Pattern Pulp

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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This week’s gallery picks feature portraiture in the exploration of identity.

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1. Ramon Maiden’s “Turbo Faith, Ladies Of The Night & Dandy Delinquents” celebrates Barcelona’s junkies (‘kinki’s’); the authentic junkies, the one’s that truly had nothing to live for at Stolenspace
2. Rina Banerjee’s work investigates the possibilities of cultural identity; its relics, how we identify ourselves, and how that perception changes through the eyes of others at Jacob Lewis Gallery
3. Jouissance will feature new paintings made on found bed sheets, pillows, and curtains. Maslansky renders his images of anonymous figures in various states of undress and sexually charged activities in such a way that allows psychological and emotional readings of the found images he works from at Honor Fraser
4. The works presented in Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture at Brooklyn Museum
5. Known for her frank and revealing representations of the issues surrounding identity, Lucy Jones’ paintings address conventional notions of femininity, aging and disability, through her close observation of the self at Flowers Gallery
6. Tali Lennox’s Layers of Life is a reaction to the phenomena of social media, “selfies”, and casual narcissism at Catherine Ahnell Gallery

April 14, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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The artists in this week’s gallery picks feature portraiture as a means of exploring heritage and storytelling.

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1.In Alex Katz’s new work, rather than filling each frame, the subjects are assigned to the margins with black space occupying most of each canvas. What is striking about these new portraits is both the depth and diversity of the black paint contrasted against the dramatically studio-lit figures. Presented within a ‘widescreen’ format, the figures become both cinematic and theatrical, resembling performers caught mid-motion by a spotlight at Timothy Taylor Gallery
2. Vanessa Prager’s “imagined” portraits cross the border between the figurative and the abstract with diplomatic immunity. “I made this series to tell stories and as with any story, you need to zoom-in to get the details and zoom-out to grasp the larger thematic concerns.” at Richard Heller Gallery
3. The work of painter and sculptor America Martin is informed by both her Colombian lineage and strong affinity for modernism allowing for a dynamic interplay between cultures, styles, and techniques. Her new series explores familiar themes and subjects within Martin’s practice – female nudes, scenes of musicians, and portraits of indigenous peoples – in oversized depictions that are both iconic and enigmatic, inviting the viewer to further inquiry  at JoAnne Artman Gallery
4. Hung Liu’s artistic practice investigates the complex interactions between individual memory and history, and documentary evidence and artistic expression, among other themes. Her richly-rendered paintings are vivid and powerful, their subjects drawn from personal experience, cultural and political events, literature, and photography at Palm Springs Art Museum
5. Lynnea Holland-Weiss’ exhibition Unfold All Over is filled with large figurative paintings full of mood, color and pattern that delve into our human instincts and the mystery of being at Store 1026
6. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture at Brooklyn Museum

February 24, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Portraiture, Patterns & Black Identity




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Robert Pruitt is an artist whose drawings and sculptures hone in on Black Identity. Based in Houston, TX, his work incorporates patterns and color in contrast with signs and cultural aesthetics. Much of his work weaves together Sci Fi, Hip Hop, comics, social struggle and politics within his local community. It’s interesting to see the texture repeats in the foreground, as opposed to the background- something we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in Kehinde Wiley‘s iconic work highlighting similar objectives.

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These artists are distinctly different, but share paralleling views of pattern, pose and strength in character. The textures and color convey the message as much as the subjects, creating atmosphere and bold references. This series by Wiley focuses on female personalities from Haiti, drawing attention and examination of the nation’s socioeconomic conditions and culture through the lives of everyday people. It’s an incredible body of work, have a look, you’ll be in awe of the creativity and intricacy in technique.

 

November 5, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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Our artists are plucking the strings of reality with sculpture and installations in this week’s gallery picks.

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1. Jacob Hashimoto’s work studies visual experience in space, artifice, and craft through the use of materials such as handmade kites, fiberglass, marble and the skillful use of light at MOCA
2. Stories told with Astrid Svangren’s installation at Maria Stenfors
3. Sarah Cain’s site-specific work responds to the physical, psychic, and emotional space of the gallery as well as Cain’s time in New York at Galerie Lelong
4. “Study from the Human Body” captures the complex discourse on the human form by aligning the timeless influence of Francis Bacon and Henry Moore. with a diverse group of international contemporary artists working today at Stephen Friedman Gallery
5. Li Hongbo’s stunning, stretchable, paper sculptures, inspired by both traditional folk art and his time as a student learning to sculpt, challenge our perceptions at Klein Sun Gallery
6. Francis Upritchard’s painted sculptures, or, perhaps, sculpted paintings, draw on the gothic tradition of Erasmus Grasser and Lucas Cranach as much as contemporary folk and psychedelia. They are slanted archetypes such as the withered fool or the haute couture blind man at Kate MacGarry

March 11, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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This week’s gallery picks are shaped from habits and habitats.

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1.Drawing from Surrealism, Modernism, and Cubism, Sebastiaan Bremer collages photographs and paintings together to create a seductive labyrinth of entangled bodies and art at Edwynn Houk Gallery
2. Aaron Spangler’s local predilections have morphed his works into timeless divine shrines, with oblique forms that cascade into memory, and chiseled lines that are charged with ancient orientations at Horton Gallery
3. First used as dwellings over 3000 years ago, tent-like structures present an environment of shelter that can be traced back to antiquity. Francesco Clemente’s tents engage with this long history but are characterized by a discontinuity or fragmentation of context, bringing together myriad cultural and art historical references at Blain Southern
4. Tiffany Bozic’s show “Sense of Wonder” featuring 50 recent small and large paintings on wood continuing her motif of tightly rendered paintings detailing surreal metaphorical themes at FFDG
5. Kehinde Wiley’s exhibition features Jamaican men and women assuming poses taken from 17th and 18th Century British portraiture, the first one in the ‘World Stage’ series to feature portraits of women at Stephen Friedman Gallery
6. THEY ARE US: Animal Identity and the Anthropomorphic Urge gathers the work of six disparate artists who use animal imagery in their work to reflect upon human characteristics that separate us from the animals while ultimately serving to connect us as well at Rick Wester Fine Art

October 15, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

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