REVIEW: NYC galleries welcome works by Richard Serra, Kim Gordon, Andy Warhol
Image: Installation view, Kim Gordon, The Bonfire, 303 Gallery, New York, Jan. 10 – Feb. 22, 2020. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
NEW YORK — A stroll through Chelsea can be a rewarding experience at any time of year, but right now, even with frigid temperatures in New York City, the walk pays dividends. In the world-renowned art galleries of this quaint neighborhood are some wonderful and wonder-inducing exhibitions highlighting the best in contemporary and modern art.
Richard Serra, Reverse Curve, Gagosian — This reviewer first encountered one of Richard Serra’s monumental art pieces at LACMA. That work, dubbed “Band” from 2006, is a gargantuan steel arc that improbably snakes its way around an entire exhibition room. Matching that scale and impact is “Reverse Curve,” originally conceived in 2005 and finished in 2019. According to press notes, the sculpture measures 99 feet long and 13 feet high, and visitors feel that enormity as soon as they enter Gagosian’s Chelsea gallery on West 21st Street. Take some time to walk around the art work, getting close and then staying far away, following its undulating curves and becoming lost in its engulfment. Experiencing a Serra for the first time is something akin to a rite of initiation for art lovers. On view through Feb. 1.
Kim Gordon, The Bonfire, 303 Gallery — Kim Gordon, the musician perhaps best known for her time in Sonic Youth, is represented at 303 Gallery with an impressive show of photography and conceptual pieces built around the theme of a bonfire. Large prints adorn the gallery’s walls, showcasing out-of-focus revelers at what appears to be a nighttime bonfire. Gordon adds in eerie shapes and lines almost as if the figures in the photographs are being spotted through radar — at the very least they draw the viewer’s eye to a particular spot. “The Bonfire 3” offers a simultaneous view of peacefulness (the setting sun) and expectant violence (the well-known crosshairs of some unknown device). There’s definitely something to appreciate in her smaller glazed ceramics featuring a figure posing in several different forms, with the glaze thrown on the body in various spots. The highlight of the exhibition has to be “Los Angeles June 6, 2019,” which features eight television screens artfully displayed on the gallery’s floor, all depicting the same video installation of Gordon playing the guitar, according to press notes. For music lovers, this is the chance to see the artist’s musicianship on full display. On view through Feb. 22.
Sophie Calle, Bruce Conner and Paul Pfeiffer, Documents & Recitations, Paula Cooper Gallery — Head to the second-level gallery run by Paula Cooper on West 21st Street and be delighted by three singular visions in the art of photography. Conner, a personal favorite, is represented with 12 works from his series Punk Photos, according to press notes. The black-and-white images exude energy and style, rudeness and rawness. If they weren’t called Punk Photos, the viewer would have figured it out. Press notes indicate that the images come from San Francisco’s Mabuhay Gardens, and it’s obvious he has caught a scene, mid tempo and mid stride. They are exquisite. Calle’s contributions need more time to appreciate and further contemplation, but they are no less rewarding. Her Exquisite Pain series showcases how she responded to a difficult end of a love affair. What this reviewer found most interesting were the stamps emblazoned on each photograph and object. The stamp indicates to the viewer how many days are left until unhappiness, offering a simultaneous commentary on the piece being displayed. Pfeiffer’s 24 Landscapes is an interesting addition, one featuring several beach scenes, some of them fuzzy and with a DIY aesthetic, as if they were pulled from a family album. That “pulled-from-another-source” feel is an authentic one: Pfeiffer, an artist from Honolulu, has taken images by George Barris depicting Marilyn Monroe in the days before her death in 1962, according to press notes. What’s missing? Well, Monroe is not there. Makes one think. On view through Feb. 8.
Andy Warhol Photography: 1967-1987, Jack Shainman Gallery — No doubt one of the gallery highlights this winter season is this exclusive show of rare Andy Warhol photographs. This is a rare intimate look into a man who lived within the realm of pop and celebrity. These images are fascinating for their subject matter, but doubly so for their presentation. Warhol presents several of the images stitched together, featuring four panels all showing the same subject matter. Close inspection shows that each of the four panels are identical. There are some cool self-portraits included in the exhibition, and those are always a joy (was there a modern artist who did more self-portraits than Warhol?). There’s also a dedication to the Polaroid camera as a photographic device throughout the exhibition, and there’s no denying that the immediacy and unadorned nature of these particular photos leave a lasting impression with viewers. On view through Feb. 15.
Kim Tschang-Yeul, New York to Paris, Tina Kim Gallery — The mesmerizing work of Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul is on full display in this gallery space on West 21st Street. Giving off more of a museum feel than most galleries on the block (chiefly because of the helpful notes accompanying the pieces), this retrospective tells an endlessly interesting story of how one man has been influenced by the circumstances of his life and the many places he has called home. Born in North Korea but now relocated to Paris, Tschang-Yeul also had an influential stopover in 1960s New York, and the influences he picked up along the way can be witnessed in the assembled pieces. His water drops feature prominently. Once he found this subject matter in the 1970s, he was stuck for life, according to press notes. The psychedelic pieces are a lot of fun (they are all called “Composition” and come from 1969 or 1970), and of the water series, the 1976 entry is perhaps the simplest and most effective. On view through Jan. 25.
Suzy Lake, Performance of Protest, Arsenal Contemporary — It is almost inconceivable that Suzy Lake, a prominent Toronto-based artist, is receiving her first solo exhibition in New York with this Arsenal show. The artist uses photography, including many self-portraits, to offer commentary on gender and identity, according to press notes. And many of her powerful messages are obvious as soon as one walks into the exhibition space on the Bowery. “Imitations of Myself #2” from 1973 and 2013 has 24 images of the artist applying makeup to her face, while the Co-ed Magazine series features what appears to be a collage of images portraying different facial expressions and hairstyles. The ImPositions series features a few photographs of the artist bound with tape, which seems to have a direct connection to the video installation “Choreographies on the Dotted Line,” which features the artist rolling along a dotted line and having fabric envelope her entire body. The most recent work is “History Repeats Itself” and “The Game is Afoot,” both of which cast the artist as a queen-like figure in relation to chess pieces that have optically been made larger to match her height. On view through Jan. 18.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
