CATHARINE CLARK - 63 BLUXOME - A.MUSE

941 GEARY - MODERN EDEN

06.16.12



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Catharine Clark Gallery: Ellen Kooi.

Review by RWM: Intriguing large photographs by Ellen Kooi show the experience of the young in the outdoors. A great but sad exploration of how some still seek to commune with the natural world, but in these images the landscapes have been altered. One also does not find peaceful faces, rather uncomfortable faces in a human-changed environment. It is not that the outdoor experience has changed, but maybe rather that the young folks have not learned how to appreciate what is left. There is the sense of novice in their faces, rather than informed or appreciative. Great show about what has been lost and the efforts necessary to remind the young that they need not stay inside.

Comment by AB: We're never sure what the story lines are here, but it's clear that in every instance the protagonist goes it alone. Between you, me and the lamp post, I'm becoming less and less inclined to buy the unknowable narrative as the sole justification for a show. Nice work nonetheless and worth a perusal.

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63 Bluxome Street Gallery: Super Ugly, Emonic, Cody Williams.

Comment by AB: Extraordinary characters in ordinary settings by Super Ugly; big game fantasies by Cody Williams; warped genre art by Emonic.

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a.Muse Gallery: Let Strange Flowers Burst Forth, The Wild Nature of Inspiration - Belinda Chlouber, Kathryn Kain, Carrie Lederer.

Comment by AB: Three artists reconfigure the outdoors for the indoors, florally in particular.

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941 Geary Gallery: No Can Left Behind - CANLOVE.

Collaborative artists: Meggs, DJ Neff, Chad Hasegawa, Risk, Hush, APEX, Neon, Niels Shoe Muelman, Kofie, Codak, Haste, Word to Mother, Mearone, KrushTWS, PeopleLA.

Comment by AB: Ever wonder what becomes of all those spent spray cans? This extravaganza proffers an answer to that... including a group of collaborative works on gutted, cut, splayed and tiled spray can "canvases" with notable practitioners of the outdoor art trade. Remember when graffiti was anathema to everything? Now it's an industry. Why? Because the predecessors believed in everything they did-- no pay, high risk, questionable upside-- just pure unadulterated commitment. See what you get when you believe in what you do? Whether or not you get paid for it? Regardless of the consequences? There's a lesson in that. Sidle on by.

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Modern Eden Gallery: Notorious, Portraits of History's Most Infamous. Curated by Bradley Platz.

Artists: Aaron Hodges, Akira Beard, Albert Ramos, Bradley Platz, Calvin Lai, Daniel J. Valadez, Damir Simic, Derek Harrison, Emilio Villalba, Leilani Bustamante, Michael Ryan, Paul Morin, Rachel Moseley, Robert Bowen, Sidharth Chaturvedi, Hugh Leeman, Jaxon Northon, John Wentz, Jules Kmetzko, Justin Loney, Lance Hewison, Laura Buss, Lee Harvey Roswell.

Comment by AB: Infamous = famous. It didn't used to be that way, but now in the new tailspin America, the downside is better than no side at all.

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