Category Archives: gallery

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

Sarah Lutz at Lohin Geduld

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Burst, 2009

New work by painter Sara Lutz is going up at Lohin Geduld tommorow, and rather than noting the fact and tossing the release per my usual press release practice I wanted to share her work. Because of the gorgeous colors and textures of her oils, and because of the richness and playfulness of her work, I was hoping one of my lovely blog readers would go in my stead and report back with more images!

This is your mission should you choose to accept it.

Anna Jóelsdóttir: Near Chaos

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There is turmoil in the world, too many dots to connect; we are many outsiders floating around lost centers. I want my work to reflect that near chaos. – Artist Statement

Of the openings I went to in Chelsea last night, I saw a lot of more, or less, successful toyings with geometric shapes and color (nostalgia much?). What a relief then, to come upon Anna Jóelsdóttir’s show priest chews velvet haddock at the Stux Gallery.

For this exhibition, the Chicago-based Icelandic artist produced mylar installations, paintings, a really extraordinary journal, and a big game of pick up sticks. While that may seem like quite a range of objects, they were very much unified by a stark, sprawling, detailed aesthetic that was precise yet evocative. It was too crowded to get a good installation shot last night, so I pulled the images above from Stux’s website. The artist folds, cuts, and otherwise manipulates the painted mylar into a variety of complex forms. The mylar shows her typical thin streaks and spurts of color on a white background.

When the Bough Breaks

Jóelsdóttir’s paintings, also on white backgrounds with pulsing color connected by thin lines, create poetic yet direct images. Somehow even where there is chaos and tension, there is also a sort of peace. I’m not sure how well these paintings reproduce here, but seeing them last night I was struck by how refreshing and clean the white background was, and how well the artist used the thin crawling lines to explode the space. They felt very personal and immediate. I like how they reconcile what ought to be opposite characteristics, like emotion and coolness, and strength and delicacy. They’ll be up through the New Year if you have a chance to go by, and I recommend you do. More about the artist on her website.

Bent Horizons