Robert Smithson, Untitled [Record Player], (1962); Record Player with Found Objects and Collage (All Photos by Gail)
When Robert Smithson died in a plane crash in 1973, his fame as an artist was based on his creation of monumental earthworks such as Spiral Jetty, or minimalist sculptures using both Mirrored and regular, plate Glass. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Robert Smithson, Untitled [Record Player]
All Photos By Gail
James Cohan Gallery is currently hosting a diverse a group exhibition entitled By Proxy, which Geoffrey and I stumbled upon during our most recent art crawl.
Oliver Laric, Yuanmingyuan Columns
The exhibit title, By Proxy, referes to what Marcel Duchamp called “aesthetic osmosis” — the process by which an artist transfers responsibility to a viewer, empowering them to complete the work out in the world. This idea, of art as shared enterprise, is the theme of this exhibition. Here, the word proxy encompasses the tools and techniques that complete artworks away from the artist’s hand. This exhibition is concerned with those tools and techniques, the effects they can have, and the instances when an idea calls for more than just the artist to take form.
Xu Zhen, Eternity – Aphrodite of Knidos
By Proxy includes Duchamp’s assisted readymade With Hidden Noise, a ball of string with an unknown object rattling inside it; embroidery works by Alighiero Boetti; three drawings from John Cage’s 1990 series River Rocks and Smoke, in which chance operations are performed by smoke settling in the fibers of the paper; Oliver Laric’s Yuanmingyuan Columns, a new work created with 3D scans of Chinese cultural artifacts ensconced in Bergen, Norway; Yoko Ono’s seminal chess set and war allegory Play it By Trust; and a work from Xu Zhen’s recent Eternity series, which juxtaposes the East and West by mounting headless replicas of key Hellenistic and Buddhist sculptures neck to neck.
Play It By Trust, Chess Board Detail (above) and Sign (below), which appears on the backs of each chair.
Xu Zhen, Under Heaven
Detail from Above Painting
The exhibition incorporates work from the past century to the present day. Participating artists are Francis Alÿs, Alighiero Boetti, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Wade Guyton, Oliver Laric, Lee Mingwei, Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, Jon Rafman, Mariah Robertson, Siebren Versteeg and Xu Zhen. Definitely worth checking out.
Wade Guyton, Untitled, 2007 (Left): Marcel Duchamp, With Hidden Noise (Right)
By Proxy will be on Exhibit Through January 17th, 2015 at James Cohan Gallery, Located at 533 West 26th Street, in the chelsea Gallery District. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
After Oct. 16, 2010, 2014, By Fred Tomaselli. Photo-collage, Leaves, Acrylic, and Resin on Wood Panel (All Photos By Gail)
My first exposure to painter/collagist Fred Tomaselli’s work was his exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum back in 2011, so I was very excited about attending the opening reception for his latest collection of paintings and collages entitled Current Events, which opened at the James Cohan Gallery on May 1st.
Detail from After Oct. 16, 2010
In his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery, Tomaselli presents eights new collage paintings and over 30 works from his ongoing New York Times collage series. The gallery space is huge and there is a ton of cool stuff to look at.
Black Star
Detail from Black Star
Tomaselli’s art is very visually psychedelic, but there is also so much going on as far as the actual form of the work and the story each tells that you could spend hours studying and enjoying each piece.
Gyre
Detail from Gyre
As the exhibit’s press release explains, “over the course of a career that spans three decades, Tomaselli has transformed his daily life and many obsessions — gardening, birding, fly-fishing, recreational drugs – into mind-bending, consciousness-expanding paintings.
Penetrators
Serpent’s Body Detail from Pentrators
Since March 16th, 2005 Tomaselli has been working on The New York Times paintings. According the the Press Release, “He became absorbed by the photo on the front page in which he describes, “Bernie Ebbers, the just convicted WorldCom chairman, was clutching the hand of his wife as he was being expelled from ‘the Eden of Finance’ by the camera-wielding angels of the paparazzi.” Drawing and collaging directly on the photo, Tomaselli created his first “collaboration” with the lead page of The New York Times. The series now consists of 80+ works.”
Here are a few from the exhibit:
Nov. 25, 2010
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Nov. 9, 2011
Aug. 19, 2009
Jan. 21, 2012
So, you know what you like to look at and what stimulates your mind. Surely I do not need to say anymore to talk you into going to see this exhibit: just do yourself a favor and go.
Fred Tomaselli’s Current Events will be on Exhibit Through June 14th, 2014 at James Cohan Gallery, Located at 533 West 26th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.