Last night we stretched our legs and visited 2 galleries for their opening receptions. The New Deal show (March 12-March 29) on 299 West Houston street at the Art Production Fund space was so jam-packed by the time we got there -- 8 pm -- that we only had a chance to see Liz Magic Laser and Felicia Garcia-Rivera's single channel video Bend en route to liberating a brew from the cooler in back. The small space at the edge of Soho was so crowded we quite literally could not see any of the other pieces (are RSVPs entirely unheard of iat gallery receptions?).
Bend is an interesting piece -- a bunch of hypermasculine guys are doing what appears to be Tai Chi exercises on mopeds. The effect of the video is one of masculine excess and restraint, which is a subject that this blog has argued was the central issue of the American Empire that led to this present economic collapse (too much hypermasculinity and thumotic excess on Wall Street and in foreign policy circles). Check out the piece before March 29, I'm fairly sure that the ungodly crowds were there for the reception and won't be there on weekdays.
On the other end of the spectrum regarding gallery size was the Better opening reception at the cavernous 711 Gallery (March 12-April 11). First off, this is the best gallery experience that this blogger has ever attended. The variety of pieces, from the witty to the deeply organic (Ed Ruscha's salmony textured Old Wood/New Wood) to the neoclassical (Sarah Charlesworth's Renaissance-y drawings) was amazing. It took us a full hour to drink it all in (and drink-period: the cocktails were provided by Innocente tequila, which, considering the depth of our hang over this morning, ought to be called Criminale).
(Leda, Her Old Age and Death by sarah charlesworth)
My only critique -- and it is a minor one -- is that the paintings by mid-evening were not properly labelled with the titles and artists medium. For example, this blogger had to look online after-the-fact to find out that the above exquisite drawing by Sarah Charlesworth was called Leda, Her Old Age and Death. Our guess is that there was some sort of time issue involved (earlier in the evening, there weren't even tags denoting the names of the artists).
10th Avenue in NYC has turned into a sprawling array of opening receptions attended by a diverse mix of the wealthy denizens of the neighborhood, their kids (there were quite a few) and young Latino and African-American contemporary muralists/graffiti artists on the make, living in adjacent neighborhoods. There was everything on display here from the graffiti-influences of urban art to high tech installations that excited the imaginations of the kids that were in attendance (bohemian parents). And the conversations -- spurred on by the tequila, the promise of Winter's End, and the sprawling, cavernous space -- were spontaneous, smart and fun. Who would have thought that a fun evening could be had past the outer limits of "Downtown" -- namely: 14th street in NYC.
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