This is not a Drawing. This is a blog.

This is not a drawing. This is a blog. Go to the exhibit "This is Not a Drawing". "Using Magritte’s famous surrealist work "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (as shown above) as a point of departure, the exhibition investigates how drawing attempts to surpass its various limitations and take on the more esoteric qualities of other mediums. Whether the results of such attempts are sublime or contradictory, successful or floundering, all possess two realities; one that is two-dimensional and another that is independent of linear constraint." The artists include Jeff Gabel, David X. Levine, and Monika Zarzeczna. All of which employ a wide variety of approaches to the drawing medium. They all also come from very different backgrounds also offering several dimensions to the drawings. The exhibit is at the Spencer Brownstone Gallery at 39 Wooster st. The opening is tonight from 6-8 p.m.

Ono

Tonight from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Blue Mountain Gallery there is an opening reception for a collection of paintings by Tsukasa Ono. It will be his first solo show in America. In Japan he is a long established and well- respected painter. "There are the large, thoughtful paintings (based on tree roots) in which he searches for his own sense of personal ‘roots ‘ in human existence. And there are the impish “oni” creations, in which Mr. Ono playfully introduces us to the many aspects of these denizens of Japanese folklore." These paintings feature monster-esque figures that remind me of a sophisticated Where the Wild Things Are. His paintings are dark, reflective, but enlightening. Go to the reception and meet the amazing artist in person. The gallery is located at 530 West 25 Street.

Our Starry Night

I was told about an interactive sculpture in Central Park entitled "Our Starry Night". Alluding to, Van Gogh's "Starry Night", only in New York style and strives to have the viewer personally interact with his or her surroundings. It acts as a passageway into Central Park and when visitors walk through the portal in the piece, they trigger a metal detector hidden inside the structure's casing. A corresponding amount of tiny lights are illuminated. "Common everyday metal objects such as cell phones, keys, belts, jewelry, cameras, computers, and the like will trigger the lights; the luminosity and the light patterns seen in the piece will correspond to the quantity of metal detected. Our Starry Night is literally activated by the public, reinforcing the notion that art — and particularly public art — is dependent on the people around it." But, have a friend stand outside of the sculpture with a camera to catch a photo of your design because you won't be able to see it yourself from inside the portal. The artists, James Yamada "calls our attention to the expanding, yet increasingly subtle presence of surveillance in the contemporary world. It also points towards such philosophical and political considerations as the loss of privacy in the name of greater safety." It is a beautiful, interavtive addition to the park. But, is only temporary, remaining at Fifth Avenue and 60th Street until October 28, 2008.

The Grotesque

Pop culture is put under the microscope and then loaded with sticks of ACME. "Grotesque Histories" at the BRIC Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn present grotesque visual forms of ancient and recent icons in pop culture to make passionate and occasionally disturbing statements about history. Politics works its way into the work, so if you're not into that, I wouldn't suggest going. I also would not suggest taking your children as the Trick's rabbit is portrayed with a severed leg. Enrique Chagoya, Aaron Johnson, and Miguel Luciano are the artists shown. Their work is very different from one another's but all revolve around the same central message. These artists reconstruct identifiable signs of popular culture and mass media to draw attention to the absurdities of history, politics, religion, and society.

Slow Dance to Slayer Tonight Under the Brooklyn Moon

Todd Seelie's photographs, loved by many for the past decade is in Brooklyn at an exhibit entitled "Slow dancing to Slayer". With a title as ironic as Williamsburg, his body of work encompasses stunning landscapes and shocking underworld/hipster candids/portraits. You may recognize some of the images as I did and explore the reasoning Seelie had for their being taken. You go from thinking "that is beautiful" to "what the heck is going on in this pic...oh my God." This exhibit will get you in the mood for a wild night out on Bedford Ave and make you feel good (or bad) about your generation. It's at 103 Havemeyer St, between Hope and Grand Sts, Williamsburg [L to Bedford Ave].

Waste not, Want Not

First, I don't know how I have never been to the Socrates Sculpture Park. Second, I wish it weren't raining for the next week. But, let's all make a pact to go to the Socrates Sculpture Park the minute the sun appears. The current exhibit Waste Not, Want Not is a group exhibition themed around the interpretations and responses to the motivations, goals, realities, politics, and practices of recycling. It is an expansive exhibition encompassing many perspectives about the concepts and methodologies of adaptive re-use, and includes projects that address the creative transformation of the by-products of production and consumption. This is another exhibit we should all see. The exhibit only lasts until August 3rd so hopefully the sun will come out before then.

Generally Art...

Art in General is providing us all with a service of "The Secret to Knowing What's IN and What's OUT" this afternoon from 3p.m. to 6 p.m. B'L'ing will be teaching the basics of IN/OUT list making. What's B'L'ing? B’L’ing is a traveling trading post that screens and exchanges bootleg video art and rare media. As an ongoing project it has adapted to a variety of locations and has currently set up a temporary headquarters in the Art in General project space. Visitors are encouraged to bring DVDs and participate in an exchange.

Art in General is a non-profit organization that assists artists with their production and exhibitions in New York. The gallery is located at 79 Walker st. So if you want to know what's cool, or you want to exchange some multi-media see you at 3.

WARM UP

Not warm enough yet? If you haven't heard about PS:1's annual "Warm Up" party. Brace yourself. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, which is affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art is having their tenth anniversary of Warm Up, "the critically acclaimed series of live music and DJ acts that has become one of New York’s most exciting and anticipated summer events." This summer's Warm Up will be housed in an urban farmland, P.F.1 (Public Farm One), featuring live and blossoming vegetation created by the winners of the 2008 Young Architects Program, WORK Architecture Company. Not only is the atmosphere INCREDIBLE, but I hear it's pretty amazing. A friend of mine sparked a glimmer of intrigue last night, and to my luck, this weekend (July 26th) James Murphy & Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem will be performing. You can party and enjoy art at the same time all night long. Check out the website for the list of events for every saturday until September 6th. Warm up while you still can.

At the Heart Factory

Today a new exhibit opens at Haven Arts Gallery in the Bronx. The exhibition is dedicated to portraying the disappearing American industries due to outsourcing. It is entitled "Factory" and features the artists; Cindy Tower, Scott Lowenbaum, and Grand Silver Company: Factory Remnants. Cindy Tower makes factories weep in her large scale oil paintings and tar manifestations of the original Armor Factory in East St. Louis. Scott Lowenbaum, is a younger talent who works in oil and wire mediums in his installation of the factory. The opening reception is on Friday, July 25th from 6-9 pm. There's nothing that gets at me more than a dead, cold, steel factory, empty of its once dedicated workers. I have a feeling that this exhibition is one of those you won't forget because of its sincere heart.

Sprout Change

NATUREart Non-profit, inc. is holding an art opening for their exhibit Demo Eco M.O., at NATUREart Gallery at 910 Grand Street in Williamsburg tonight from 7-9. The pursuit of environmental responsibility is evident throughout the exhibition and even in the food served (filtered rainwater and sprouts grown on site). To promote environmental reform the exhibit uses unconventional materials, tools, and processes to critique gallerists, art supply manufacturers, and other art professionals. They goal is to minimize art's effects on the environment while maximizing its effect on culture. The artwork I saw on the website looks very interesting and I'll probably be there tonight to check it out and nibble on some sprouts.

Micro Dream

What will your home look like when you grow up? Find out at the Museum of Modern Art with ther exhibit going up on July 20th Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling. It is a combination of the past, present and future of the prefabricated home. There are five actual homes erected on the vacant west lot and are designed by Kieran Timberlake Associates (Philadelphia); Jeremy Edmiston and Douglas Gauthier (New York). Architectural models, original drawings and blueprints, fragments, photographs, patents, games, sales materials and propaganda, toys, and partial reconstructions are all displayed in the exhibit. One of the pieces is "Housing for New Orleans" and there is an actual video of its construction on the website. But the home I want most is the Micro Compact Home because it's micro. I want nothing more than to live in a little micro home. (This dream home is shown above).

Love is a Cannibal

The title of this exhibition got my attention. "Love is a Cannibal" is an exhibition opening tonight, Wednesday, July 16th, 7 to 9 pm. It features work by Tyler Coburn, Jesse Finley Reed, and David Benjamin Sherry. The exhibition looks at the variety of ways these artists depict gay-male longing. Through manipulated photography, they make allusions to history and politics with a variety of images. You can see in the piece I have here on the blog by David Benjamin Sherry, the intense feeling escaping through the restraint of the structure of the tree. The bright colors also work against the darkness of the image in an evident juxtaposition.
The exhibit is located at Sloan Fine Art at 128 Rivington Street and only lasts until September 13th. The images up on their website offer a glimpse into the photographs' tension between structure and chaos. There are restraints of conservatism throughout combined with bolts of intense feeling.

The Art of Failure

Need to reignite your burning love for downtown New York? Have the 1970s New York art scene evoked inside of you by none other than Chuck Connelly. His exhibit of selected painting from 1977-2008 is ending on the 18th at the DFN Gallery so you only have three days to remember downtown New York the way it used to be. Connelly came to New York in the late 70s right out of art school and quickly become one of the larger than life new- expressionists, along with Basquiat, Schnabel, and Condo, that defined the downtown New York art world. The exhibit comes at the same time as the premiere of “The Art of Failure: Chuck Conntelly Not For Sale” by HBO Documentary Films. The influence of Van Gogh is very evident in his work and comforts me in a strange way. (But at the same time leaves me feeling on edge.) These are some beautiful and sometimes disturbing pieces that will have you walking in the streets of New York daydreaming again.

Wish You Were Here

Like art? Like poetry? Me too. Studied 'em. Listen to some poetry while you check out original works by almost 400 artists. The A.I.R. gallery's WishYouWereHere exhibit ends on the 19th so you should take a look before it's gone. But Wish You Were Here isn't just a great Pink Floyd song perfect for singing around a campfire but also also a great exhibit with a hundreds of interesting pieces.While you look at artwork also enjoy four poets read and talk about poetry at 4p.m. The reading is called "Beyond Reason" and deals with gender. The artwork is made up of cards that range widely in style and media and encompass a broad spectrum of themes. Each card is signed and dated, often with a message from the artist to the collector. These postcards are priced at $40 each and are available through silent auction. But the bidding will end July 19th at 6p.m. so hurry up and claim yours.

Be There or Be Pixelated

If you're looking for a place to go this weekend like me, theres an art exhibit opening on Saturday at Studio 601. I checked out the website and the artwork looks pretty incredible. After all, it's pixelated quality is described as resembling America Online 1.0. "What began as an experiment about minimalism in 1980 has evolved into kolker’s procedure based style of painting which he calls ‘fracolor.’ using waffle-glass at first and now fractal computer programs, the artist fractionates the subject image and paints and silk-screens a grid circumscribing colored dots." I noticed that many of his pieces are portraits which adds an additional human quality to the fractal technology. So, Studio 601 is located at 511 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001. Be there or be pixelated.

This Art Keeps Me Awake at Night

"History Keeps me awake at night"is a show presenting a select group of artists whose work embodies David Wojnarowicz's attempts to create imaginary weapons to resist established powers. The opening reception is tonight (Thursday July 10th) from 5-8 pm with films of David Wojmarowicz and readings by Zachary German, Amy King, Sara Marcus, and Max Steele. It is located at the P.P.O.W. Gallery.

The artwork I looked at online sparked my interest. I'm pretty sure it will spark yours as well.

See this exhibition: Dead or Alive

Attention all Brooklyn-ites. As I am moving to Brooklyn soon, I wanted to check out some more art galleries there. And an amazing exhibition I just stumbled upon will be ending July 27th. Make sure you see it before it dies. It's at the Bond Street Gallery. ( 297 Bond Street Brooklyn, NY) This exhibit is NOT just nature photography, it presents images of nature in various stages of life and death. The artists are Jesse Frohman, Christine McConnell, Warwick Orme, and Kevin Twomey. I never knew the aesthetics of decaying blooms could be so pleasing and rich. Jesse Frohman juxtaposes the dying flowers with a variety of smoking guns. Warwick places the flower with a band. The most tragic one and the one I wish I could buy is the one displayed in the post. I can't wait to see this all in person. You should too!

Life Cafe- Good Art Good Beer Good Food

So, this past weekend I went to an art opening at the Life Cafe located in Brooklyn on Flushing Ave. First of all, best veggie burger ever and cheap beer (Happy Hour 10pm-12am). Secondly, the artwork being displayed right now is something you should definitely check out. The artist, Jillian Brall, (A mixed media artist, poet, saxophonist) uses intense colored clippings and perfectly positions them to make for some poppin' delicious collage. She cuts out each image by hand and places them (poetically) to make for some great composition. She has a good eye for leading lines and color. My favorite is the brightest of all of them, it's towards the middle and completely neon colored. Enjoy some delicious food in the comfy cafe and admire the artwork. It's a very low-key place and the curator is the nicest. There's also a contest to guess what the pastel drawing is of on the wall. I'm told it's one of the items on the menu. Seriously, check it out.

Waterfalls Are Not Disasters

I live in Chinatown, under the Manhattan bridge and I also must live under a rock because the first time I saw the waterfall under the Brooklyn bridge, I thought something was very wrong. But, like everyone else in the world, I found out that the waterfalls were works of art. I then returned to the water to watch them as art not as a disaster. They are Olafur Eliasson’s The New York City Waterfalls cost $15.5 million to build and involved an American-based crew of almost 200 engineers, designers, consultants, permitting specialists, and electricians. The tallest one is higher than the Stature of Liberty! No way!I highly recommend making it out to take a look at them. They're an awesome combination of nature and civilization with the waterfalls flowing over the steel scaffolding. Take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and see the falls on either side of it as well. I hear at night that they're even more beautiful so I definitely mean to make it out after dark and you should too.

Nature Interrupted

I've always meant to make it out to the Chelsea Art Museum. A curator there, who is awesome, handed me an exhibition brochure at a bar one night and since then I've been thinking about this museum. So, this weekend (July 5th) we should all check out its new (and important) exhibition. The beautiful building is located at 556 West 22nd Street. The exhibit is "Nature Interrupted". The website states that "The urgent and imperative message to restore health to the environment must be conveyed in every possible form of media and communication, and more so in art, for it is one of the most powerful languages humans have ever created." Artists include Amy Gallaccio, Danille Tegeder, Soazic Guezennec, Alexis Rockman, Jane Townsend, Jon Brumit, and Chus Garcia-Fraile. Environmental issues are discussed in every media and I think it's definitely going to be something that everybody should see. The exhibition stays open until September 6th so ya'll have all summer to go. Do it.

So, tonight there is both a wonderful wall art opening as well as a "magical" music show going on at the Bowery Poetry Club. The art opening is at 5 p.m. and features Arlan Huang who is a painter and a sculptor. He uses simple forms to express the big picture. He has done work for the National Endowment for the Arts and has created permanent glass sculptures for New York City's Percent for Art program and the Dormitory Authority of the state of New York. But to get a full and rounded experience, come at 10 p.m. and listen to some by the Theater of Fools with Duv, Ganessa James, The Fools, and SEan T. Hanratty. Also partake in some a multi- prize raffle as well as some delicious drink specials!

Of the Refrain

The Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea is opening its "Of the Refrain" exhibition of photographers from the first half of the 20th Century exploring formal repetition through portraiture and still life. Some of the artists to be exhibited include Berenice Abbott, Ellen Auerbach, Ilse Bing, Carlotta Corpron, Hazel Larsen Archer, Dora Maar, Barbara Morgan, ringl+pit, and Margaret Watkins. The exhibition points out the difficulties photographers faced in their field before a defined market for fine art. There is a tension apparent in the photographs combining the need to be commercial with the photographer's ability to break through boundaries in the studio and dark room into larger unseen forces. "The title of the exhibition refers to a chapter from Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus, and speaks directly to the notion of repetition." The photographers used repetition to offer visual structure and boundaries while suggesting an idea of endless possibilities.