Tag Archives: Volta NY

Awesomeness: Jens Schubert at Volta

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Whew, the art fairs have ended. I was laid low with a stomach bug for most of it, but I did get to catch a bit of Armory, SCOPE, and Volta (which was more than enough, thankyouverymuch). To begin with my new favorite: printermaker Jens Schubert was represented by Galerie Kleindienst in one of the solo-artist booths at Volta. These colorful, densely layered prints filled me with glee. I really enjoyed looking at them; I thought the compositions were fantastic and allusive; I even liked the planets, above, which are very much not my thing. In a word: awesome. Bonus points for the textured plastic floor you can make out in the photograph below.

“With the vivid and impasto variegation of his paintings, the striking forms and particularly with the repetition of motifs Schubert`s formal language sometimes reminds the viewer of folk art. Masks, animal motifs, floral and architectonic elements, as well as abstract ornaments are interwoven to puzzling and mythical figures. Not a realistic depiction or story telling is decisive, but the expression focuses on a strong emotional charge of the pictures. The prints are extremely complex. Either Schubert compiles varied motifs on one plate or he puts several layers above one another on his large size prints, so that different individual motifs form a new figure.” –Volta website

Ken Matsubara at MA2 Gallery, VOLTA

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The Japanese artist Ken Matsubara had simple, reflective works that seemed to be about the process of memory and the role it plays. The objects were all perfectly formed, but my favorite was this elegant wooden box enclosing a recessed video playing while reflected on the mirrored sides around it.

I wish I was watching waves wash over my feet in just such a fashion. Hmmm, not to pick favorites…but this might be my favorite from Volta.

Sinta Werner: Question Reality

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There were so many high-quality artists being shown at Volta, but Sinta Werther’s work at the Nettie Horn Gallery booth stood out to me.

The Broken Bits of Pieces use glass, lightbulbs, and mirrors to reflect carefully painted scenes, but they are less scenes as suggestions of place.

These Autoprojections, above and below, are done on photographic paper with paint, and as you can kind of see in the image below, the paper has also been folded.

Apparently these are small-scale examples of her preoccupation with bending space and begging the view the question reality and perception, and some very cool examples of large-scale manipulations can be found on Volta’s page dedicated to the artist.