Last Days of a Legend...

Photos by Mark Wiener

Vodka Soda

Mark has being going to Gino since he was barely tall enough to reach the bar. The Lexington Avenue fixture, with it's green and yellow striped awning on the outside, and famous red wallpaper (Scalamandre just re-issued it in a range of colors) crowded with zebras on the wall with, will open and close for the last time Saturday, May 29th.

Bruno at the bar

A mecca for so many New Yorkers (and often for their parents and grandparents before them), those hungry for the rich red sauce - a secret recipe - and some signature tortellini, or thirsty for a stiff cocktail and lively conversation, Gino will be missed by old and young alike, and probably by those to come who will hear the stories, from family traditions to 60 + years of celebrity sightings -  and wish they had been there. The account book - Gino never accepted credit cards til recently, is a piece of history.

It's always Christmas...

As for us, we will miss the place and especially all of it's people. So will so many others, naturally Gino is now packed with those there for a last taste, hug, or handshake...maybe we will see you there Friday or Saturday. (780 Lex @ 61st Street, cash only under $30)

Art Illuminates Life

Beaming in to the Chelsea Art Museum this week is artist Raphaele Shirley's latest installment in her series of light based media work,  "0910 Light Shots (Shooting Squares)". Once again I could not resist looking behind the pre-show wrappings, and listening to part of technical planning session between the artist and museum staff Tuesday afternoon was truly a lesson on the state of art and technology in the second decade of the 21st century - it takes a tech-savvy artist and skilled team of experts to engage your senses and transform your awareness.

photo by Mark Wiener

The photo above shows the artist measuring the space on this the first day of installation, and the space is truly a void, lit only by the flash from the camera. Using light beams to draw lines and planes in space, Shirley is transforming the black box of the Project Room for New Media into an ephemeral object - visitors will interact with the installation as they move through the space, experiencing the evolution of the composition's color and perspective with their changing POV - as well as a few surprises.

Raphaele Shirley, "Shooting Square" 2010 mixed media - Studio test

"The stiller it is, near frozen in a configuration, the more we become aware of its movement and permanent immobility, traveling at the speed of itself, of light. And as this super-fast thing is now somehow slowed down, through the tension between the drawn geometry of its path and itself, as we can now see its trajectory, and can almost touch it somehow - controlled nature - one can take pause, rest the mind and look. And then continue to look at it, it does not go away. This is the thing that moves but does not leave. The friend you wish for, the one that never goes away yet always fascinates you." - Raphaele Shirley May 18, 2010

The exhibition, curated by Nina Colosi, opens Thursday, March 20th, with a reception from 6 - 8 PM and runs through June 19th. More at  http://chelseaartmuseum.org/  and http://www.raphaeleshirley.com/

EXHIBITIONISM

Pen Pair (c) Linda DiGusta

Funny, when I first conceived this blog it was to be a place where someone at my technical level could post my images, writing,  come out to play, but I realized I would just have to write about everything I enjoyed out there as well. Maybe an alternate definition of exhibition-ism should be, "the delight in and exaltation of the showing of works of art."

Untitled Packham Pear (c) Linda DiGusta

This post I swing both ways (yo, keep it clean!) - amidst a few images of my latest works, in which, by the way, none of my models wear clothes, you'll find 2 literally HOT picks - exhibitions that bare all in the name of art - of shows opening tonite!

Untitled Packham Pear (c) Linda DiGusta

A special exhibition within the Great Nude Invitational opening tonight at the Roger Smith Hotel with a reception from 6-9 ($20), "Corpus Hermeticum" presented by the Nerdrum Institute, features works by Odd Nerdrum alongside those of 3 emerging artists in the same spirit -  Adam Miller, Fedele Spadafora, and Richard T Scott. Curated by Leah Poller - more at http://www.thegreatnude.tv/invitational/index.html

Downtown and open late (6:30-10:30), Hous Projects (31 Howard Street) presents The Naked Truth, "a photographic and video visual survey of 50 years of Voyeurism, Nudity and Sex, from Bert Stern's Marilyn Monroe 1962 ''Last Sitting'' to the 2010 Jen Davis- Skype/Webcam series" -  curated by Ruben Natal- San Miguel. Info: http://housprojects.com/exhibitions/upcoming.html

Plums 2 (c) Linda DiGusta

Hope this warms up a chilly spring night!

gimmee shelter

Paul Cézanne - Still Life, Drapery, Pitcher, and Fruit Bowl, 1893-1894*

During my lifetime, media technology has brought an ever-increasing flow of information to my attention. As an artist, with a solid Northeastern urban background, cultivating my skill within the NYC community, I was jarred by news of activities beyond my scope that seemed almost alien to me, but at the same time there was a distance, engendered by the notion that while it might be important to understand a wider reality, the fact was that it's true nature would likely never intersect my life or that of any of my friends, family or associates.

New media challenges that notion every day. Why? Because now, we can interact with virtually any issue that comes in to view, and create content for so many, many others to interact with in turn. And with so much novel and often disturbing information arriving from so many different directions - the past few days alone for me it has included climate change legislation in jeopardy,  St. Vincent's Hospital closing, restaurants in the city serving live animals (via PETA), attacks on schoolgirls in Afghanistan, USMC Lt. Col. (retired) Allen West's ominous insights into how we are NOT dealing with the threat to America from Islamic extremists, the Supreme Court's rejection of the first legislation banning animal "snuff" films...sometimes isn't it necessary to strategically retreat just to keep a creative life in order? And is it even possible?

Jokingly, in a Facebook post in response to hearing on Tavis Smiley's radio show that America is home to a significant population of science deniers who don't believe in climate change or even evolution (remember "Inherit the Wind"?), I wrote "I will simply pretend they do not exist." Which, maybe, is what I do when I sit down to draw or write about art. Yet I can't help but wonder how the age of information has influenced my body of work, and the art of others around me. 

As yet untitled work (c) 2010 by the author

Perhaps the answer lies in studying history, looking for the deepest differences between work created by those living in "smaller" perceptual worlds, who, sheltered from the day-to-day struggles of almost all of humanity, had more time and focus to create their visions, and what we make today. And, while studying history, it also couldn't hurt to re-visit HL Mencken and Clarence Darrow...

Strawberries and Cherries by Margaretta Angelica Peale (1795-1882)*

*public domain images via Wikimedia Commons

Take a walk...

The many moods of Lower Manhattan have inspired the artists of TriBeCa for 5 decades. This weekend partake of the essential experience by visiting about 70 artists where they work during the annual Open Studio Art Walk (a/k/a TOAST), beginning Friday evening April 23rd.

Studio Window - photo by Peggy Cyphers

In the words of artist Jacqueline Sferra Rada, her work presents "both a nostalgic memory of the simplicity and restorative affects of nature, which have become increasingly overlooked in lieu of technology." While she discusses the "marring effects" of industry on the landscape, we find her studio at 515 Greenwich Street nestled in a setting shaped by commercial forces in the decades before the western waterfront of Manhattan was reclaimed. Ensconced there, the transparent layers of her landscapes on paper seem all the more precious and delicate.

Jacqueline Sferra Rada - Small Island Series #II (24 x 30 inches)

As her photo attests, at 315 Broadway painter and printmaker Peggy Cyphers works with sight of the beating heart of the city, as well as the financial district. She describes the result as "exciting and abrasive, noisy and full of history. It's a Spectacle of Disaster and Beauty and extremes that informs my work - dramatic spacial tensions that mirror the human tensions, those in positions of financial and judicial power in contrast with the frightened powerless others...Then there's this legacy of 9/11 which still haunts all my being. TriBeCa!"

Disaster Spectacle - NYC,  painting by Peggy Cyphers

Finally, all that walking makes you hungry, and as always the art in the community has led to myriad eateries of all stripes thriving below Canal. A few have sponsored the event, including our favorite discovery from the days when Mark had a studio on Worth Street. Souths, at 273 Church St. near Franklin, is a small neighborhood pub in the best New York tradition - tasty and generous specials, salads and sandwiches at very attractive prices, friendly service and conversation, and the best Irish Coffee we've had anywhere in town! Perfect place to begin or end your TOAST with a toast - maybe we will see you there...

TOAST Artists, Hours, Map & more...

One (happy) ending and one beginning...

April is already a great month for Colette - you may remember that in March, 6 of her paintings went astray while being returned from a recent solo show. (more here)

Well, this month began with their return by photographer, DJ and good neighbor Bryan Raughton, who spotted the canvases at 51st Street and 3rd Avenue, brought them home, and began an investigation of their provenance. Thanks to media coverage and research on Artnet, he was able to connect the pieces to Colette and contact her for their immediate return -  in the middle of her dinner date downtown! 

Colette & Bryan at the happy reunion

She was happy to receive them, and we are certain they will spend no more time in a trash bag! And just in time, because Colette must turn her attentions to her next exhibition opening Thursday April 22nd, with a reception from 6-8 PM,  at Chelsea's Pavel Zoubok Gallery.

Colette: Records from the story of my life series 1978-2007: Real Dream Installation 

Performance at Clocktower, 1975 , Mixed-media collage, 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches 

"Girl Talk" brings together two artists, Colette and India Evans, who explore the iconography of traditional femininity to explore issues of gender and identity. Since the 1970s Colette’s pioneering performances and mixed media installations have established a unique brand of “hyper-feminine feminism” that is carried forward in the work of emerging artist India Evans. Coming from distinctly different sides of the Feminist movement, these two women find common ground in their unapologetic celebration of beauty, embellishment and the erotic." 

 - Pavel Zoubok Gallery

"GIRL TALK" April 22 - May 22, 2010  

 533 W 23rd St.NYC 10011

212.675.7490 http://www.pavelzoubok.com

Was it BANKSY?

On the heels of the resolution of a mystery in the art world with the happy reunion of Colette and her lost canvasses  - view the post "Have You Seen Me?" - and watch for an update soon! - last night presented me with a puzzle of a more personal nature.

My art cards are left on a table outside our studio for visitors to take away with them - but sometime around 9:30 PM, while we were gone for only a short while -  I found my top card looking like this:

Which is quite attractive, except the card image as printed looks like this:

It appears I have a swift and secret collaborator, perhaps the mystery tagger who has struck 551 West 21st Street before, but who knows? There was quite a crowd in the building for an event.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Have a great spring weekend!

Where form meets function...

...and art is the sum of the parts.

Artists Jean Marie and Marthe Simonett are well known if France for their monumental sculptural works, but they have also mastered the art of creating wonderful 3-dimensional pieces on a more intimate scale. Their first New York exhibition focuses on a series of puzzle tables (images above & below)- in the words of curator Renaud Vuaillat, "Conceived for life together, to meet together, to connect, to prolong and combine each other infinitely." -  originally created in 1969 for the apartment of prominent French ad-man Jacques Seguela.

Their first New York exhibition focuses on a series of puzzle tables (images above)- in the words of curator Renaud Vuaillat  "Conceived for life together, to meet together, to connect, to prolong and combine each other infinitely." -  originally created in 1969 for the apartment of prominent French ad-man Jacques Seguela.

Vuaillat, who after fifteen years in Paris as an established furniture dealer opened his New York flagship gallery, Twenty First/Twenty First, in Chelsea., continues:

"The Simonnets create formal alphabets - that is to say, series of modules that are made to be linked, assembled, that have parental links because they are constituted of families of forms...This approach to form, this language, is linked to the technical mode of production, and reproduction: the polyester casting. Unlike other materials like stone or wood, polyester only takes on what is given to it: form, color, matter."

"Chairs"  - 1998,  all images courtesy Twenty First/Twenty First Gallery

See them at the opening reception on Thursday April 8th from 6-8, or during gallery hours April 9th - May 29th on the 3rd floor at 551 West 21st  - website  http://www.21st21st.com/

Peeping...

As people celebrate Passover, Holy Week and Spring Break, the art galleries in Chelsea and around town are welcoming April with a wide variety of new shows. Those "Gallery Closed For Installation" signs  - don't they always make you want to peek around and see how it comes together? Well, Mark did...

@ The Viewing Room  - Photo by Mark Wiener

James Kennedy (above) was caught in the act of perfectly placing  a work by Bonnie Rychlak, whose solo show opens Thursday with a reception from 6-8 at The Viewing Room (Chelsea's annex of East Hampton's Surface Library) on the 4th Floor of 551 West 21st Street.

@ 571 Projects - photo by Mark Wiener

On the second floor, Sophie Bréchu-West only appeared to be working alone at 571 Projects. 

Maggie advises Sophie - photo by Mark Wiener

She had help deciding on the perfect array for of Liz Engelhardt’s "Silentscapes" -  from her sister Maggie -  via Skype. You can see what they came up with at the opening reception, Thursday from 6-9.

While we have not been given a sneak peak of Tim Linn's exhibition of sculpture and works on paper "Of Necessity" at Heskin Contemporary 443 West 37th St., given what we have seen of his "painterly architecture" and this vibrant gallery, we would be April Fools not to get to get a first look during the reception, Thursday from 6-9.

by Tim Linn courtesy Heskin Contemporary

Keyes Art Projects presents the debut show in their new space  - at 551 West 21st Street on 4 -  a solo from photographer Wyatt Neumann - toast them at the reception from 6-8.

by Wyatt Neumann courtesy Keyes Art Projects

While at 551 West 21st, you can also visit us in Studio #210...

Photo by Mark Wiener

...so stop by for a peek and some "peeps."

"There's no such thing...

..as a free lunch." 

Postcard featuring portrait of Molly Barnes by Dennis Dutzi

Usually true, but this week art-savvy New Yorkers can bag one, along with an hour of entertainment and enlightenment as curator, dealer, author and media personality Molly Barnes returns for a spring edition of her "Brown Bag Lunch Talks" at Midtown's art hotel, the Roger Smith, on April 1st & 2nd.

Sideshow Gallery

Williamsburg's own "drag racer become art impresario" Richard Timperio visits Molly Thursday with tales of the many artists  - some famous, all fascinating - who have been part of the ongoing saga of his groundbreaking and inimitable Bedford Avenue gallery, Sideshow.

fat men and little boys (c) R.C. Baker

On Friday, artist R.C. Baker, who has written about art, politics and popular culture in publications such as the Village Voice and NY Times,  joins Molly to discuss the convergence of poetry, collage, and painting in past and current artist/writer collaborations, as well as his new book, "The Terminal Century."

Presentations begin at 12 Noon, arrive a bit early to settle in and enjoy some coffee, soda and your home-style lunch - sandwich, apple and a cookie. The Roger Smith is at 501 Lexington on the corner of 47th Street - the talks are on the 16th Floor. If you see me there I will trade my cookie for your apple! 

Love at First Sight: The Molly Barnes Collection

Celebrating us...

"My work is about self acceptance, that our bodies, minds and souls are to be honoured."

- Carolyn Weltman

"O Resting in Blue Shoes" (c) Carolyn Weltman

Artist Carolyn Weltman creates sensitive works of fine art that celebrate the bodies of women and men and their pleasure in sex, sensuality and sometimes, shoes. Equally rich in compassion and passion, she has reached out to help others who are sexually abused and exploited.

Wild (c) Carolyn Weltman

This Thursday April 1st, her two pieces shown above will be for sale in a print edition at a fundraising event. "My heart wanted to go to Haiti to help," she told me,  "I also understood that if i went, I'd be a nuisance and in the way, so this is one way i can help.  Any abuse of any human beings, be they male or female, really hurts me."

Presented by The Edge at Broadway's Jerry Orbach Theatre, the gala features a cast of 12 women in a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" under the direction of Jessica Brondo, beginning at 7 with cocktails, followed by the play, an auction and after-party.

Proceeds benefit Shelterbox, V-Day City of Joy and NOMI Network. Tickets can be purchased at www.smarttix.com (search for Vagina Monologues) for more info visit Resolve40, where this is our banner event. Questions? Feel free to call 646.415.8816 or e-mail nycvday@gmail.com 

Have you seen me?

Portrait of Anthony Haden-Guest (c) Colette

The opening was packed and glittering, as it should have been for the artist who admonishes us to "Fight Terror With Glamour," Colette. A mainstay of the downtown vanguard of decades past whose work and style have continued to evolve and captivate New Yorkers and others, she dazzled us with a Valentine month exhibition at Destination NY that offered a pink oasis amidst the trendy grit of the Meat Packing district.

Colette -  Installation view at Destination NY

But now this crusader in heels has a new enemy - art thieves. What should have been a celebration of the successful unveiling of her engaging and thought-provoking new series, "Metaphysical Portraits," has been marred by the disappearance  of six of these paintings of friends and the famous, in transit from the gallery to the studio.

Portrait of Rufus Wainwright (c) Colette

Last seen on March 10th on Little West 12th Street, the missing portraits - two are shown above - are 20 x 24 inches on sewn canvas - but in spite of the fact that they should be easy to identify both the NYPD and an art recovery agency have had no success. Since it is possible that they were picked up by mistake, Colette has offered a reward for their safe return. But as to theft, when the perp is tracked down, we should all put on our white satin gloves and "Throw the book at 'em!"

http://www.colettetheartist.com/

Because it was naked...

This is personal.  Explicit...

view catalog

Mark Wiener, with whom I live and work, has created a new virtual catalog of his intense abstract paintings and drawings, which he has titled "Explicit," - which refers to the title of his last catalog, "Naked." And while it may seem provocative taken out of context (as I did to create the teaser), it is actually a serious and sincere expression of his process, of an artist's necessary exploration of  the bare elements that comprise the complex work in order to re-energize and recombine them to explore and deepen their expression of life in his paintings.

Click the below the cover to view and read more, or download in Hi-Res here.

The Art of the Lens...

It's no secret that I love photography, and my eye always goes first to black and white. So it did come as a surprise when, viewing the sensational array of photos presented at the AIPAD show preview, I was taken in most by two photographers working in color.

Day After, 2006 (c) Jen Davis courtesy Lee Marks Fine Art

In Jen Davis's own words:  "I deal with my insecurities about my body image and the direct correlation between self-perception and the way one is perceived by others...My work is solely based on personal experiences that I have re-constructed into a photograph, but I believe that it speaks generally to the situation of many women in our culture."

Her works, represented by Lee Marks Fine Art  from Indiana, certainly spoke to me -  in a soft and unwavering voice with notes of both  the vulnerability of a woman and the confidence of a young artist. 

From closer to home was 57th Street's Amador Gallery, always a favorite stop on the circuit. New to me were the works  of Robert Voit - an artist from Germany who captures the essence of proportion with both wonder and wit in his images of very tall trees in their settings. Perusing his bio, I noticed that he recently studied in Düsseldorf with Prof. Thomas Ruff, whose work I have admired for years.

Mobile Home Park, Las Vegas, Nevada USA 2006 (c) Robert Voit courtesy Amador gallery

There is so much to see of art and history at this fair, it is well worth going to lost in it yourself. Find what speaks to you...@ the Park Avenue Armory through Sunday.

The night side of art...

When most NYC gallerists are locking up and heading for home, Gramercy's Creon gallery will be opening its doors each evening, beginning tomorrow, at 6 PM for Chris Twomey's solo installation exhibition, "Astral Fluff."

Twomey has organized the installation in 3 discreet spaces in the gallery:  an entry hall installation composed of 15 photographs arranged on 3 walls is the first taste of the work;  the main gallery literally filled with "fluff" - cloud-like material, shimmering with light, with moving images of the subjects of the photos floating amidst the etherial substance; and finally  an outdoor projection in the gallery's garden - the need for low natural light is one reason for the novel scheduling for this exhibition.

My own delight in viewing Twomey's works has always been watching it change its spots before my eyes - while her art is usually wound around a concept - often scientific and always an edifying idea - the visual and technical strength defies classification as conceptual. Her photography is gorgeous and impeccably printed, but she does not stop there - she paints, draws, writes, varies substrates, images move - and she builds to surround us, in light, in foil, this time in fluff. If you walk in and don't notice any of this at first, forgive yourself, because it is Twomey's unique sense of humor and the moment that will pull you in and bowl you over in seamless collaboration with her inspiration and craft.

When I asked Chris, still "fluffed under" the task of putting the finishing touches on her creation, for a comment that arose in the making, she said "In this show my use of photography has an intriguing aspect, for these photographs are not well done documentations of the DVD’S in the installation, nor are they photographic pictures that are singly unto themselves.  They are icons that merge carnal with astral; symbolizing a point of connection." 

OPENING RECEPTION THURSDAY MARCH 18TH,  6-10 PM @ 238 East 24th St #2B

More about the show and scheduled guest performances at: http://www.creongallery.com

"It followed me home..."

Hard to believe Armory Week ended a week ago today, and with gratitude that the rain stayed away until this week, this grey afternoon my opportunity to recall last Sunday and my last to fair visits...

Verge took spiritual possession Midtown's Dylan Hotel, with installations in lobbys and other public areas in addition to an eclectic and engaging sampling of many facets art today in presenters' rooms. Taking the stairs to the second floor I found myself surrounded by (detail below) Marc-Anthony Polizzi's untitled multi-level installation presented by SculptureSpace.

On the fourth floor, Tokyo's Megumi Ogita Gallery had devoted the entire room to artist Mitsuru Takeya. Her unique rendition of a penguin, below, was already sold...

Neverless, I managed to acquire on of her feathered friends for our collection:

Was it synchronicity? On my final visit tour of lobby I heard what sounded like birds chirping, but found the source of the sound to be near the Artist's Meeting Art Machine, which looks a bit like a set piece from the film "2001" .

The insertion of the token (above) activates the working mechanism to dispense a piece of art of its own choosing. It gave me a vinyl envelope containing the work (below) of artist Olga Lysenko, who I was delighted meet there -  unique and energizing experience of collecting that I think will catch on and come back to NYC soon.

In Chelsea, I was fortunate to catch the last hour of a new fair, The Independent. The presentations of installation art there were remarkable, the physical environment (the late X-Initiative/Dia space) and the personality of the dealers just seemed to click. Being there was an amazing visual experience that was for some reason impossible to photograph well (I tried) , but for a taste visit Bolte Lang's website documenting their solo "non-booth" by sculptor Jill Spector, as well as UK's Kate MacGarry.

That's it for my fair coverage - I sadly could not make it to Fountain or Pulse...if you want to share your experiences at those fairs please e-mail me  - ld@resolve40.com.