WAGMAG, Brooklyn Art Guide Updates: Thanks for Making this Year's Benefit a Success!!!

September Season Openers

Fall 2015 kicks off this September with more galleries, bigger and better shows, performances and installations! At last count WAGMAG featured over 160 galleries in Brooklyn and the number continues to climb, with new galleries showing up every day. We will mention just a few: In Dumbo the photo-based, shipping-container-based Photoville is back this fall in Brooklyn Bridge Park and is a do not miss destination. Photoville is a modular venue build from shipping containers, which become makeshift galleries for the photography and video, and is definitely worth a trip down to the park. This year Galleries have shifted spaces in Dumbo and 4 galleries: Klompching, Master's Projects, Minus Space, and United Photo Industries now occupy the gorgeous old stable building where Galapagos was. Stop by and see their new digs and be sure to see Minus Space's exhibition of Gabriele Evertz's "The Gray Question," featuring large format paintings investigating the color gray. Also in DumboSmack Mellon opens the season with Karin Giusti, Michael Kukla and will feature open studios of their artist's residency program.

Bushwick is brimming with openings, performances and installations.Alexis de Chaunac searches out artifacts from different cultures for archetypal links between the personal and the historical at Art 3.Anastasia Ax uses her body and black ink to stage a live intervention with compressed shredded paper bales at Black & White. Luhring Augustine features "Looking Out," an exhibition of early works on paper and recent sculpture by Rachel Whiteread. Microscope's video exhibition "Play," features some previously unseen video works by Emma Bee Bernstein, Alex McQuilkin, Erica Scourti, Jessie Stead, Mickalene Thomas, Martha Wilson. Through repetition and innovative practices, the three artists' abstract works-Jane Harris, Alex Paik, Gelah Penn—create poetic and visceral expressions transforming paper into experience at Odetta. The venerable Soho (and Chelsea) gallery Soho20opens this month at 56 Bogart with exhibitions by Petra NimtzandLindsay Packer. At The Parlour "No Irony Here," featuring work byDavid Kramer, Cate Giordano, Paul Gagner, and Claudia Bitranproves to be somewhat ironic. At Studio 10 Elana Herzog addresses the relationship between material and memory, activating the space through drawing, painting and stitching. Brooklyn Fireproof's Temporary Storage Gallery features "Maker Marks," curated by Alex Gingrow andMichael Scoggins. A group show of work by meticulous mark-makers.

Williamsburg is busy as ever, with galleries starting the season with some longtime favorites and brilliant new arrivals. Pierogi opens the season with "Contents Under Pressure," Jane Fine works ranging from tiny paintings on paper, to one explosive six-and-a-half foot emblazoned with the American flag. And in the back room "Scape-ism," featuring Kirsten Deirup, Jonathan Herder, Johan Nobell. At Art 101, Katherine Koos's new work is meditative sculpture, evoking poetry and music. AtFigureworks, Royal Young's paintings inspired by vintage Playboys, noir movie stars, exhibit a Pop Art sensibility. "Jumping the Shark," at The Royal Society of American Art features Disney Nasa Borg, Dana James, David Opdykeand Savannah Spirit. At Front Room GalleryStephen Mallon looks at largescale industrial operations in his photos of the largest ship ever built.

-DA

April/May: Passersby at Owen James Gallery

In a city teeming with millions, markers of resident and visitor individuality can become, over time, an accretive blur; faces, nationalities, ages, and body types smear together into a general human backdrop of the proto-typical, urban experience. Aspects of this paradox between the particular and the plural are explored within the figurative works on paper of Oslo-based artist Elin Rødseth, currently on view at Owen James Gallery (61 Greenpoint Avenue, Suite #315) through April 18th.

The show, entitled Passersby, assembles many works from the artists current series of the same name; small photopolymer prints on paper reminiscent of family photos or keepsakes wherein the primary countenances of the subjects are obscured while secondary elements; hair, clothing, and physical postures are foregrounded through the effects of a mediated printing process. Evidence of the artist’s hand and gestures soften while the more material qualities of paper and ink seem to register higher in one’s noticing. A personal favorite, “Passerby 9” presents a faceless girl before a “Nails” sign, blowing hair disintegrating into a black, crackle field. This “Christina’s World”-like image, though small in scale, prods and pulls at your sense of place and familiarity. “Passerby 5” depicts a presumedly young girl, hunched over and lacing up her boot. With body angles and composition that gently recall the drawings of Egon Schiele, this work seems to catch a bit of the magic inherent in our everyday repetitions; habitual, meditative, and insouciant. The works in this series evince memory, in that funny way where the crisp specifics of our minds eye can fuzz over and blur when viewed through the lens of time.

The parlour-like installation of these images underscores the read of them as family heirlooms or yearbook snapshots and the feelings of deja vu that these works can manifest are both hauntingly pleasant and warmly disquieting.

The show also includes works from Rødseth’s Bystander series, wherein woodcut and photopolymer interior elements are juxtaposed and re-purposed within the series, like props on a theatrical stage. Last and honorable mention is given to “Men”, a singular woodcut monotype wherein a group of faceless male figures shuffle and huddle together, peering out into nothing. The background here is spare (there isn’t one) and through composition and placement alone, the viewer can assume a horizon line and ground for the action, only there isn’t any. Like a contemporary riff on Godot, these men gather and wait and stare outwardly, with themselves as their only reward.

For additional figurative work, sans facial features, in Brooklyn visit Faceless, Figuring Immediacy + New Nudes at Outlet Gallery (253 Wilson Avenue) which opens April 4th and features the dreamy psychedelic paintings of Jen Hitchings, the gem-toned, modernist musings of figurative painter Gili Levy, the charged figurations of Julie Curtiss, and minimal, humorous takes on the figure by Dan Flanagan. (through May 10th).

—Enrico Gomez

February/March: Mapping Brooklyn at BRIC House and Brooklyn Historical Society

If you haven't visited Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District recently, things are bustling in the area. Elizabeth Ferrer, Director of Contemporary Art at BRIC and Deborah Schwartz, President of the Brooklyn Historical Society have teamed up to co-present "Mapping Brooklyn." This exhibition leads viewers on a tour through Brooklyn's history and offers chance for re-orientation of personal perspectives on the borough.

Historic maps are juxtaposed with contemporary artists' works, which incorporate cartography, exploration and maps in their art-making processes. One standout in this exhibition is Jennifer Maravillas' "71 Square Miles" a massive collage of paper litter collected from her extensive walks throughout Brooklyn. Going beyond geographical mapping, Patricia Smith's"Upper Brooklyn Recovered Memory Tureen" presents a map of the mind, with designations of thoughts meticulously drawn and detailed.

We have all seen them: free standing boulders in the oddest of places, Katerina Jerenicinforms us that they are left behind by glaciers and invites visitors on a tour of these “Erratic Monuments”. And be sure not to miss BRIC’s Project Room with data transformed into colorful and impactful maps. A vintage road map from the World’s Fair adds a nice counterpoint to Justin Blinder's interactive digital installation, "Vacated," which processes public data to present a stunning view of the changes from the ground up in Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Some of the other impressive map based works in the show include projects by: Aaron Beebe, Daniel Bejar, Francisca Benitez, Gail Biederman, Justin Blinder, Christine Gedeon, Katarina Jerinic, Joyce Kozloff, Laura Kurgan, Peter Lapsley, Jennifer Maravillas, Simonetta Moro, Bundith Phunsombatlert, Jan Rothuizen, Patricia Smith, Nick Vaughan & Jake Margolin, and Sarah Williams. On view through May 3rd at BRIC House (647 Fulton) and Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont Street).

—K. Vance

January/February Art in Brooklyn

January is a month of cold nights and warm openings, with large group shows being offered throughout the borough. Coming on the heels of "Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond" at Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway) (a fine exhibition that many felt did not go far enough toward exploring the variety of art produced here), many of these large salon affairs seem like proud rebuttals of a sort. At Centotto (250 Moore St. #108) artist/critic/curator Paul D'Agostino assembles a 35+ artist survey from his home-based gallery's prior programming; including paintings, sculptural objects, photographs and more. During Momenta Art's (56 Bogart St.) winter break, January 5th-11th, you can catch a lively 80+ artist group show curated by the indomitable artist Julie Torres. Later in the month, catch the salon-show institution, "Side Show Nation III: Circle the Wagons," an annual party/labor of love put on by artist/gallerist Richard Timperio at Sideshow Gallery (319 Bedford Ave). This year's show boasts over 600 artists in a mind-bending display of every type of work imaginable. See also "Paperazzi IV" at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery (205 Norman Ave.), opening on January 16th, for a dizzying survey of 130+ artists in a wide range of medium on paper. Two nights earlier on January 14th, attend "Open [C]all: The Artist's Studio," at BRIC Gallery (647 Fulton St.), a 150+ artist exhibition originating from an open call and sourced from BRIC'S online Contemporary Artist Registry. Another important event at BRIC this month is "Pioneers! O' Pioneers! A History of NY Artist Neighborhoods" on January 21st from 7-9 PM, wherein a panel discussion on the changing political, economic, and geographic landscapes of artist neighborhoods will include seminal NYC art figures Irving Sandler, Joyce and Maz Kozloff, Walter Robinson and Pierogi's own Joe Amrhein. (Joe Amrhein's works can be seen alongside artists Rita Valley, Rico Gatson, and William Powhida at Odetta Gallery (229 Cook St.) in "Pay to Play" opening January 16th, 6-8 PM). Other shows that need mentioning all fall along brilliantly hued lines (a chromatic burst of color is magic for the temperament these dark days of winter). Firstly, Gary Petersen's exhilarating solo "Not now, but maybe later" at THEODORE:Art (56 Bogart St.) offers vibrant paintings that mix geometric, angled components with a 60's space age pop color sensibility. Several lush works are paired with two stunning mural installations on a carnation pink ground. Ignore the suggestion of the title; see it now! Also not to be missed is "Consumed": Kim Holleman and Joanne Ungar, two solo exhibitions at Front Room Gallery (147 Roebling St.) wherein each artist focuses on and repurposes the detritus and refuse of our disposable, consumer culture. Holleman's installation makes smart use of the glass-like qualities of resin and Ungar's new works suspend flattened packaging in layers of jewel-toned wax; revealing a clever interplay between compromised volume and translucent depth. The Parlor Bushwick (791 Bushwick Ave.) offers a three person show opening January 17th that will include the chromatic and fantastical figurations of talented painter Ryan Michael Ford. And Michael David's Life on Mars Gallery (56 Bogart St.) offers new and brilliantly hued abstractions from painter Fran O'Neill with pithy, textural treasures from painter Benjamin Pritchard in the project space (opens January 16th).

—Enrico Gomez

Abstraction in Brooklyn in November - Enrico Gomez

Abstraction in Brooklyn in November

The first of three stand-out abstraction shows in Brooklyn this month is Spatial Intelligence (through 11/9) at Odetta Gallery which brings together various works suggestive of planer space. The largest of these is also the most kinetic; swirling and cascading rectilinear shapes in colored pencil and acrylic by Jersey City based artistJames Pustorino. These mosaic-like works (think exploding stained glass windows) make smart use of the translucent paper substrate, pulling the viewers eye from positive to negative shape. Nearby the works ofRyan Sarah Murphy take layered cardboard and painted foam core to a science-fictional realm, implying floating space stations and architectural constructs. The bas-relief of Murphy's work is answered in three dimensions by artist Thomas Lendvai, who shows plywood box "sketches" atop wood tables in the center gallery. Inside are colorful thread 'walls' which double as proposals for large-scale gallery installations; kinder, gentler bungee cord Serra's that cajole viewers through space. Echoing these cubes are the Drift oil on Mylar paintings of Steven Baris, in which clusters of polygonal forms float quietly on graphic, colorful fields.

The sweep of abstract concerns in Spatial Intelligence (volume, dimension, scale) finds kindred spirit at Storefront Ten Eyck within Abstraction and It’s Discontents (through 11/23), a 20-artist survey that successfully asserts the premise that abstraction within contemporary painting takes on myriad form and temperament. Motley by necessity, the show finds two of it's most emblematic artists hanging side by side; Sara Jones and Marc Cheetham. Jones' acrylic painting of floating Persian rugs playfully alludes to pictorial representation as illusory exercise while adjacent, four small color-blocked shapes on burlap by Cheetham float, rug like, and rich in saturated color and rough-hewn texture. Paul Corio and Jeff Ficheraoffer two brilliant hard edge meditations on the physiological confines of seeing and the always exceptional Miriam Cabessa offers a work that glows like a Color Field Tequila Sunrise. A painting by Sharon Butler both opens and closes the show, appropriately indicating the abstract qualities of human communication, via paint, torn T-shirt message, and corporate logos.

Lastly, a bold mention must be given to the solo show Enfolding by Allison Somers (through 11/17) atMicroscope Gallery, not because Ms. Somers is an abstract artist per se, but rather because she employs photo-based processes that allude, abstractly and forcefully, to light, time, and the human surround. Here large fabric panel works have been folded, dyed, and unfurled with titles ("walking in the forest," "swimming laps") that might hail from activities with durations akin to those of fabric dying or exposing a photo. The resultant works, like unbraided hair, seem to ripple and shimmer, suggesting sunlight reflecting off water (attributes made more prominent from their flag-like and swaying, ceiling installation). This Thoreau-esque tableau is complemented by two clusters of birch logs and branches, pulled from Upstate New York and treated with blue Cyanotype. Entitled "Unnatural Surroundings" the artist here exploits the tensions between photography's damaging chemicals and it's historical high-minded focus on nature (re. Ansel Adams or Imogen Cunningham). Note the clever interplay of photographic process atop wood, which is paper pre-processed. The natural element of salt figures prominently in six small photograms which, despite their scale, are as searing and brilliant as fireworks. Here abstraction yields from a complex mixture of intention and chance, process and simplicity. The prints are achingly beautiful; celestial fields of light, line, and shape. I think, on it's best days, the universe is as wonderful as these...but far away, in outer space or deep within, on a cellular level; abstractions just beyond the un-aided eyes ability to appreciate. See, we need telescopes, and microscopes, and great artists for that.

—Enrico Gomez

September Madness 2014 by Enrico Gomez

The summer is over and the exhibition schedule in Brooklyn (like every other industry, city wide) kicks almost immediately into high gear. First up, curiosity inclines me toward Anders Ruhwald's solo exhibition on Sep 3rd at Urban Glass. Currently head of ceramics at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Ruhwald's show promises to explore his interest in ubiquitous form through comparisons between ceramics, wood and glass. At the same address (but just next door) on Sept. 19th attend BRIC's Inaugural BRIC Biennial; a series which endeavors to focus solely on Brooklyn artists. This year's Volume 1, Downtown Edition, showcases 27 artists from within the neighborhoods of Downtown, Boerum Hill and Fort Greene and includes such talents as Katie Bell, Vince Contarino, Jenny Polak, and guest curation by Guggenheim Abu Dhabi assistant curator Fawz Kabra and local artist-curator Leslie Kerby.

On Fri Sept. 5th, the Bogart building in Bushwick (56 Bogart St.) hosts a spate of art openings including Fresh Window exhibiting phosphorescent paintings by Swiss artist Marc Egger and zen-like, minimalist work by the incomparable Miya Ando. Life On Mars offers local expressionist painter Todd Bienvenu, his first solo show and THEODORE:Art has a solo showing from multi-disciplinary artist Jason Tomme. Paper-manipulator extraordinaire Liz Jaff's works can be seen at Robert Henry Contemporary and don't miss the gathering of some of the best outsider-ish, expressionist, figure painters working today at Honey Ramka, including such greats as Rebecca Morgan, Nina Chanel Abney, Ana Wieder-Blank, and an installation by Langdon Graves. Also in Bushwick that evening are the wonderfully intricate graphite drawings of Robert Otto Epstein at 99¢ Plus (238 Wilson Ave.) In Williamsburg on Sept 5th, attend the opening ofSean Hemmerle's photographic paean to the Brutalist architect Paul Rudolph at Front Room as well as the twentieth anniversary celebration of Pierogi Gallery, wherein you'll see over 190 artist's works heroically displayed salon-style across the gallery! (As part of the festivities, catch the Brooklyn Gravity Racers from Sept 16th - 19th at The Boiler; over 350 hand-made, wood-block racers from artists and enthusiasts with prizes for originality, creativity and the like.)

At Odetta Gallery on Sept. 6th seeGobsmacked! dense and intricate works by Margaret Roleke and Charlotte Schulz. Fri. Sept 12th sees Greenpoint offerings from Janet Kurnatowski in aurora borealis, ball-point, oil and resin paintings from Shane McAdams and the inaugural exhibition of the Owen James Gallery with nautical prints and paintings by Richard Bosman. The same night but over in Bushwick The Active Space hosts a 27 artist group show curated by the New York Tibetan Art Studio, along the lines of traditional and contemporary Tibetan painting.

On Saturday Sept. 13th, Outlet Fine Art shows new works by Colin Thomson and Minus Space co-founder Matthew Deleget. The month rounds out with even more fantastic shows throughout the borough. Be sure to look for updates and event info here at wagmag.org!

-Enrico Gomez

#ArtistsBeLike

The Internet. Most use it everyday and many can remember a time before it was so readily accessible. Not so with the 12 student curators of #ArtistsBeLike, the new exhibition at NURTUREart in that they are among the first generation born after the advent of the internet in the mid-nineties (one inspiration for the subject matter of the show). A culmination of Project Curate, part of NURTUREart's Education Program (overseen by Education Director Molly O'Brien) #ArtistsBeLike is the result of a year long exploration of the curatorial process by a class of advanced high school art students guided by professional curator Loney Abrams. While the details of the shows creation are intriguing (a supplementary video of the students at work on the project is downright charming) a question emerged; is the show, on its own merits, a success? My answer: unequivocally!

Sourced from seven artists, the works in #ArtistsBeLike question the internet's influence on culture and societal norm, its impact on the environment and public health, and it's lingering imprint on issues of authorship, verisimilitude and authenticity. The show's standouts include a video by Andrea Crespowhere-in adolescent fictional characters mug and preen for a web-cam imagined audience and also "Feeling Fatal" a sculptural work by Mitchell Charbonneau. This work sets mounds of powdered creatine atop a full-length mirror, which rests upon vats of hair gel, suggesting themes of manufactured image, consumption, narcissism and addiction. For a critical consideration of our current digital context, this show cannot be beat and is one that many adult and seasoned art professionals can learn from. (through May 23rd)

-Enrico Gomez

Brooklyn at the Art Fairs May 2014

The London art fair Frieze and it’s attendant satellite fairs land in New York the first week of May with usual fanfare and anticipation. The largest contingent of Brooklyn galleries can be found at NADA New York (299 South St., Manhattan) and includes both 247365 and Know More Games of the “Donut District” in Carroll Gardens, Jackie Klempay, Regina Rex, and Interstate of Bushwick, Rawson Projects and The Journal Gallery of North Brooklyn, and Show Room of Gowanus. At Pulse New York (125 W. 18th St., Manhattan) look for Williamsburg’s TRANSFER and Front Room Gallery and at Frieze itself (Randall’s Island), find Greenpoint’s Real Fine Arts. Cutlog in the Lower East Side (107 Suffolk St., Manhattan) shows work from Bushwick’s Fuchs Projects and Signal and finally, Brooklyn hosts it’s own fair with SEVEN / VIDEO at The Boiler (191 N. 14th St., Brooklyn); seven galleries each presenting video work by one artist that includes offerings from Momenta art and Pierogi. Additionally Bushwick galleries will be open until 9pm on Saturday May 10th, to entice art fair visitors to the area.

Later in the month, the 5th Annual Bay Ridge Storefront Art Walk (bayridgesaw.org) opens on May 17th along Bay Ridge’s 5th Avenue. Also that weekend in the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy, attend the 15th Annual Sonya Art Walk (sonyaonline.org) which offers a peek into over 60 artists’ studios and art spaces. The last day of May marks the beginning of the mammoth 8th Annual Bushwick Open Studios event (artsinbushwick.org) but before that, you’ll want to attend and support The WAGMAG 2014 Benefit held on Tues May 27th at Dumbo’s Kunsthalle Galapagos (111 Front St., Brooklyn). The full ticket price gets you a lively, entertaining evening, a guaranteed artwork, and the invaluable feeling of supporting the only borough-wide art guide, one whose sole purpose is to support and promote Brooklyn Art Galleries and artists.

—Enrico Gomez

Brooklyn 2014

With the New Year already off to a raucous start, there are many fine offerings from within the borough for January that yet entice and allure. Foremost of which would have to be the annual fete, including literally hundreds of artworks, "Sideshow Nation II" at Sideshow Gallery. This show is as much an interest for who gets hung as how.

In Dumbo on Jan 9th catch the seasonally appropriate solo show, "A Field Guide to Snow and Ice" from photographer Paula McCartney atKlompching Gallery, which offers luscious black and white photos that read alternately like abstract paintings or celestial all-over compositions, snowflake close-ups that are simply breath-taking. Down the hall, don't miss "A 'Womanhouse' or a Roaming House?" curated by Mira Schor and featuring 40 artists at A.I.R. Gallery.

On Friday, Jan 10th at theGreenpoint Terminal Gallerycatch "Poster"; a two-person show curated by artist Niall McClellandand featuring the works of Toronto-based artists Jeremy Jansen andJesse Harris. Further south in Red Hook that same evening visitPeninsula Art Space and catch the opening of London-based artistVanessa Hodgkinson or for a taste of the really new, visit Trestle Gallery in Gowanus for the opening of "Introductions", a group show featuring 10 recent grads from BFA or MFA programs around the country.

Sunday, Jan 12th at Soloway finds "Comb" a solo show by Clare Grill, whose ethereal, reductive works exploit scumbled, stained and scrubbed canvas surfaces to maximum effect, giving many of her works an aged, transportive aura.

Friday, Jan 17th, the Fowler Project Space in partnership withAxcess Art presents the French artist-duo NONOTAK (Noemi Schipfer and Takami Nakamoto) who will offer a one-weekend only exhibition of their critically-acclaimed immersive light installations; the images of which seem reminiscent of scenes from some of my favorite science-fiction films of the 70's and 80's (Tron, The Hunger, Logan's Run).

That same evening in Greenpoint, don't miss "Paperazzi", an annual group show of over 150 works on paper at Janet Kurnatowski, a show which is always a blast, packed wall to wall with both art and viewers.

The late Dale Henry (1931-2011), a noted post-minimal / conceptual artist, was active in New York in the 60's and 70's and taught at the SVA until 1986 when he left New York for good. He bequeathed his oeuvre toAlanna Heiss of the Clocktower Gallery and now these sensitive works, including writing, by the artist will be shown at Pioneer Works(159 Pioneer St), opening on January 18th. This is a rare opportunity to acquaint yourself with this artist, nearly forgotten in time.

On Tues January 21st, join the ISCP salon to hear Italian artist Andrea Mastrovito and artist Eileen Maxson present and discuss their newest bodies of work, the later of which takes it's inspiration from the generational, 90's film Reality Bites.

Ventana 244 adds to it's recent and wonderful list of outside guest curators with artists Peter Soriano and Paris based Philippe Richard, who curate "Real State", a group show which opens on Jan 24th and includes the talents of sculptor Eve Bailey and the convoluted, biomorphic works ofWard Shelley, locally represented by Pierogi Gallery.

The month closes off with an eagerly anticipated show at Storefront Ten Eyck, which offers the work of Bjorn Meyer-Ebrecht and Osamu Kobayashi, both of whom mine the materiality of their chosen mediums, be it sculptural object or paint, for the poignancy and contribution inherent within form. This is a pairing I'll be waiting all month for, and gladly.

—Enrico Gomez

July's Critic's Pick

4 Paintings

Regina Rex

On view at Regina Rex (17-17 Troutman St. #329) through August 4th, “Four Paintings: Picture Window” presents one painting per artist per wall, all of which include elements of the human figure and employ deep, vibrant color. Foremost among these is Scratchpad by Summer Wheat; an exhilarating gestural image of a tubular limbed female, depicted spread-eagle and stimulating her crotch. Here the wanton urgency of bathroom stall graffiti meets the majestic repose of the Barberini Faun. The akimbo angles in Wheat’s work are echoed in the adjacent, “Small Brown One” by Hannah Barrett; a terse, androgynous figure, in vintage beige pantsuit, which sits in a garish easy chair as patterns of clothing, upholstery and wallpaper collide in thick creams, ochers, and Prussian blues. Across the gallery hangs an untitled work by Becky Kinder in which figurative patterns of magenta and white blur the distinction between one silhouetted figure and two. Lastly, Linda Gallagher’s “Selma,” a painting inspired by the film, “Dancer in the Dark”, confronts the viewer with a quizzical collage of imagery. Atop an institution-green field, a woman (presumably the films protagonist) covers her face with her hands, while disembodied limbs attend the disturbing scene. By presenting only four works, Regina Rex highlights the formal similarities and connectors between them and foregrounds the experience of visual communion present within any well-curated show.

—Enrico Gomez

Unhinged

Across town at Pierogi (177 N. 9th St.) hangs “Unhinged,” on view through July 28th; a curated group exhibition of nearly 225 artists from Pierogi’s Flat Files (founded in 1995), itself a curated holding of over 800 artists’ works. Hung salon style, this show is a dazzle of visual stimulation and suggests, at least initially, a cross-section of a few of the gallery’s formal interests; highly patterned, dense abstractions / corporeal figurative works verging on the grotesque / text incorporated works employing ribald humor and irreverence. Favorites include two ghostly rectangles, sun-burned into black paper, by Bill Gerhard, four snowy, ovoid abstractions comprised of layered Mylar atop male beefcake nudes by Sam Tan and three fine gouaches from Peter Hildebrand wherein black, scaffold-like marks dissect colorful fields into broken and stained glass shapes. The figurative works here include “Kim Age 11” by artist Kim Jones, a resonant photo of the artist as a boy in which depicted entrails emerge from his body, forming an elaborate headdress and three disquieting autobiographical scenes from artist Jen Hitchings wherein brushstrokes and muted paint patterns replace family faces. Ostensibly entitled “Blinded by Love,” a work by Nicole Eisenman shows one distressed figure being accosted by the breast-milk of another. Text-based works include John O’Connor’s hilarious, Tourette-like string of obscene word pairings (PUS/BAG, ASS/BALL) and an exquisite suite of carefully embroidered found book pages, beige thread atop yellowing paper, by Kristen Jensen. While the amount of work within this show can be daunting, its careful curation and installation should over time give rise to an awareness of one’s own visual preferences and the collection of a self-curated set of personal favorites.

—Enrico Gomez

June Review by Enrico Gomez

A multitude of art events fills the month of June in Brooklyn and makes a promising beginning to the summer viewing season. First off are the Open Studios events on June 1st and 2nd in both Red Hook & Carroll Gardensand in Bushwick . This is quickly followed on June 8 & 9th with the SONYA stroll covering the neighborhoods of Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill, and the eastern edge of Bed-Stuy. Also the weekend of June 8th, be sure not to miss "Crest Fest," at the legendary Williamsburg Crest Hardware store featuring hundreds of artists, musical performances and vendors. The Northside Festival happens throughout the next weekend, June 13-20th in Williamsburg and boasts over 350 musical acts, over 50 films, and promises the takeover of Bedford Avenue on June 15-16th with interactive installations, sculpture, graffiti and painting performances. Make Music NY Festival rounds out the month, occurring on June 21st and promising over a 1000 concerts in impromptu venues, including art spaces.

Dozens of artists are participating in the Red Hook and Carroll Gardens Open Studios tours the first weekend of June, among them the talented Hiroshi Kumagai, who creates engaging figurative works with intricately cut vinyl and Liz Mitty, who makes lively oil paintings inspired by the detritus and chaos of the urban environs. Also a part of the event, BWAC (499 Van Brunt St.) shows "Wide Open 4", their fourth annual national juried art show, including works by over 100 artists.

That same weekend and a bit further both, The Bushwick Open Studios event, now in its 7th year, offers open studios by 600+ artists, downloadable maps, a music festival, and a community mural. Among the many spaces I'm keen to visit is the studio of Björn Meyer-Ebrecht, whose angular, conceptual work straddles the divides between painting, sculpture, and installation. The curious promise of a collaborative installation using found objects, painting and running water will have me visiting the studios of Jessica Hargreaves and Kathleen Vance and an open-studios specific installation of a Bayeux Tapestry inspired painting, encircling an entire room, will have me popping into artist Meg Lipke's space.

An additional point of interest during the festival would include BABZ Fair, the Bushwick Art Book and Zine Fair, featuring publications by artists and publishers based in and around Bushwick, hosted by Blonde Art Books (inside Schema Projects, 92 St. Nicholas Ave.). I'm also itching to visit the future home of Storefront Bushwick (324 Ten Eyck St.) where there will be four exhibitions mounted for Bushwick Open Studios including artist/owner Deborah Brown's own open studios, "Epic Fail" an architecture focused group show curated by artists Erik Benson and Frank Webster, the work of artist Shamus Clisset, and a performance exhibition by New Zealand artist Matthew Cowan, presented by NURTUREart.

Promising 70 artists and a number of art supportive businesses and organizations, the SONYA stroll includes many fine artists including the painter and curator Elisabeth Condon, vibrant abstract painter Peter Schroth, and painter Michael Miller, whose abstract compositions lean toward the symphonic.. The weekend also includes a community mural, artist designed panels along the Myrtle Avenue, and at least two artist-designed pianos from the Sing for Hope Piano Project.

While information is still forthcoming about the Northside Art Festival and the event line-up for Make Music NY, we do know that The Front Room Gallery (147 Roebling) will be hosting Mark Stillwell, for an evening of music, performative sculpture and very high energy entertainment.

—Enrico Gomez

May Review by Enrico Gomez

"One for the money, two for the show". . . or is it, "All for the money, on with the show?" In either case, the month of May marks the return of Frieze New York to the city and with it, a spate of attendant junior art fairs with barnacled festivities in tow.

The May 10-13th event boasts over 180 international galleries, and the borough of Brooklyn is represented both by Luhring Augustine in the main exhibitor area and by Greenpoint's Real Fine Arts in Frame, a section of the fair dedicated to solo proposals from galleries open less than 6 years. Real Fine Artswill be showing works by Antek Walczak: images of e-mail spam screen-printed atop sheets of lead.

At Pulse New York in Chelsea, Black & White Gallery shows figurative cross-stitch by Alicia Ross and at the second edition of NADA NYC on Pier 36 in the Lower East Side you will find excellent offerings from Greenpoint's Rawson Projects, including paintings by Cy Amundson, Jamian Juliano-Villani and conceptual photography from Lyndsy Welgos. Achingly beautiful, Welgos' work strikes a perfect balance between philosophical heft, technical prowess, and frank sex appeal. Don't miss these. At NADA you will also find painter Nancy Haynes' impressive abstract fields exhibited by Bushwick's Regina Rex as well as Interstate Projects, featuring work by Georgian born Anna K.E. and surreal, biomorphic forms by Dutch artist Rachel de Joode. Lastly, keep an eye out for Carroll Gardens' very own 247365 and Know More Games, an art space which will, through the use of an upright, book-hinged display system, cumulatively showcase every artist it's ever exhibited.

A venture to the northern section of the Lower East Side will bring you to Cutlog, the Parisian art fair's first NY edition, housed at the Clemente Soto Velez Center on Suffolk Street. Here you will find Brooklyn represented by the Williamsburg stalwart, Front Room Gallery, which will show the metaphorical watercolors of Thomas Broadbent and Stephen Mallon's photography, and by Bushwick's Microscope Gallery, which will present work by Emma Bee Bernstein, Raul Vincent Enriquez, DataSpaceTime, Allison Somers, Amos Poe, and performance artist Marni Kotak, noted for giving birth as a live performance event within Microscope in 2011.

The art fair weekend of May 10-13 includes late night gallery strolls in both Greenpoint and Williamsburg on Friday, May 10th and in Bushwick on Saturday May 11th. And at the end of the month Bushwick Open Studios, May 31-June 2nd including hundreds of artist's studios.

This month also includes a number of benefits for a few of Brooklyn's fine cultural institutions, including a Kentucky Derby themed art auction and benefit for Smack Mellon on Saturday May 4th, a 100 works on paper benefit to support The Kentler International Drawing Space onSaturday May 18th, a Spring Raffle Drawing + Silent Auction to benefit Momenta Art on Wed May 22nd, and of course our own annual WAGMAG Benefit, which will be held on Tues May 21st within the English Kills Gallery in Bushwick (wagmag.org). This benefit is always a festive affair and one that helps to keep WAGMAG a free resource connecting art spaces, artists and the viewing public to one another, all across Brooklyn. I hope to see you there!

--Enrico Gomez

April Review, by Enrico Gomez

Yuliya Lanina at Figureworks

Figureworks

Fantastical. Alluring. Playful. Mysterious. These are just a handful of descriptors that describe the current work of artist Yuliya Lanina, on view (through April 21) at Figureworks (168 N. 6th St.). This solo show, made up primarily of acrylic paintings on paper, fills the sun-filled rooms of the gallery with equally sunny subject matter, as mythological animal-human hybrids frolic contentedly across white backgrounds, intermittently sprinkled with amusing flora and fauna forms.

The artist has an earlier body of engaging collage work which seem to have directly influenced the free and easy mélange of parts which populate these paintings; fingers connect to feathers which conjoin to flowery faces, smiling naively out at the viewer. Said to be influenced by Greek mythology as well as Russian fairy tales, this Russian-born artist’s work has brightened of late … former shadowy subtexts and psychologically unnerving undertones giving way to a warmer palette, both chromatically and temperamentally, with overall tones of unreserved optimism throughout.

Primary among these is the self-portrait, “Hostess” wherein an elegantly gloved female form fills the frame, one un-gloved hand set protectively across her sundress-covered belly. Bright red specks of fingernail polish and an elongated pelican beak on her tropical bird head, presence the legend of a mother pelican, who, in times of famine, would strike her breast with her own beak to draw blood to feed to her young. Nearby hangs “Three Fates”, where three owls, stand ins for the Greek Goddesses of birth, longevity and death, perch atop a high-heeled tree branch, googly-eyes peering out from under headwear that indicate their various functions (top hat, lotus flower, and dunce cap). Other works dispense with classical symbolism such as the tender “Love”, which depicts two elephants regarding each other placidly while grinning flowers sprout from their heads and the amusing “Daddy-o”, in which a bird-man, bedecked in Hawaiian-shirt, calmly endures the clamoring child and/or lover’s limbs that sprout wantonly from behind his neck.

My favorite work of the show “Barbershop Quartet” shows a tattooed chorus girl dancing a Fosse-like turn toward the viewer; her Prussian blue bird-head feathers ruffled and agitated like a rock and roll star. By her feet, a peacock feathered flower sways in time to her syncopated beat.

The show includes one mechanical painting entitled “Honky-tonk Belles” with whom the artist collaborated with Theodore Johnson (technical direction). Here figures from the artist’s paintings glide across this animatronic sculpture while fantastical characters from the artist’s Texan environs (a longhorn bull and blistering southwest sun) join this theatrical fray. Composer Yevgeniy Sharlat (musical score) adds an aural accompaniment that cements the early vaudevillian and nickelodeon feel of this work. The artist and her burgeoning family (twin girls and husband) spend part of their time in Austin, TX from which we can infer the “honky-tonk” title of this piece. From the joyous, vibrant colors and carefree whimsy of these works, we can infer that “Belles” or “beautiful” is a world that not only Lanina’s creations, but that the artist herself, currently inhabits and enjoys.

—Enrico Gomez

Brooklyn during Armory Week

It’s here again, the NY art world’s equivalent to Fashion Week, Comic-Con and Fleet Week combined; The Armory Show, arguably New York City’s premier annual contemporary art fair. Though mostly placed in Manhattan, Brooklyn art galleries enjoy a robust presence in the attendant fairs with additional late night events happening on Saturday evening, March 9, in DUMBOand in Williamsburg and Bushwick

I start my list with the 2nd Annual “curator-driven” art fair,SPRING/BREAK Art Show set in an old school house in Nolita. A concurrent art auction will benefit NYFA and the admirable, Arts in the Armed Forces organization. The impressive 20 curator roster includes Eyelevel BQE’s Gabriella Alva, Ballast Project’s Adam Mignanelli, NURTUREart’s Marco Antonini, and Interstate Projects’ Tom Weinrich, while artists of note include Russel Tyler, Matt Mignanelli, and Cheon pyo Lee. At $5. a ticket, this is a MUST!

The Armory Show mother-ship has, to my knowledge just one appearance by a Brooklyn gallery, but what an appearance! Williamsburg’s Pierogi Gallery shows a fine selection of works, including a “how-the-heck-is-he-gonna-do-that” eliciting, urinal instillation replete with auto flush and self-contained plumbing system from bad boy fave, Andrew Ohanesian.

The 4th edition of the Independent art fair will include 40 international galleries, with some proceeds dedicated to NY non-profits hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Greenpoint’s Real Fine Arts will show works by Sam Pulitzer, Heji Shin and minimal, talismanic masterworks from Ned Vena. With a specific focus on solo-projects, the invitational Volta NY art fair includes 95 international galleries and has a new SOHO location. Here Bushwick’s Robert Henry Contemporary will show Richard Garrison, an artist who reframes the aesthetic visual detritus of his suburban environs (fast food drive ins, advertisement flyers) into hypnotic compositions that are colorful, analytical and dynamic. Also from Bushwick, Slag Gallery offers work by Naomi Safron-Hon, one of the 5 winners of last years GO Brooklyn; the Brooklyn Museum’s controversial borough-wide open studio event.

100 years after the original Armory Show, Fountain Art Fair will be held in the same location; the 69th Regiment Armory on Lex & 25th. With an indy flair and origins rooted in Brooklyn, this event will house several Brooklyn institutions, including; Mighty Tanaka, RUSH Arts Gallery, The Parlour Bushwick, et al Projects, Front Room Gallery, Grace Exhibition Space, Yes Gallery, and Fuchs Projects.

Uptown, at the Park Avenue Armory you can find ADAA’s The Art Showwith offerings from Luhring Augustine. In Chelsea, visit the FREE contemporary video art fair Moving Image and find Bushwick’s Interstate Projects (making a second appearance among the fairs) presenting enigmatic work by Rbt. Sps. a multi-media artist whose very name is a mystery. At Scope find contributions from Arcilesi Homberg Fine Art and Muriel Guepin Gallery.

—Enrico Gomez

Brooklyn/Montreal

Considered by some to be “the poor man’s Paris”, Montréal is a city rich with history and diverse in culture. If you haven’t visited lately, you should (it’s a short trip due north!) but until then, enjoy that “Canada’s Cultural Capital” is coming to you! Opening across Brooklyn is the second installment of the 2 city, 16 gallery, 40 artist exhibition project “Brooklyn / Montréal”. The first installment occurred in Montréal in October, wherein the Brooklyn and Montréal galleries (eight each) were paired up for collaboratively sourced, twin exhibitions. The Montréal spaces included the renowned Museé d’art contemporain, Galerie [SAS], and the literally underground Galerie l’UQAM, a division of the University of Quebec, Montreal.

Now it is Brooklyn’s turn to play host with Williamsburg openings on Friday, January 11th at Pierogi, Front Room Gallery, and Parkers Box, whose Alun Williams is said to have been a driving force behind the project, which will host Clark Centre, an artists’ collective from the Mile End district of Montreal.

On Saturday, January 12th, attend openings in Dumbo at A.I.R. Gallery, Causey Contemporary, and Smack Mellon which will screen video from Janet Biggs’ “Somewhere Beyond Nowhere” project, filmed during an expedition deep into the Artic Circle and show an installation by artist Aude Moreau, which involves two-tons of refined white sugar.

Sunday January 13th will see openings at Bushwick’s Momenta Art and Interstate Projects with an exhibition of video works from 13 Montreal and Brooklyn artists. For detailed listings of events and venues, visit: www.brooklynmontreal.com/en

—Enrico Gomez

The Order of Things

Said to be a meditation on the shift in our relationship with the universe via cataclysmic predictions of end of it, the artworks in the show “ The Order of Things” at NURTUREart (56 Bogart St.) buzz with considerable gravitational pull. The show, organized by current Studio Museum of Harlem Curatorial Fellow Jamillah James, has a strong aesthetic lean with textures and sheen a plenty.

The space is cut through with a tone that is both reverent and ominous, and though there is much for the eye to relish, the artworks here have much conceptual heft … an installation of three plaster sculptures atop mirrors by Allyson Vieira, appear like the ruins of Greek columns. The visual continuation of these pillars, from object into reflection, ruined and imperfect, allude to Greco-Roman history, dimensional non-reality and the delusion of cultural permanence. Nearby hangs “Heap” by Ethan Greenbaum; six large vacuum-formed plastic panels that seem like cement slabs or large cuts of granite, with a luminescence that transfixes. Lisha Bai is represented with an alluring black sand and plexi-glass obelisk while nearby, a lustrous boulder of anthracite coal (“Motus Librationis” by Demetrius Oliver) sits before a video monitor that displays changing animations of the moon; reality television for the truly carbon-based.

The science-fiction feel of this successful show contributes to a reading of these material objects as less a collection from our current world, however doomed and fleeting, than an assorted sampling of the next. (through Feb 1)

—Enrico Gomez

From the editor:

Our hearts go out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Amidst the devastation in Brooklyn we are left with visual images of the destruction in Dumbo: Jane's Carousel inundated by the stormy out of control East River, Smack Mellon's studios with water up to the ceiling, and Galapagos's with tables and chairs floating through the space. In Red Hook photos of the Civil War era warehouse building that houses BWAC (Brooklyn Waterfront Artist's Coalition) appears to be in New York Harbor. Terrible stories abound of flooded artists' studios in Greenpoint and Gowanus. The loss of power and infrastructure has also had a huge effect on the practical functioning of many galleries in Brooklyn, especially in Dumbo, but even in neighborhoods that were not flooded. We have tried to confirm date changes with the galleries, but as some of them do still not have electricity, these listings may not be completely accurate. Most of the events scheduled for the November WAGMAG were cancelled or delayed, and we have therefore come out with a special November/December issue. Please check with galleries before attending events.

—Daniel Aycock

November/December Art in Brooklyn

The recent weeks have proved quite a challenge to artists, gallerists and the entire New York area from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent damages to local power and transit infrastructures. Much concerted effort has gone into repair and restoration of the areas most adversely affected by the storm, but there is admittedly, still much more work to do.

We encourage everyone, of course, to continue to support your local art venues in whatever way is most amenable to you, as always, but especially now in the wake of these current events.

One of the best and most primary ways to support these venues is to visit them and the following is a small sampling of the myriad shows worth looking deeper into: Sugar (449 Troutman St. #3-5, Bell#21), in Bushwick offers “Expressly Physical,” which includes the sculptures of Cassie Rahl and the paintings of Seren Morey, both of which exhibit a wide range of tactile surfaces; cracked paint, foam and felt, tendrils of acrylic medium and folded metal, a feast of sensorial information. Five Myles (558 St.Johns Place) offers a handsome group show on the “American Landscape,” curated by artist Dan Carlson, which offers 15 young artists exploring ‘terra firma’ in ways that surprise and engage. Curator David Gibson compiles a promising group show entitled “The Quantum Effect” at The Active Space (566 Johnson Ave), a show with 10 artists, including the talented Jonathan Feldschuh and Jeanne Tremel. And in a group show with timely themed subject matter including “finality” and “destruction,” Parker’s Box (193 Grand St) presents “Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine” and intriguing assortment of video and sound based works from six international artists. Finally, The Skylight Gallery (1368 Fulton Street, second floor) in Bed-Stuy offers “Healings” an impressive group show of over 30 artists, whose work explores the promising and opportune principle that art does in fact, heal (an idea that, of late, we all can and should, get behind). Please peruse our listings, call to verify operating hours, but most importantly, go, see, and celebrate Brooklyn’s many vibrant and enduring art offerings.

—Enrico Gomez

October Review" "Fair Touching" - Enrico Gomez

Fair Touching

The current show at Rawson Projects (223 Franklin St.) in Greenpoint is aptly titled as it is, indeed, touching. The ten paintings within the show, all roughly 30 x 17”, when viewed in toto have the feel of portraits or poems, so individual and sensitive are their contents. Equi-spaced along one horizon line in the gallery, these works employ a full range of color and graphic shape, representing the artist and his many interests handsomely.

Over time, a few idiomatic forms have emerged within Martineau’s oeuvre; a repeatedly utilized, right-angled L shape, consistent dimensions within a particular series, and an interest in such subjects as soccer, race-cars, and music. These concerns appear in this show as well, with the contributive addition here of the substrate (muslin, plastic, cotton towel) being yet another key player in the reading of Martineau’s craft. In one example, “P”, a Pirelli logo emerges from a misty, monochromatic field of blue grey. Painted atop an Inter Milan soccer jersey, any hint of the teams trademark blue and black stripes have been clouded over, and what emerges is the subtle play of light across the bas relief of this sculptural support. Nearby hangs the aqua blue and white “Grand Prix – Watkins Glen”. Signature, nesting L-shapes within this piece seem as inspired by Nascar visuals as they are by mid century, European graphic design. The bottom fifth of this work is visually anchored by the exposed foundation, in this case a brightly striped dishtowel. Adjacent, “Channel”, an umber colored piece of stretched plastic hosts three overlapping, linear white triangles. The seeming simplicity of this work is contradicted warmly by subtle nuances of light across and through this Mylar field, which are redolent of honey, amber fragments or chalcedony. Martineau’s interest in music, specifically music packaging, can also be witnessed here. Previous work by this artist includes a few series of limited edition, hand made, 7” record sleeves and one series of handmade record covers for his own label, EAU Records (presumedly taken from the last three letters of his name). My personal memories of shopping for vinyl records as a kid are recalled within this show as a glance about the gallery re-presences the way that the colors and shapes of LP images would flash before my eyes, as my fingers would hurriedly flip through the stacks, hoping for that one precious gem. Of course, this show has ten of them, tracks that are whole unto themselves but inter-related as well. In my minds eye I found myself returning time and again to this space, replaying my experience here; colors, lines and textures pulsing softly, as haunting and familiar as a favorite pop song. (through Oct. 21)

—Enrico Gomez

September Review: "September 2012 in Brooklyn" -Enrico Gomez

Hot on the heels of the Summer Olympics, the fall art season should begin with the announcement, “Artists take your mark …” because a race has definitely begun! September has a healthy smattering of festivals, premier among them being “GO: a community-curated open studio project” organized by the Brooklyn Museum on Sep 8th-9th. This Brooklyn-wide event will culminate, via attendee votes tallied electronically, in a 10-artist group exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in December. Voters must “check in” to at least 5 artist studios before they can vote for their top 3 favorites. Register (artist and/or voter) and get more information (on the 1,780 participating artists, guidelines, apps, etc) at www.gobrooklynart.org. The other monumental September event is the Dumbo Arts Festival (Sep. 28 – 30th), a three-day celebration of art, music, and performance wherein over 500 artists will participate in a variety of indoor and outdoor exhibitions, open studios, public performance, etc.

Bean and Benjamin Sebastian
at Grace Exhibition Space

Other smaller but no less interesting festivals this month would include the Brooklyn Book Festival that is hosted by a variety of Brooklyn Art venues including the Dumbo Arts Center and the Invisible Dog Art Center. The “Bookend” events run from Sep.17th through Sep. 23rd and include an exhibition of “New York Drawings” by artist / graphic novelist Adrian Tomine. “Cage Transmitted” is a festival-like series of lectures and performances celebrating the centennial of seminal American composer and artist John Cage offered throughout September at the Dumbo Arts Center. Organized in collaboration with Norte Maar, info can be found at www.nortemaar.org and/or www.dumboartscenter.org. Billed as a three-day mini-performance event, “Alien(s) in New York” is the curatorial effort of London based Bean and Benjamin Sebastian in fulfillment of Grace Exhibition Space’s “Guest Curators’ Series #1”. The full listing info for this exciting series, (Sep. 7th through Sep. 9th) with offerings from the UK, Germany and the US, can be found at Grace Exhibition Space.

Nick Kline at Open Source

A list of additional greatness happening in Brooklyn includes “Wackadoodle”; a group show at Ethan Pettit Contemporary (includes Gili Levy, Jan Holthoff, and Henry G. Sanchez), “WWJD”; a solo show of Jack Early at Southfirst. Artist Barb Choit and Painter Sam Martineau at Rawson Projects, Kris Scheifele’s sculptural paintings at Janet Kurnatowski, influential Abstractionist Mark Dagley at Minus Space, and the bi-level Interstate Projects’ season opener Cheon pyo Lee, at their new location! Additionally, be sure to catch Peter Krashes vibrant paintings at Theodore:Art, Nick Kline’s haunting photographs at Open Source, “Word” group show at Corridor Gallery (includes Glen Ligon, Meg Hitchcock and Iviva Olenick), and the sculpture group show at BRIC Rotunda Gallery (curated by Jamie Sterns, including Carolyn Salas, MaryKate Maher and Arielle Falk). Lastly, enjoy the enveloping, participatory installation of Andrew Ohanesian at The Boiler, the mesmerizing finishes of Norman Mooney’s smoke drawings at Causey Contemporary and works by Kirsten Stoltmann and Brian Hubble at Sugar. For detailed location, hours, and opening info, please visit our listings and openings pages. —Enrico Gomez

July/August Review: "That SInking Sense of Wonder" -Enrico Gomez

That Sinking Sense of Wonder

Almost every artwork comes with questions. If not related to subject matter or meaning, then to maker or context. Great art, and art shows as it were, is about asking great questions. I offer this as portent and introduction to the quizzical and engaging group show currently on view at Southfirst (60 N. 6th St.), That Sinking Sense of Wonder curated by artist Jesse Bransford. The only press release offered from Bransford is a set of free associative drawings which randomly rotate on the Southfirst website. This seems cryptic until one considers that a major key to answering at least some of the questions in this show lies in appreciating the artist’s works and interests which include the occult, icons and motifs of antiquity, and the categorization / ordering of celestial bodies.

The most evident kinship between the artist’s oeuvre and his curatorial choices exists in an allegorical ink drawing entitled, “Double Man” by Max Razdow. Depicting a thin, dual figure, partly engulfed in flames and partly composed of crystalline shards, the image recalls the Rebis, an alchemical symbol for the dichotomy between man and woman, earth and heaven, and the human mind and material universe. This interplay between the material environment and the human passage looms large within the show.

A suite of anonymous tantra drawings, which read like small Suprematist works, depicts contiguous line and graphic shape (produced as a repetitious prayer practice) competing for visual primacy with environmental contributions (water stains, pock marks, random graphics) on a found paper support. The environmental determinant reaches further as gallerist Maika Pollack explains that the mystifying “Portrait of Kali, the Goddess, the Black One” (a near indiscernible black triangle atop a black square atop mottled found paper) could only be hung on the western wall as it is this wall that also emblematizes sunsets, destruction, and death.

Nearby are two absorbing graphite drawings on paper by Juliet Jacobson, one image-free and completely covered with densely layered graphite, the other depicting an emerging lunar surface. This reflection upon the influence of cast light relates also to the reading of three sculptural works by Iranian born Afruz Amighi. Comprised of metal chains and cylindrical aluminum, these partially lit shapes read like glittering jewelry or elegant chandeliers from one side and from the other, like silhouetted line drawings of missile or bullet-like shapes.

Corinne Jones offers two, seemingly monochromatic paintings, under different lighting conditions (one is installed in the gallery entryway), which illuminates her practice’s subtle nuances and offers the viewer further evidence of a sensory dependence upon environmental factors.

Lastly, an understated photograph entitled “Point of Rocks” by Dan Torop seems an iconic encapsulation of the show. Two diverging trees have soil between them that happens to form the shape of a pyramid. I couldn’t help but see this pile of rocky earth as stand-in for a carbon-based self within a cosmological whole; part in shadow, part in light, monumental, inconsequential, and subject to immutable law and random chance in equal measure. (through July 22nd)

—Enrico Gomez

June Review: "June in the Borough" by Enrico Gomez

June in the Borough

Festivals

While the official beginning of summer isn’t until mid-June, the season starts with a bang on June 1st, with what literally amounts to hundreds of offerings for your visual choosing. Bushwick Open Studios, Arts in Bushwick’s yearly studio walk boasts over 500 participants/events this year; surely offering something for everyone. Opening on Friday evening, June 1st, atStorefront Bushwick (16 Wilson Ave.) find the precious, treasure-like work of Abdolreza Aminlari, who creates captivating yet restrained minimalist compositions with gold thread on paper. At Studio 10 (56 Bogart St.) that same evening, see “Text” a group show opening that includes the thought-provoking constructions of Audra Wolowiec and the meditative and dazzling work of Meg Hitchcock, who excises language from sacred texts and reassembles them in painstaking pattern and arabesque form. While in the building, pay a visit to the inaugural show of Robert Henry Contemporary (formerly RHV Fine Art). The artist/gallerists Henry Chung and Robert Walden have moved their fine programming from their former location in South Park Slope to Bushwick and open with a solo show of polygonal collage, paintings and rare sculptural work from Renaissance talent, Andrew Zarou. Also in the building and opening Friday night is a solo exhibition of fantastical landscapes from artist Justin Barry at Interstate Projects and an opening for curator Rachel Steinberg’s Videorover series, which moves from the project space atNurture Art to a simultaneous screening of various video shorts within Nurture Art’s main space.

You can catch many of these galleries on Saturday & Sunday as well at the “Bushwick Basel” Art Fair (108 Starr St.); a gathering of 11 neighborhood galleries invited by artist Jules de Balincourt to take up weekend residence in his Starr Space studio. Along with Studio 10, Parallel Art Space,Interstate Projects and Storefront, you can see booths from English Kills, Regina Rex, Valentine (with works that are charming yet also seem to possess dark undercurrents churning just below their colorful surfaces) and the always engaging Norte Maar.. In fact, you should start your Saturday art walk at Norte Maar (83 Wykoff Ave. #1B), where gallerist/curator Jason Andrew will treat you to a map of the day’s events and a mimosa! While there, enjoy the collages of local artist/musician Oliver Ralli, from local band/art collective PassKontrol. Later, at The Active Space (566 Johnson Ave.), you’ll find “Freewheeling”, a solo showing of the paintings of Storefront Bushwick’s Deborah Brown, which include vivid, multi-hued landscape views of the local environs. Lastly, to close the weekend, make sure to catch the final days of Sculpture Garden, a group show of three-dimensional works curated by Deborah Brown and Lesley Heller at the Onderdonk House (1820 Flushing Ave.).

If you still have energy (and eyes) left after the first weekend in June,Northside’s Annual Arts Festival happens in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, June 14 – 21, as well as a photo-festival taking place entirely within re-purposed shipping containers! Entitled “Photoville” , the festival is said to include a photo dog run and a camera greenhouse and will take place from June 22nd – July 1 at the Brooklyn Bridge Park

—Enrico Gomez

May Review: May Art in Brooklyn - Enrico Gomez

May Art in Brooklyn

Art fairs Frieze, Red Dot, Verge, and Pulse (which includes Brooklyn’s own Causey Contemporary and Black & White Gallery) descend on New York this month with much hurrah. Additionally, Brooklyn “represents” at the NADA Art Fair with The Journal Gallery, Real Fine Arts, Rawson Projects, and Regina Rex. Not to be overlooked, Brooklyn concurrently hosts it’s own art fair with “seven @ SEVEN” at The Boiler (191 N 14th St.). A collaborative exhibition platform / art fair alternative formed in 2010 by seven galleries from New York and London (Pierogi Gallery, Postmasters Gallery, P.P.O.W., and Winkleman Gallery among them) SEVEN makes it’s debut NY appearance with this event, featuring solo projects from each gallery. Standouts include a fun, flower covered tire swing from Andy Yoder, a grand chinoiserie still life in sumi ink from Dawn Clements and an impressive, 16 foot high, shrink wrap installation from Emil Lukas (through May 20th). Many Brooklyn galleries will stay open late or take on special programming in conjunction with these art fairs, so please check www.wagmag.org for up to the minute event listings!

Our own WAGMAG Benefit will also be held this month (May 8th, 7 – 9pm) at The Boiler (191 N. 14th St.). Each raffle ticket guarantees an artwork, and with exceptional artworks by 100+ local artists to choose from, it is a fun, festive way to contribute to WAGMAG, Brooklyn’s only art event and art venue guide! (supportwagmag.org)

And now, the shows! Do not miss “Cloud Nine” which runs through May 13th at The Front Room Gallery (147 Roebling St.) Organized by seminal curator Larry Walczak, this show, “featuring visual interpretations of the concept of ecstasy”, deftly avoids leaning too heavily on any one translation and instead offers a panoply of interpretations from a variety of creative prerogatives. Personal favorites include Brent Ridge’s “Heaven is Hell”, a simple yet poignant image of overlapping, silhouetted, praying hands that takes on a vibratory transcendence as well as a colorful ink and watercolor drawing from Jesse Lambert entitled, “Future Butterfly” wherein a sleeping “Gulliver” is overtaken by chaotic, verdant life. At Theodore: Art (56 Bogart St.) catch whimsical, fantastical paintings by Scooter Laforge and a dazzling installation of small, painterly emoticons from Christopher Moss. An Andrew Hurst solo show at English Kills Art Gallery (14 Forrest St.) proves that there is still a place for considered, careful choices in art with collages and sculptures that make magic out of the forgotten and the cast away.

And finally, SUGAR (449 Troutman St. #3-5, bell #21) expands, more than doubling their exhibition space, and includes The Viewing Room, a space for smaller works, and The Flat Files (with independent programming for each). In the main space (through June 3rd) “Lineup round 4 (From the Gut, with Heart)”; a show / installation of 2-D and sculptural work wherein color and shape seem to ricochet and echo, call-and-response like, across the gallery. A cyclamen explosion of color by Erika Keck, Art Guerra’s phtalo-blue asteroid forms and a vibrant, cartographic assemblage of shapes from Liv Mette Larsen all bespeak a high caliber of common action. But it was a small, milky white and indigo oil painting by Jacqueline Lou Skaggs called, “Snow White, Madonna Blue with Stripes” in The Viewing Room that simply took my breath away. With economy and aplomb it, like so much of the work I’ve seen at SUGAR, grabbed a hold of me and holds me still today.

—Enrico Gomez

April Review: Nightmares and Fantasies - Enrico Gomez

Nightmares & Fantasies

Figureworks Gallery

A bed-ridden hospital patient shields his face from an onslaught of technicolor hallucinations. These bio-morphic emanations, like giant sea anemones and amoebae, hover forebodingly above their source and curl tendril-like beneath his bed. Entitled “Tincture of Metaphin” (by Frederic Taubes) this image announcesFigureworks (168 N. 6th St.) new show “Nightmares & Fantasies”, evincing the intensity of images therein.

Intimate, evocative, and deeply psychological, the show is revelatory in a way that only our dreams and fantasies can be. Standouts include an inkless intaglio pair of prints from legendary artist George Tooker. Here sand colored paper, solely through the use of embossed line, becomes a desert expanse of dunes wherein sleeping figures descend or emerge menacingly. Also fantastical are a pair of large etchings by Artem Mirolevich, depicting meticulously rendered streetscapes that are besieged from above by flying schools of fish, flaming text, and floating pirate ships.

Additional nocturnal archetypes emerge including human/animal hybrids; best of these being a bronze-skinned, bird-headed harpy (“Metamorphosis” by Jean-Pierre Alaux) who skates atop a roiling turquoise sea of hook-toothed beasts, grimacing gargoyles and other various grotesqueries. The carnal, libidinous aspects of fantasy are also well represented here by various languid or priapic figures, most enigmatic being an ink drawing, by Sante Grazian, of a knock-kneed woman who holds/becomes a bouquet of fleshy orifices and undulating, petal forms.

Like dreams, this show holds too many memorable images to enumerate; much of them ecstatic, otherworldly, and surreally familiar. (through April 22nd)

—Enrico Gomez

April Review: Continental Drift - Enrico Gomez

Continental Drift

The Journal Gallery

Alluding, possibly, to wandering movement across a vast terrain as well as to the theory of the floating separation of bodies once joined, “Continental Drift” an engaging exhibition of new work by Colin Snapp at the Journal Gallery (168 N. 1st St.) is perfectly titled and frames the artist’s current interest in tourism.

Shot entirely through the windows of tour buses, taxis, and trains, the show is comprised of photos from the artist’s recent travels in Morocco. The scenes captured here are remarkably similar to those of Times Square, NY; rows of tourists wait to board buses, busses stoically wait to receive passengers, and vendor cart shade umbrellas trumpet corporate encouragements to consume. Another constant is the distancing effect the invisible, insulating window has on the scene; separating tourist from locale, integrity from experience, and rendering all parties involved, the other. That these dusty, sun-tinged photographs were purportedly taken with a disposable camera only adds to their conceptual weight.

Offering a sneak peak at the Journal Gallery’s new satellite location, a future screening of “Leica Toll”, a video shot in the same area, will round out the show. (forthcoming details at www.thejournalinc.com) One large still from the video perhaps best summates. A veiled woman shields her face from the camera. The graininess of the video capture flattens her flayed and painted fingers so that the entire image seems on the verge of disintegrating into it’s notional essence; a pixelated projection of our own design that may or, in equal measure, may not be related to the object we intend it describe. (through April 29th) —Enrico Gomez

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March Review: "Critical Path" by Enrico Gomez

"Critical Path"

Look up the definition of “critical” and you will find meanings that include “careful evaluation”, “variant readings” and “scholarly emendations”; all of which apply to the captivating two-person show entitled “Critical Path”, currently on view at Art 101 (101 Grand Street) through March 17.

The show enigmatically offers both the handsome, architecturally inspired artwork of Chester Nielsen and the warmly tactile, embroidered objects and prints of Nicola Ginzel. Art 101 owner/artist Ellen Rand offers simply “their process” in response to my query “What’s the connection between these two?” After spending a while with the artists and their work, I begin to see the pithiness of that reply.

Los Angeles based Chester Nielsen’s work here is concerned primarily with the corners of our built world, pointedly, of our domestic residences. This subject, which he calls, “…this little thing that watches over people’s lives”, he approaches from a variety of positions including photographically surveying the interiors of friends apartments, photo cropping, the construction of 3-D models based on his investigations, and drawing. Nielsen’s method of image cropping, an engaging composite of buttery oil stick on photographic print, is among my favorite in this series, in that the pairing of clean architectural line with smudged, imperfect oil paint encapsulates, in the briefest of gestures, the nuanced realities of clean, right-angled form paired with messy, vibrant life.

Nicola Ginzel is also concerned with multiple approaches to her subject, in this case, random ephemera and cultural detritus, and, like Nielsen, folds her examinations in upon themselves, yielding further revelations. From everyday objects like candy wrappers and book covers, Ginzel begins what she calls an “inductive method” of transforming her materials, using thread to meditatively erase brand logos and typeface, creating something completely new. She, in some cases, uses these new forms as printing plates, wherein the raised thread can catch graphite and oil pastel, upon paper napkins and foil, creating layered imagery and self-referential design. Presented side by side, these frayed and precious fragments take on the feel of ancient tapestry or archeological treasure, our “dead-sea scrolls” to some future civilization.

In the work of both of these artists, we can read the tangential concerns of the human impact on the natural environment; consumption, waste, development and occupation. But their interests also go deeper, with conceptual processes built soundly enough to house a myriad of approaches, perspectives and movements through. And both seem to hint, like the architectural ruins and ceramic shards of antiquity, that it is what remains of us that best tells our story.

You can see this show and many others during the upcoming “Williamsburg Afterhours”, Saturday, March 10th from 7-10pm, part of Brooklyn’s Armory Night events. This year many venues will stay open late, presenting exciting art exhibitions and special video screenings throughout the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Get full listings and after-party info atwww.brooklynarmorynight.com

Also, visit Bushwick that same evening when 18 art venues will stay open late, from 6-10pm, for Bushwick’s “Beat Nite 7” Full listings and after-party info at www.nortemaar.org

—Enrico Gomez

February Review: "What Only Paint Can Do" - Enrico Gomez

“What Only Paint Can Do”

The current offering at the Triangle Arts Association Gallery (111 Front St. Suite #222) is entitled, “What Only Paint Can Do” and is assembled by lauded, seminal curator and art critic, Karen Wilkin. The show, though color-filled and dazzling, is also initially difficult due in part to the disparity in style of the twelve painters here gathered. But the variation in artist technique and intention with regard to their chosen medium is also the strength of the show. In fact, it is the very point.

Organized as a tribute to Triangle Arts Association’s thirtieth year of existence and its tenth year in Dumbo, this show is comprised solely of Triangle workshop and residency program alum. In this way, every artwork performs a triple duty of representing Triangle, the artist’s independent oeuvre and one particular approach to the topic of paint; a duty, I might add, they fulfill quite admirably.

At one end of the abstraction spectrum here, are the tightly rendered encaustic and oil paintings of James Little. These modest 24” square works display vertical bands of pastel oranges, yellows and blues and exude an air of simplicity and ease that belie the known volatility and unruliness of encaustic. These luscious, taffy-like smooth surfaces warrant repeated savoring.

At the other end of the abstraction spectrum: a marvelous 9’ tall acrylic on canvas from Larry Poons entitled, “Utah”, that really hustles and jives. Vibrant and highly textured, this topographical work includes ochre, foam-like masses that seem to drift apart from one another like continents. Elsewhere, bright orange bands cut the scene into cartographic territories and circular swaths of sea-foam green and blue. “Granny”, an impasto delight from artist Summer Wheat, both represents portrait painting and typifies Wheat’s trademark fascination with mixing high art and low; here exemplified with “googly eye” cakes of pigment atop a face rendered so thick it verges, adeptly, on the sculptural. Even history painting makes an appearance in a wonderful trio entitled, “Portrait of ‘God and Three Virgins’ (apologies to Julian Schnabel, Salvador Dali, and Francis Picabia)” by painter and Parker’s Box gallerist, Alun Williams. Williams typically subverts the paradigms of historical painting by focusing on little known subjects and representing them with a random gesture or paint spill from his immediate environs. Here, he has taken these paint splatters not from his surroundings but rather, from the pantheon of art history itself. In this way, he elevates the gestures of both other artists and himself, however incidental, to the realm of the sacred. Like doorways into a strange surreality, these paintings show us the same four shapes, hovering and communing in silent sanctification with one another.

When viewed in toto, all of the paintings within the gallery begin to occur as doors; motley and incongruent, leading into entire worlds of particular design and personal histories with paint. In managing to construct a show at once challenging, enlightening, concise and encyclopedic, Wilkin, by way of careful and considered selection, means not only to introduce us to the variety and features of each “doorway” but also, one believes, to bid us enter. (through Feb. 23)

—Enrico Gomez

January Review: "January in Brooklyn" - Enrico Gomez

January in Brooklyn

January finds the Brooklyn borough offering several bountiful art shows that extend the seasonal spirit of giving well into 2012. Firstly, Sideshow Gallery (319 Bedford Ave.) proffers its 12th Annual Winter Group Show “Mic Check” and it’s a whopper, boasting over 440 artists in one space. Gallerist Rich Timperio undertakes the Herculean task of installation, a masterwork in itself; if there were “Seven Wonders of the Brooklyn Art World”, this would be one of them. (Through Feb. 29th) Opening January 13th is “Paperazzi” an annual show at Janet Kurnatowski (205 Norman Ave.), this year claiming over 100 works on paper. Ouchi Gallery (170 Tillary St., Suite #507) also offers 100 contemporary Japanese artist’s works in their 4th Annual 100 Artist Exhibition “Love”, on view through Jan. 29th.

Painter Chris Martin’s curatorial effort, “Special Blend” opens on January 13th at the Journal Gallery (168 N. 1st St.) and Brooklyn artist Leigh Davis installs a transitional, yet actual “residency” within Open Source (306 17th St.), opening January 14th. Through January 22nd see “Broken Homes” at Momenta Art (56 Bogart St.) a group show with an impressive roster that includes Kate Gilmore, Lisa Kirk, and Gordon Matta-Clark.

This month, there are three exquisite Geometric Abstraction shows in Brooklyn that must not be missed. Storefront Bushwick (16 Wilson Ave.) shows prismatic paintings by Halsey Hathaway, Gary Petersen, and Rob de Oude. Hathaway’s acrylic works incorporate overlaid scalloped and curvilinear shapes that exude a quiet, stained glass-like luminosity. Combining complex compositions and a space age pop color sensibility, Gary Petersen’s paintings are playful, jazzy, and engaging. In the back room, Rob de Oude offers linear, layered work that rewards the invested viewer with myriad optical patterning, alternately dazzling and subdued. The Project Space at Camel Art Space (722 Metropolitan Ave.) exhibits kinetic, sprightly work by Ridgewood artist/gallerist (Small Black Door) Matthew Mahler and artist Andrew Zarou. Lastly RHV Fine Art (683 6th Ave.) displays brilliant works by South Carolina painter Jerry Walden. Walden’s’ restrained diagonal compositions allow his resplendent color juxtapositions to shine like holiday ribbons against cool putty and sand. In an art world obsessed with young talent and ‘the new’, Walden (who is in his retirement years) proves that nothing is quite so fresh as skill honed over time and craft applied with wisdom and technique. (Through Jan 22nd)..

—Enico Gomez

December Review: "The S-Files 2011" -Enrico Gomez

The S-Files 2011

"¡Tomar, Tomar!” or “Take, Take!” implores performance artist Rafael Sánchez to a crowd of onlookers regarding the large wooden slats that form a cage around him. A video monitor reveals that the artist has just dragged said slats up “Museum Mile” in an homage to the seminal public performance “Superman 51” 1977 by artist Papo Colo. In Sánchez’ version, “Superman 51, 2011” the wooden beams, 51 in number and symbolic of each U.S. state plus Puerto Rico, aren’t just a burdensome reflection on inclusivity and sovereignty but become an actual public stockade. Embodying a “street as stage” sensibility, this work fits nicely into the 75 artist biennial survey “The S-Files 2011, The Street Files” put on by El Museo del Barrio, a portion of which is presently on view at Bric Rotunda Gallery (33 Clinton St.), incidentally the only Brooklyn institution to host a portion of it.

The gallery offers an ample selection of works along the “street aesthetic” line including graffiti inspired works by video artist René Juan de la Cruz and sculptor Carlos “MARE139” Rodríguez, however it is the performance art pieces, represented here by video documentation and physical remnants, that most engross. Primary among these is a playful riff on “For the Love of God”, Damian Hirst’s opulent platinum and diamond skull sculpture, by artists Las Hermanas Iglesias who replace Hirst’s 50 million £ artwork with a festive sparkly piñata. Titled, “Nothing Lasts Forever”, this papier mâché work subverts notions of luxury, class and high art in favor of sequins, culture and craft. Filled with candy coins, the consummation of this shower of “riches” needs only a spirited smack with a big stick. (through Jan. 7th)

December Review: "Re-Telling" -Enrico Gomez

"Re-Telling"

In a structure once used primarily for textile and manufacturing businesses, the recently re-located Nurture Art Gallery (56 Bogart St.) now makes it’s home. Buildings, like the people who inhabit them, hold hidden and multiple stories. Nurture Art’s current group show “Re-Telling”, concerns itself with story, specifically repeating narratives and the subsequent impact of re-telling on the story itself, the teller, and their environs.

The interplay between “cover” and “original” is most evident in the work of artist Becca Albee who offers two large prints that contain the image of faded vintage book covers. “The Cradle of the Deep” a 1929 autobiography of a silent movie star is shown with its corresponding parody “Salt Water Taffy”, written the same year by a journalist after it was revealed that the actress’s outlandish story was a fraud. While the background material is interesting, it is the actual materiality of the book covers in particular, faded, stained and as patchy as old skin, that visually engages.

Also outstanding is the heart-breaking photo-installation “Diane” by LaToya Ruby Frazier, which displays an etched metal plate bearing a woman’s face, a plastic-sealed newspaper, and a frayed and beaten pillow embellished with an image of a mother and child. The periodical, an acrid yellowed Pittsburg Post-Gazette from 1986, blares headlines “Society’s Harmful” and “Child Killers”. A brief conversation with gallery education coordinator Molly O’Brien reveals that the subject of the work is the artist’s deceased aunt, tragically murdered by her own daughter. Like articles of evidence, these pieces haunt and seem to scream in sepia tones, silent songs of unresolved grief and justice unrequited. (through Dec. 16th)

—Enrico Gomez

November Review: "Deja Vu" -Enrico Gomez

Deja Vu

Regina
Rex
On View Through November 20th

Hovering like colorful flying saucers, the sculptural paintings of Tatiana Berg are among the first works to engage at “Deja Vu” the current group exhibition at Regina Rex (1717 Troutman #329) These minimal gestures on canvas are stretched around geometric plywood forms, prompting the frame from it’s traditional supporting role toward a more featuring one. This interest in the auxiliary aspects of creative process is not limited to Berg alone. Regina Rex Collective member and show curator Stacie Johnson shares, “These artists seem to have a need for more control. And their input is present in all stages of their work.”

Using an elaborate “staged” tableau (which includes trinkets and ephemera), Frank Trankina renders photo-realistic, trompe l’oeil paintings, nostalgically recalling the late John
F. Peto.

Also utilizing trompe l’oeil technique but exactly opposite in
result are the radioactive and resonant images of Ivin Ballen. Painting upon a fiberglass cast of what might have originally been sculpey, cardboard and duct tape, Ballen fulfills the curatorial “Deja Vu” descriptor; “made once, and then
again.”

The stars of the show however are Lisa Sigal and Selina Trepp.
Sigal offers “Hinged Painting (partition)” a minimal work upon door and window screens that asserts both planar primacy and, through shadow and overlap, the illusion of pictorial space. Trepp presents a suite of three self-portraits comprised of painting, photography, and performance; which, in a participatory way, manage to respect each discipline wholly, while wholly transcending them.
(through Nov. 20th with gallery readings on Nov. 12th)

—Enrico Gomez

October Review: "Before Shifting to the Blackness" by Enrico Gomez

Before Shifting to the Blackness

Rawson Projects (339 Bedford Avenue)
On View through October 23rd

They used to be everywhere you know, and nowhere more
prevalent than in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I’m referring, of course, to
construction sites. Wedged tightly between extant neighborhood buildings, you
knew them by their fences. Plywood and adorned with city permits, they dotted
the area like love letters; promising some form of future consummation.

You see them less often now, but their remnants remain. This is New York
after all, and we are forever walking under scaffolding, enduring jackhammers,
and coughing past the dust of some new destruction or development. It is the
detritus of these endeavors that seems to catch the focus of artist Davina Semo,
and the simulation of these materials figures largely in her work.

“Before Shifting to the Blackness” at Rawson Projects (339 Bedford Ave)
is a one-person show of the artist and it is a stunner. Using industrial
materials (steel chain, reinforced concrete, and steel scaffold braces), Semo
creates minimal, sculptural work that packs punches into the slightest of
gestures. In “I WATCH THE ONCOMING OF THE NEW THRUST AND DO NOT CLING TO IT AS
IT SUBSIDES” the artist installs 35 stainless steel chains into a tight square
shape. This work is a joy, enigmatic in that over the course of a just a few
moments the artwork intimates alternately; a glittering fetish jewel, a
substantial abstract painting, and an op-art color-field mind-trip where links
seem to expand and float, vibrating in space.

In the gallery center
sits, “HE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE OUR COMPULSION TO LEAVE THE HOME WE BUILT FOR
OURSELVES”, a sculpture comprised solely of two steel scaffold braces, center
bent at right angles, forming a large, if thin, folded X shape. This work
puzzled me initially; so spare were its constituents. Compelled in wide berth
around the form, I found myself vacillating between a figurative and an
architectural read (the bottom limbs of the X were as flayed legs and the top,
as arms flung up in distress). Commanding my imagination and respect, this work
impressed, especially considering its hairline material components.

The
X shape seems a reoccurring motif for Semo as it appears additionally in two
concrete pieces and three etched glass works. My favorite of these is, “THE
WORLD AND THE PEOPLE IN IT HAD SUDDENLY SLIPPED BEYOND HER COMPREHENSION AND SHE
FELT IN GREAT DANGER OF LOSING THE WHOLE WORLD ONCE AND FOR ALL”. Here the chain
link, diamond-like X shape is etched repeatedly across the entire surface of a
transparent, mirrored glass pane. Suspended before the gallery’s windows, the
work effectively reflects it’s interior and reveals the world outside. This
delightful interplay of opposites and paradox seems of paramount concern for the
artist; the interior and the exterior, the substantial from the slight, the
vibratory and the concrete, and an art objects ability to suggest it’s own
meaning whilst echoing the story of the person standing before it. (through Oct.
23rd).

—Enrico Gomez

"September Openings in Brooklyn" by Enrico Gomez

A mild and relatively temperate summer gives way to a scorching September season opener for the art galleries of Brooklyn.

The Williamsburg Art Walk “Every 2:ND” Friday lands on September 9th and there is plenty to see. Causey Contemporary (92 Wythe Ave.) offers “Jordan Eagles: Hemoglyphs”, a solo exhibition featuring artwork constructed primarily around encased or suspended animal blood. At Front Room Gallery (147 Roebling St.) see animals in a somewhat more constituted state in carnal, chromatically vivid paintings from Emily Roz’s solo exhibition “The Rutting Season”. Camel Art Space (722 Metropolitan Ave.) and their resident Artist Collective play host to another group, the Round Robin Artist Collective. Consisting of 13 Brooklyn based artists, the Round Robin Collective presents “Live/Work Space”, an assortment of collaborative work that examines the relationship of artists to their environments.

In Bushwick on the same date, Sep. 9th, see Microscope Gallery’s (4 Charles Place) “Independence Returns”, a group show featuring artists who have shown or screened at the gallery during it’s previous inaugural year.

On Saturday, Sep. 10th don’t miss “Before Shifting Into Blackness” at the remarkable Rawson Projects (339 Bedford Ave.). This solo exhibition presents the abstract constructions of Davina Semo who, through a deft combination of unlikely materials (reinforced concrete, enamel paint, safety glass) and poetic titles (ex. “In Bleak Times there is a Boom in Doom”), creates visually arresting work that is the aesthetic equivalent of being punched in the teeth.

“30: A Brooklyn Salon” at BRIC Rotunda Gallery (33 Clinton St.) in Brooklyn Heights submits a collection of 50 or so Brooklyn artists from the gallery’s illustrious thirty year history, celebrating it as Brooklyn’s oldest continuously operating contemporary art space. Opening on Sep. 14th, “30” is curated by the consummate Elizabeth Ferrer and is sure to please.

On Sep. 16th Muriel Guepin Gallery (47 Bergen St.) in Boerum Hill offers a “New Group Show” which includes the virile, painterly riffs on Abstract Expressionism of James Greco and the sensitive, nimble drawings of Robert Walden, which read like aerial road maps of the synaptic centers of thought.

A few doors down and one day later, catch “Hermaphrodite” at Invisible Dog Art Center (51 Bergen St.), a group show, curated by Nikita Vishnevsky, that includes the talents of artists Lance Lankford and Natalie Labriola.

Also on Sep. 17th the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (499 Van Brunt St.) in Red Hook presents it’s fall group art show “Tales of Breukelen” in which over 1200 works from over 300 artists will be shown in their expansive warehouse space.

Lastly, Sep 23rd opens “Sanford Biggers: Sweet Funk – An Introspective” at Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway) which collects 13 pieces from Biggers that conflate African American Ethnography and African Diaspora History with music and Buddhist spirituality. Biggers first museum presentation in New York is augmented by a panel conversation at the museum between celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, Sanford Biggers and actor/recording artist Mos Def the following month on Oct 13th.

—Enrico Gomez

"Tectonics" - Enrico Gomez

"Tectonics"

Like the Spice
224 Roebling Street

"Tectonics", a word that refers to both the processes of construction and the geological attributes of the earth's crust, makes a perfect title for the collection of work by sculptor Matt Stone, currently on view at Like the Spice Gallery (224 Roebling St.). From large freestanding forms to small, barnacle-like wall mounts, Stone's work transforms the gallery into a futuristic science lab, wherein off-world soil samples inter with sub-oceanic biform that threaten to mutate before our very eyes.

Curling mantis-like within the gallery center, a large helix shaped sculpture, made of cardboard blooms, candy-colored foam and slashed spandex, cranes and seems ready to strike; like an alien monster from a summer sci-fi movie. But this behemoth holds an entire world of microorganisms within; covered in paper dahlia clusters, bright coral tendrils and push-pins that read like tiny fungi dancing gingerly across a field.

Along the wall, six large plexiglass tubes ooze sherbet colored foam. Appropriately titled "Core Sample" the contents of these containers fascinate as they press rainbow magma against glass, a carbonation fizzle now frozen in time.

Another large sculpture seems impossibly suspended from a steel girder. "Cyclone" consists of a storm of pyramid blocks, electric blue netting and fine strands of resin drip. The tension between macro and microcosmic concern plays out here beautifully. Like subway cars submerged to become reefs, much of Stone's work carries the man-made and the monolithic through accretion to become an aesthetic ecosystem, pulsing and teeming with delicate life. (through July 31st)

—Enrico Gomez

"Based on a True Story : the artwork of Tamiko Kawata and Supakit" - Enrico Gomez

"Based on a True Story : the artwork of Tamiko Kawata and Supakit"

Muriel Guepin
47 Bergen Street
On View Through July 31st

A small sunken brick room is littered with metallic domical forms that rise intermittently to meet our gaze. This hollow ziggurat hive seems to pulse in threatening silence as a large, serpent-like shape descends on it’s nest from above. This charged installation by Japanese born artist Tamiko Kawata is composed entirely out of re-purposed safety pins and is part of the engaging new exhibition, “Based on a True Story : the artwork of Tamiko Kawata and Supakitch” at Muriel Guepin Gallery (47 Bergen St.)

The serpentine shapes of Kawata’s sculptures are echoed in French born artist Supakitch’s paintings, which pull inspiration from hip-hop, graffiti and Japanese Manga. In the large violet “Nite Life”, a glittering chrysalis dragon weaves in and through a roiling wave of foxtails while rainbows and letterforms dance overhead. Adjacent hangs “Amplitude” wherein a bass-line tumult of twisting plumage and fur-tails pulses below a dazzling cacophony of cursive treble pinstriping. These motifs, rendered in acrylic, are re-mixed continuously by the artist as he creates a vocabulary of gesture and character that both fuses his influences and transcends them, approaching the operatic.

Supakitch refers to some of his works as “graphic melodies” and takes this idea to its consummation in a suite of gorgeous compositions on circuit board that incorporate vinyl record labels as well.

The artist occasionally portrays himself pictorially as a sort of Mr. Fox character, dapper and composed of eagle feathers and ingenuity; a DJ who knows full well how to mix his own tracks. (through July 31st)

—Enrico Gomez

June Review: "Like it Is" - Enrico Gomez

Like It Is

Well before the real estate crash, I, like countless others, traipsed through many a Brooklyn condo complex, considering the homes. Many were "Phase 1" offerings and came with the particular challenge of standing upon a chalky floor, amidst exposed drywall and electrical wire, trying to imagine the finished product. How would it feel when completed and could I envision my life there?

I was reminded of these questions at "Like it Is" a show of watercolors, sculpture and installation by French artist Briac Lepretre at Parker's Box (193 Grand Street), the Breton artist's first solo exhibition in New York.

The watercolors on view here (from the "Before Painting" series) show literally that; tightly rendered scenes of interior unfinished construction. Possibly domestic, these attic spaces have exposed rafters and windows that flood with light. Supported by beams of experience and technique and open to inspiration and un-"finished" possibility, are these rooms symbolic of the mind? Perhaps. Or maybe they are simply inverted interiors, portraits of the platforms upon which future process occurs.

The paradox of a finished work about "the unfinished" is writ large in "Rocked and Mudded Wall" a gallery wall painted to look exactly like unpainted drywall. This work prompted one visitor to question, "Is the install done yet?" This large abstraction reminded me of the Taoist concept, "Wu-Wei" (the paradoxical "practice of non-practice") and I could sense an affinity here in this intentional, fully expressed nod to pre-expression.

This celebration of underlying form and contradiction plays further in "T-Beam", a large load bearing support beam that fills the central gallery. Appearing to support the entire ceiling, this sculpture is actually made of Styrofoam and faux-finished to appear like concrete.

—Enrico Gomez

"Like it Is"
Briac Lepretre
On View Through June 19
Parker's Box
193 Grand Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
718-388-2882

"June Art Walks" - Enrico Gomez

June Art Walks

The summer starts with a bang here in Brooklyn with three art walks during the month of June.

Boerum Hill's Atlantic Avenue Artwalk Sat. June 4th and Sun. June 5th (hours vary) will include public art, open studios, gallery workshops and more. Look for a free children's art workshop (all ages) on Saturday June 4th (1 -3pm) at The Invisible Dog Art Center (51 Bergen St.) led by current exhibition curators Steven and William Ladd. The workshop will utilize remnants (fabric, fasteners, buckles) of the art space's former life as a belt factory. While there, enjoy the current show "Obstacle", which is child friendly and features an irresistible jungle-gym like sculpture constructed of wood and paper mache. While in the area, don't miss the open studios at 610 Dean Street which boasts works by 7 artists including a video of the diminutive but potent protagonist Timmy of "Timmy Vs. God" a hilarious look at the pitfalls of discourse with the Divine by painter and video artist David Pierce.

Starting Friday eve, June 3rd and running through Sunday June 6th (hours vary) the 5th Annual Bushwick Open Studios promises to be bigger than ever, with over 350 art shows to choose from. Look for "Composite Factor" a new four-person show at Interstate Projects (56 Bogart St.), especially the paparazzi deflecting headgear of artist Arielle Falk. Interstate will also host nightly outdoor video screenings during the festival from dusk to 10pm. Also of note, "The Mother Ship, "English Kills' annual summer group show (114 Forrest St.) with inspired installation by Andrew Ohanesian and mind-blowing paintings by Lenny Reibstein.

Later in the month is Northside Open Studios, an art event for Greenpoint and Williamsburg, held in conjunction with the Northside Music and Arts Festival, Thurs June 16 - Sun June 19th (hours vary). Check out the collaborative, L.A. based "Sumi Ink Club" on Sat. June 18th from 12-6pm at Rawson Projects (339 Bedford Ave.) for interactive, drawing fun. See also the interactive and child-friendly exhibition "Intensity" at ventana244 (244 N. 6th St.)

—Enrico Gomez

April Review: "Kill the Magician" - Enrico Gomez

Kill the Magician

210 Gallery

Envision a love note pulled crumpled from a workingman's pocket. If you, like myself, can presence the allure that comes from this coupling of strength and sentiment, then you've got an idea of the types of emotional paradoxes at play in the work of James T. Greco, currently on view at 210 Gallery (210 24th St.) in Sunset Park. "Kill The Magician" (on view through April 24th) offers a uniformly installed suite of six large abstract paintings. Bold in gesture and bravura, these paintings read solidly modernist in their form-focused approach and in a sculptural way, assert the integrity of the object. The show's title suggests a terminal manifesto against the tricky intellectualism of much of today's post-modern art offerings, but there is careful thinking here and considered choices a plenty.

For instance, Greco constructs solely with locally sourced industrial materials, (drop cloths, house-paint, plywood and upholstery). The artist shares that this liberates his expression from concerns of material cost and allows him to sidestep the pretence and preciousness of the final art product.

His creation modus in these works is as involved as a romance; stretching and staining the cloth, balling it up in the wash, re-stretching, tearing the surface and stitching it back together again. The show's standouts are a large scraped and congealed gold on black painting and a pair of red and black works that read like wounded soldiers. Compositionally engaging, these paintings elicit a certain type of empathy, as one's eye travels across impassioned shreds of fabric and reconciliatory stitch-work, clumsy and tender and caked in scar-like pigment. Ravishing remains, these endnotes are poems to process or lovemaking about making.

—Enrico Gomez

March Review: "Mark Lombardi at Pierogi" -Enrico Gomez

Synaptic connections and associative bonds between seemingly disparate subjects also preoccupies the work of the late Mark Lombardi (1951 – 2000) currently on view in “Index - Mark Lombardi at Pierogi” at Pierogi Gallery (177 N. 9th St.) through April 3rd. The show presents a number of the diagrammatic drawings for which Lombardi is most remembered, but additionally offers a rare glimpse at the abstract paintings that the artist made prior to his move to a more Conceptual based form.

Lombardi rose to prominence in the late 90’s with seminal Conceptual drawings that charted the links between many of the worlds leading power figures and their accomplices. Composed of a complex system of arcing lines, these graphic networks on neutral paper end up resembling dandelion seed heads, solar systems and the human brain itself. The drawings are peppered with figureheads such as the Pope, Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein. One of Lombardi’s prophetic drawings posited then Texas Governor, George W. Bush next to the as yet unheard of Osama bin Laden. Not at all speculative or investigatory, these graphs were simply the pictorial reduction of research compiled by the artist from previously published sources. His method of distilling and disseminating information in this way had a particularly illuminating effect, so much so that just after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the FBI requested permission from the Whitney Museum to examine his drawing “BCCI, ICIC & FAB” then a part of their collection.

Tragically, the artist committed suicide in 2000, (though some suspect malfeasance as a result of his work). Perhaps we will never know. But Pierogi, the single largest repository of his remaining works, is a great place to examine the evidence for yourself.

—Enrico Gomez

March Review: "Logical Operator" - Enrico Gomez

“Logical Operator”

Human beings are meaning making machines. The objects and events in our life connect and facilitate understanding based as much on their inherent implications as on the associations to memory, critical thinking and intuition that they inspire in us. This is one of the myriad reads possible in the show “Logical Operator”, now on view (through March 12th) at Corridor Gallery (334 Grand Avenue). Curated by Karen Codd, the show examines the degree to which the art object, the “logical operator” of the show’s title, can serve as the connector between artist / idea, idea / viewer and viewer / meaning.

Considered curatorial choices and a congruous installation distinguish this fine, three-person show as much as the artwork itself. The works, photographs, paintings, found objects, capture the premise of artwork as catalyst/intermediary with those works with the greatest degree of subject matter ambiguity rising to the forefront of filling this bill.

In Andrew Laumann’s “Letters to God Series”, found notes are salvaged and re-presented, to puzzling effect. Examples include a stepped-on yellow Post-It Note, upon which a mystery writer has scribbled “I’m not like Rome, I was made in one day …” and an amusing to-Do List, including the Herculean/banal tasks “Get Closer to God, Get Closer to Kids, Mother, Father and Brother … 220lbs of Muscle.”

The lush and arcane photographs of Grant Willing (evening bonfires, hooded figures and enigmatic rapiers) add much to the show and a pair of water-media paintings on paper, “non-mechanical 1&2” by Dawn Blackman round out the show nicely. These last paintings, twin chain-link abstractions with colors bleeding and seeping into one-another, emblematically summate the gelling and coalescing of information into personal understanding, a neuro-web that both contains and restricts comprehension.

—Enrico Gomez

February Review: "It's All Good" by Enrico Gomez

"It's All Good"
-Enrico Gomez

How do you fit over 500 works of art, from 454 artists, into one Brooklyn art space? Rich Timperio, proprietor of Sideshow Gallery (19 Bedford Ave) is the man to ask, though he may admit that his physics-defying feat might prove hard to duplicate.

'It's All Good (Apocalypse Now) (on view through Feb. 20th) is indeed apocalyptic in it's grandeur and revelatory scope. The works, predominately paintings, are hung salon style from floor to ceiling and, though thickset, the gallery seems somehow quite spacious. Expertly arranged in a considered attempt to give each work it's own aural space, Timperio, a painter himself, considers the installation his own contribution to the show. I start with the larger and more difficult works first he shares, and continue from there. It's like a puzzle, making order out of chaos.

"It's All Good" is part of an 11 year tradition of winter anniversary shows mounted by Timperio, that have grown exponentially from their earliest incarnations. Including artwork too myriad to enumerate here, my personal show favorites nonetheless would include a suite of sensitively rendered Brooklyn streetscapes by Scott Williams (a calming respite amidst the visual deluge), two jazzy 'Blue-Note Record' like abstractions by Jim Wilkinson, a ghostly-lit interior photograph by Caroline Scott and a delightful, rain-cloud paper construction by Todd Rosenbaum, who's double-sided painting reminds us that behind every winter storm lies a vernal spectrum of possibility.

Of singular note is the brilliant and hilarious, "What Does Jesus Think of Lapdancing?" a propagandist pamphlet offered by Charmaine Wheatley, in which the artist beats the evangelicals at their own game, using biblical scripture to sanction the virtues of sensual excess.

Lastly there are a number of works wherein the execution seems to mirror the visual experience of the kaleidoscopic show itself, including a charming patchwork fabric relief sculpture from Eileen Weitzman, an engaging acrylic abstraction by Eric Banks of a chaotic field of color being restrained within a singular shape, and Debra Jenks' clever, "The Strange Woman and Seven Diamond Miners", where the artist, through obscuring select passages of a found books text, highlights an alternative reading whilst simultaneously revealing much of the editor herself.

The entire show can be read in a similar way. As your eye travels across the walls of the space, it returns again to rest on certain favorites - a charcoal drawing here, a blue landscape there. Does what I focus on, what I seem drawn to, indicate some truth about me? About my likes and my interests? With a cornucopian world to select from, do my choices signal as much about my preferences as they do about my personage?

—Enrico Gomez