RENA BRANSTEN - PAULE ANGLIM - 5 CLAUDE

LEVI'S STORE - ANTHONY MEIER - UNSPEAKABLE PROJECTS

11.15.12

(with assistance from RWM)



Why learn about the artist before you buy the art? Click Here.

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Rena Bransten Gallery: Hung Liu - Happy and Gay.

Comment by AB: Hung Liu, painting in the style of Maoist propagandists, recalls her childhood in China by creating contemporary versions of images similar to those she would see in the books she read when she was young. The exhibit is a heartfelt and effective reflection from both personal and political perspectives on the monumental transitions she has experienced between what once was and where she is now. One of the better shows I've seen in a while; go see.

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Gallery Paule Anglim: Carolee Schneemann - Remains to Be Seen; Gay Outlaw - New Work.

Comment by AB: The main gallery features a 40-year retrospective sampling of the work of Carolee Schneemann including performance, video, photography and painting, and transiting a range of topics from abstract expressionism to sexuality. In the side gallery, Gay Outlaw shows multicolor pate de verre sculptures (works made primarily of crushed fired glass) and mixed media works on paper that present realistic images in dissociate ways. Stop on by.

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5 Claude Lane: Evan Holm & Jason Michael Aumann - Time Machine.

Review by RWM: Evan Holm plays music from records submerged just beneath the surface of water. Who knows, maybe time travel is next. For now this one is a new one. On the walls, nice photographic fade outs by Jason Michael Aumann evoke memory and the past. Their subjects could have been friends or relatives. One can be with them again here in a way.

Comment by AB: Saunter on by. Good art on both counts.

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Levi's - Union Square: The Biker - Oil & Leather, 21 Hand-Painted Leather Jackets; The Bikeriders - Books, Photos and Clips from Danny Lyon's Archive.

Artists: Ben Lamb, Chris Bianchi, Chris Davie, Daniel Jackson, Etienne Memon, Harry Malt, Mario Desa, Nick Colella, Nick Jones, Nille Salvation, Paul O'Neill, Helloyves, Yuko Kondo, more.

Comment by AB: An homage to American bikers in the form of hand-painted black motorcycle jackets from the Levi's Vintage Clothing collection combined with an exhibit of Danny Lyon photographs, film clips, documents, memorabilia, and various printings of his classic photo essay, "The Bikeriders." Exhibition or otherwise, the Levi's store on Union Square is always worth a visit.

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Anthony Meier Fine Arts: Rosana Castrillo Diaz - Solo Show.

Comment by AB: Sumptuously seductive opalescent mica on rice paper "sculptures" by Rosana Castrillo Diaz, intricately crimped and encased in plexiglas, are certain to wow with their gossamer luxuriance. Also on display are equally ethereal works comprised of silk, linen or cotton on paper. The most delicate ephemeralities preserved for the ages. Like it.

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Unspeakable Projects: Ida Rödén - Reported Missing.

Comment by AB: I'm straddling the fence on this one. Ida Rödén's art and installation have to do with missing people-- those close friends, family members and relatives who we take for granted and who are with us everyday, but then suddenly one day vanish from our lives without a trace. Rödén explores this calamity by collaging faces and features of actual missing people into group portraits, composite missing person posters, and even ersatz magazine articles. The art's adept, well conceived, presented with reverence, and definitely fodder for contemplation, but I can't help but think that if the families of these individuals knew what their missing ones' faces were being used for (or if certain police departments became aware that people were being instructed to contact them after seeing the faces on these fictitious posters) that they'd be anywhere near the vicinity of pleased.

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