Art Review -- Elliott Hundley

What a treat to see Elliott Hundley's new work!! His sweet younger brother was wise to turn my attention to this incredible exhibit (thanks, Martin!) I enjoyed the show so much that I went back to share the experience with my family. The intricate details within every inch of the colossal collages hooked me right in, and the stand-out sculptural works felt like floating clouds of carefully executed chaos -- delicate and deliberate. Please check out "Agave of the Bacchae" at Andrea Rosen Gallery, through May 1, 2010.

Above: My mom, going in for a closer look.
Below: A detail from one of Hundley's massive works

Art Review -- Auction Block

I'm up to my ears in auction catalogues and was delighted to finally have something catch my eye. Leave it to good ole Paul Jenkins and these seductive lithographs from the '70's:

Amber Boardman -- AOD

I was lucky enough to catch up with my beautifully talented friend Amber this week and I wanted you to get a chance to hear what she's up to lately. She recently curated a video exhibit: "Give Me a Minute," at the Shirey, and you can see a lot of these diverse 60 second pieces here. The show got a great review and response from all walks of the world (especially from the ADD crowd!), and I am so inspired by how she is melding genres of art, music & film all together. I thought I'd also throw in an interview on the artist just to ring home how aces she is.

Play Review -- New Hope City

I hate to say with a family of actors that it's been a pathetically long time since I've been truly moved by a play. So I'm pleased to say that the production, "New Hope City," rocked me to the core with its multimedia, genre-bending mixed grill of great music, film and acting. You'll feel like a sushi roll with every food you love in it but you never thought you could ever have it because it would fall apart. But the play stands firmly on a sturdy cutting board of hilarity, heartbreak, and bizarre futuristic philosophy. With highlights including an improvised talk show by Sexo the Clown and a sexy choreographed dance party, this show will give you a new hope that a trip to the theater can be a refreshingly nice time.

Playing this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Bushwick Starr in Brooklyn, NY. Get tickets now and learn more about the amazing band Pass Kontrol here.

Film Review -- Alice

 

In 1988's "Alice," Czech director Jan Svankmajer's bizarre adaptation of Lewis Carroll's children's book is considered a classic of surreal cinema. After her stuffed rabbit opens a portal inside her dresser, Alice crosses over into a warped world of gothic props, puppets and dead animals. Svankmajer gives the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat warped makeovers via stop-motion animation and stark cinematography.

I've been re-reading the book and this was the most fascinating, creepy interpretation of the story I've ever seen. Outstanding!

Bauhaus at MoMA

"Palucca Tanzt" 1929, by Marianne Brandt

Oooooh does this look like a great exhibit -- a designer's and typographer's dream!! The NYTimes slide show had me drooling, and they quoted Nicolai Ouroussoff proclaiming: "'Bauhaus: Workshops for Modernity' takes a sledgehammer to the clichés and restores its historical subject to vivid life." Check out the MoMA blog post by earth-shattering graphic designer August Heffner here.

image via NYTimes
The exhibit started yesterday and runs through January 25, 2010

Art Review -- Sebastian's Voodoo

Director Joaquin Baldwin haunts and inspires with the scary yet touching short film, "Sebastian's Voodoo." I am obsessed with all 3 1/2 minutes of it. Watch the film here

Craft Corner

this handmade kite would look great on the wall and in the sky!
by Dolci Odille via ourblogoflove

these bunny hair pins make me jump for joy!
via Magpie Lovely


and this paper chandelier would brighten up any space!
via Lena Corwin

Art Post -- Man Ray Tapestry

Man Ray, not known for his work in tapestries, produced this piece that might be one of my favorite works by the artist-- for its alluring texture and purposeful unfinished nature.

Art Post -- Amber Boardman

Above: Still from the video and animation, "Prelude"

Come check out this hot artist's latest show.
See the piece online (click on full screen!) and prepare to be amazed...

Art Review -- The Female Gaze

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Edouard Manet's, "Olympia," 1863, for the first time in person at the Musée d'Orsay and it reignighted my interest in the Female Gaze as a subject matter.

If this subject interests you, I suggest seeing the current show at NYC's Cheim & Read Gallery. One of the many female artists in the exhibit is photographer Katy Grannan:

"Kamika, near Route 9 Poughkeepsie, NY," 2003.

Matthew Craven -- Art Review

"HIWBTW #5," 2009

"HIWBTW #4," 2009

"HIWBTW #18," 2009

I know I post a lot of SVA students work, but I can't help it. Craven uses yellow in his pieces and it makes me lose my mind. I just love it. The show, consisting of 40 small framed mixed-media works, adorn the walls of NYC's Marvelli Gallery. For such petite pieces, each packs in historical weight with a cutting, modern interpretation. Check out more here.

Art Review -- Jenny Holzer at the Whitney

Roberta Smith said it best in the NY Times of Jenny Holzer's current show, Protect, Protect: "Ms. Holzer’s terse snippets of prose have warned of evolving threats to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. She has tracked the inner thoughts of bereft lovers or shellshocked survivors and articulated the baser instincts unleashed by social chaos."

Her electronic LED displays had the same effect on my eyes as the way that a Yankee Candle Factory Outlet has on my nose. Although leaving her show made me far more culturally stimulated than a room full of Pineapple Beach scented candles...

See more at the Whitney's exhibit here

Frank Ryan -- AOD

"Unmade 02/05/09," 2009, Oil on panel

This show filled with beautifully textured beds made me sleepy and calm. And yet, the Campari kept me agile and ridiculous. It would have been fun to have an alarm clock go off every now and then...

See more of the show at Walter Maciel Gallery here

Art Review -- Late Picasso

"Buste," November 1970, Oil on canvas
© 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso

Picasso's current buzz show at Gagosian, "Mosqueteros," left me wondering why everyone thought these his "later works" were so crazy? Yes, this one here (coincidentally my favorite) may resemble an erudite bunny rabbit jester, but it's not a far departure from a lot of the work he was doing just a decade or two before. More images here

Shame on Me

Martin Kippenberger, “Martin, into the Corner, You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself," (1992), cast aluminum, clothing, and iron plate, 68 7/8" high.
MoMA, © Estate Martin Kippenberger

I can't believe I missed this show!! Ironically, one of the pieces in the exhibit (pictured above) illustrates exactly how I feel about missing it... Did you see it? Did you love it?!

Art Review -- Huang Yong Ping

Gladstone Gallery's latest show draws its visitors into a large room with a curious, monumental, snake-like structure by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping. I've never seen such a piece that appeals so strongly to children but is equally as unsafe for them. The viewer is cautioned to coil themselves up and around the bamboo pathway, held together with what resembled garbage ties. The creaking creation leads you to the grand sculpture at the ceiling -- something that looks like Matthew Ritchie excavated from the Natural History Museum and then put his own pewter spin on it. All together, this piece was injured by its surrounding environment. Had it been outside and something to discover, the mysterious qualities of the work would have shone more than in an enclosed, white-walled space in Chelsea. Still, I'm glad I got to wander inside.

Image Inspiration -- Quilt Magic

"KALEIDOSCOPIC XXXIII: SHARDS"

While most of the quilts in Paula Nadelstern's show at the American Folk Art Museum are a little too mystical for me, this piece stood out as an outstanding exception. What a masterpiece! Check out more of her work here

Bringing in the New -- Art Review

The New Museum's current show invigorates and confuses just the right amount to balance a thought-provoking and aesthetically exciting exhibit: "The Generational: Younger Than Jesus." 50 artists from 25 countries lend their artistic flare into a whirlwind ensemble. All under the age of 33, the museum hopes to illustrate art's young, fresh and new perspective on what we call "Contemporary." Visit the museum here

Jerry Saltz reviews: "'Younger Than Jesus' indicates that the alchemical essence known as the sublime, the primal buzz of it all, is no longer in God or nature or abstraction. These young artists show us that the sublime has moved into us, that we are the sublime; life, not art, has become so real that it’s almost unreal. Art is being reanimated by a sense of necessity, free of ideology or the compulsion to illustrate theory. Art is breaking free." via NY Magazine

Remnants of "The 24-Hour Roman Reconstruction Project" by Liz Glynn and several volunteers.

Detail of Josh Smith's "Large Collage," 2009

Deitch LIC -- Art Review

The decorated entrance can be found through the fences on the water's edge with a breathtaking view of the city

Installation view of Vanessa Beecroft's project, "VB64"

Beecroft's sculptures lying on plywood in a massive, empty room

Visit Deitch here
More on the artist here