July 2004 Archives

The Eadweard Muybridge show at Laurence Miller gallery is the second show in a row there with some tie-in with current events, either within the city (August Sander at the Met) or in the broader world, the Olympics in this case. Muybridge is best known, perhaps, for using a series of electrically triggered cameras to prove that horses completely leave the ground while at full gallop. He also created a large number of studies of human movement, thus the Olympics tie-in. The image above shows a fully clothed man, but most examples of these studies used nude models. In fact, nude women performing a range of sexually charged activities makes up the largest single category of photographs he made. This apparently has a tie-in to the Olympics, as well.

Through Aug. 20 at Laurence Miller
20 W. 57th St.
(212) 397-3932

Via Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes, Todd Gibson's new blog "From the floor" is another New Yorker's perspective on viewing art. Sunday's post was about the renovated Brooklyn Museum and its horrendous new entrance (in his, and my, opinion.) By way of recommendation, like me, Gibson has a job that has nothing to do with art.

Last Thursday, I attended the opening of "Best Midwestern" at Jen Bekman gallery. The show highlights a handful of Midwestern photographer and subjects. There are a couple of pure landscapes, but overall the show skews towards an East Coast sensibility about the Midwest, focusing on the mass culture squalor of the lower middle class and juxtaposing it with the prefab utopia enjoyed by those just a few steps above them on the ladder. Justin Newhall's tricky flash-lit sunset shot of a deer exiting stage right and Deborah Stratman's subdued mountain landscape managed to put aside socio-economic commentary by excluding any sign of humanity. Peter Haakon Thompson's self-portrait is similarly straight landscape aside form the motion blur of his head as he swings it back and forth, perhaps indicating that all is copasetic aside from his own presence in Eden. Bekman selected a smaller print of my favorite shot from the spring Alec Soth show, "Cemetery, Fountain City, WI", shown above, for this show.

I find describing photographs to be a bit dreary and useless. Which, I suppose, is why I suggest you visit the gallery yourself. The show features Susan Boecher, Peter Haakon Thompson , Justin Newhall, Craig Prehn, Alec Soth, Deborah Stratman, and Tema Stauffer.

I have to agree with Paige West over at Art Addict when she says that openings are "the worst time to check out the art " since a fair number, if not all, of the attendees are standing around shmoozing and blocking the view. I hemmed and hawed about going on Thursday since I'm not a particularly social person, but I figured I was going to see the pictures, not people and I wouldn't have time otherwise.

Oh, and one last thing, much of the art there was fairly affordable, as larger format photographs go. My understanding is that Bekman aims to show up-and-coming talent to up-and-coming collectors, which is a good thing all around.

Through August 27 at Jen Bekman
6 Spring St.
(212) 219-0166

If you are in the Washingotn, D.C. area, you may want to check out DC Photoscene, a blog in a similar vein to this one featuring photography exhbition and event listings.

So there's a baby on the way at my house and I'm thinking that may curtail my gallery attendance. Art.blogging.la has complained about kids playing unsupervised in a gallery, though that seems justified. Museums seem the best bet. Any thoughts from gallery-going parents out there?

I've made a couple snide comments in recent posts about how the dealers are all in the Hamptons and phoning in their shows from the beach, depriving me of some cheap (free!) summer entertainment with their abbreviated hours and weekend closures. It occured to me that this was a might bit hypocritical seeing as how I've taken a break from going to shows in the last few weeks. But then, I'm sitting in a windowsless classroom on the weekends while they're sipping Long Island ice teas.

Another of the ubiquitous summer group shows is "Do" at Pace/MacGill. The organizing theme this time around is hairstyles and seems to be mixed visual media, not just photography. But fave Lauren Greenfield is in the mix, along with Guy Bordin, Chuck Close, Loretta Lux, Alexander Rodchenko, etc. I'd post a sample, but the P/M Website is nothing more than an online business card, so until I can actually get to the show, I have no idea what's on the walls.

Through Aug. 31 at Pace/MacGill
32 E. 57th St.
(212) 759-8964

Iconic photographer Elliott Erwitt will give a lecture at the Guggenheim next Tuesday, July 13th. The range of his work makes him hard to categorize, but the former Magnum president may be best known for making slightly off-kilter and humorous images, particularly street photos, portraits and advertising. The lecture starts at 6:30pm in the Peter B. Lewis Theater and costs $10 (seven bucks for members, seniors, and students).

Guggenheim Museum
1071 5th Avenue (at 89th Street)
(212) 423-3500

You've got 10 days to see Matthew Pillsbury's "Screen Lives" at Bonni Benrubi, uptown. The photos are long-exposure images shot by the light of TV and computer screens, remeniscent of Hiroshi Sugimoto's movie theater series.

Through 7/16 at Bonni Benrubi
52 East 76th St.
(212) 517-3766

Matthew Pillsbury: Screen Lives

Art Forum says there are "obvious similarilies" between Leong's work and Andreas Gursky's, but I'm skeptical. The fact that both are large format and landscape photos appears to be the limit of the similarities. Face it, these aren't uncommon attributes. From what I can tell, Leong has more in common with Thomas Struth and Edward Burtynsky, both who have also examined the Three Gorges Dam project in China with their large format view cameras. Compare Leong's image above to Burtynsky's below.

Through July 31 at Storefront for Art & Architecture
97 Kenmare St, btwn Mulberry and Lafayette
(212) 431-5795