Photography: Julianne Swartz "Placements Portfolio"
Zane Lewis "Paradise Lost"
at Mixed Greens
The office that sits in the middle of the action here and just out of reach of the public was half-full with very nicely dressed young co-eds mingling with a framed portrait of Barack Obama and some wine, while the public got Rolling Rock. This gives it the feel of a country club that you are invited to by a member whose friends drop subtle reminders that you are a guest and have little chance of ever joining their club. Being that it is half country club and half public golf course, the name Mixed Greens could not be more appropriate. This place really does bring me back to my own days at the Academy, though it must be noted that they have much better taste here than did the exclusive scene that chose to shun me back in New England.
No major surprises here tonight, except for when I discovered the large drip portraits were of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and not Jackie Onassis and Jack Kennedy. It also took us about 5 minutes to remember the name "Dakota Fanning," though D was right on point recognizing the Marc Jacobs ad. This was early, however, being the very first place we chose to meet up at. The gallery was nearly empty, while we were afforded the time to collect ourselves and get something in our stomach.
It should be noted that due to Mixed Greens' "shopping cart" feature on their website, the Internet has now enabled us to purchase the Paris Hilton CD and Zane Lewis' reworking of the Paris CD in exactly the same fashion.
AES+F Group "The Last Riot"
at Claire Oliver
Young adults and children in an apocalyptic struggle in a 3d rendered world with samurai swords, horses, UFOs, and stuffed animals. This was presented in three forms: a creepy video, prints that seemed to be stills from the video (though I could be mistaken), and faux-paintings of the same. For some reason, the images on the canvas was the least distracting and tied it all together in the most compelling fashion, though the video was very well done as well.
Will Yackulic "Focused Aggregate Intensity"
at Jeff Bailey Gallery
Jeff Bailey Gallery has put on some great shows this year and this was no exception; simple and hypnotic. D wants me to add that you can always count these guys having vodka tonics, a huge plus.
Javier Pinon
at ZieherSmith
Some woman who was somehow affiliated with the gallery took instant notice of me when I jokingly (okay, half jokingly) and joyously sang the praises of the fresh tub of PBR that had been freshly brought out. She started stalking me like a hungry leopard in the cold, desolate forests of northern Russia; keeping me at a safe distance, but never letting me out of her sight. H assured me that the room was full of gays, at least more than usual, and this must have increased her sensitivity to my raw masculinity. Plus it was apparent from my enthusiasm that I’m a fun guy, and let’s face it, she’s getting kind of sick of the circle she’s been in since she came to this city. Nobody just screams with raw passion anymore, nobody can just really enjoy a great laugh over a cheap beer. Her friends greeted cases of PBR like a diseased gypsy child in the street, but I embraced it like Mother Theresa. Well, after a few minutes of knowing glances being exchanged at close range and a couple hard winks I threw in her direction, she started to become self-aware and embarrassed. Don't worry your little head, sweet thing, there's nothing to be ashamed of. You dig my style and you know what? I dig yours too. The Mike Womack tripfest you guys put on last year was one of the best things I've seen in NY. But I do have a girlfriend.
On this night, they had some very clean collage work by Javior Piñón. It mixed cowboys and medieval dragon slaying. Nice.
Charline von Heyl
Wade Guyton
at Friedrich Petzel Gallery
Charline von Heyl’s show was the quiet yang to Guyton’s yin. First off, while both of these shows were packed, they still had Stella at quarter to eight, and we respect that. We went to von Heyl’s first. The press release says that the combination of printing methods (silkscreen, woodblock) mixed with paintbrush “creates a tension of stillness and speed, of noise and silence.” It doesn’t seem like this mission was successful, as the balance tilted much more towards the stillness and silence. The bright oranges, reds, and yellows weren’t as jarring as they intended to be, and the cumulative effect was fairly bland. As I think H pointed out at the show, though, there were more than a few pieces that would look pretty nice outside of the context of the gallery. Wade Guyton likely worked in a mailroom once fixing copiers and printers and has held a grudge ever since. I pray that with this show, he has found his peace. The space was reminiscent of a giant warehouse outfitted with harsh florescent lights that bathed everyone in office light. The floor was painted black and was quite sticky. The walls held the last works of an overworked inkjet printer that he had tortured to death. We really felt like we had entered the remnants of Manhattan's administrative Abu Ghraib, which, considering all of the jobs we had just got off from, was fairly traumatic. You can see how the printer struggled to survive, simply carrying out the suicidal mission it was programmed to do, and the best pieces on the wall was where you could witness the traces of the coughing fit the printer threw out before succumbing to rest. It's hard to really communicate how sinister this whole experience was, certainly a testament to an effective show. On the one hand, this managed to transform the entire room and everyone in it into part of the work, or rather made the focus of the room on the people and not on the black rectangles surrounding us. On the other hand, this was something we wanted little part of and quickly had to exit.
I do have to give props to Petzel for the balance of these two shows. One, a quiet peaceful experience with harmonious blends of printing. The other, a horror show of black ink death.
Clara Fialho
James Sheehan
at Merge Gallery
This was a nice capper to the evening. The gallery is out of the way, but I’m sure we'll come back. I’m also kind of a sucker for signs on walls saying “Wet Paint – Do not touch.”
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