while red and blue lights arced through the air in a similar path above them. All this motion and energy was reflected back by loose reflective sheets of mylar that moved as well. 
It was quite engrossing to watch, and most especially walk among, the movement. On one hand, the ballroom title made absolute sense as you watched the light pair with the tape below, and all the pairs looked like couples moving in unison. The mix of red and blue lighting with the reflective walls also created a funhouse sort of atmosphere–as if you couldn’t trust your senses to guide you. Indeed, you had to be careful how you toed your way around those fragile tape circles.
Successful? It was disorienting. I walked out and had to shake my head a few times. It was engrossing, just taking a few steps into the room felt like an exploration. Certainly be able to walk through it rather than just view it was a strength. The constant flux of color was enthralling. So yes, successful, and refreshingly playful.

New and Old: Uta Barth at Tanya Bonakdar

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…to walk without destination and to see only to see. (Untitled 10.1)
 

…to walk without destination and to see only to see. (Untitled 10.2)
 

…to walk without destination and to see only to see. (Untitled 10.3)
 

...to walk without destination and to see only to see. (Untitled 10.4)

This new series of photographs by Uta Barth on view at the Tanya Bonakdar gallery is a contemplative, lovely, very contemporary body of work. I love how there is a sense of process suggested by the similar subject over time and season. Initially, I didn’t connect these large, color works as the product of the same artist who created the small, black and white photos in the back room, which seemed more concerned with negative space than lyricism. Yet Barth created both, albeit 30 years apart. Do I like them both? Yes of course. If I had to choose a faovorite however, the group of small black and white photographs Every Day, below, carries the day with me…by far! Click on the image to enlarge it and get a sense of the playful capture of the everyday and the beautifully framed shots.


Every Day
 


All Images are courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York