Art To Warm Up Those Cold Winter Nights: Part 1

My manuscript for "101 Iconic Erotic Artworks from Ancient to Contemporary Times" is complete. In an attempt to distract and disrupt my readers, the art lovers, from the brooding, chilly winter, I will post a snippet from each 101 entry, every day. The flurries may be falling outside, but the steam will be rising from your screen. 

Here comes number one: 
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Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538, oil on canvas, Uffizi, Florence

(Photo Courtesy of Google Art Project)

Our Venus reclines on a chaise lounge holding a posy of roses in her right hand whilst her left hand is gently curled around her genitals. The unapologetic and gentle graphicness of this image can allow the viewer to enter the metaphysical zone of autoeroticism.  At Venus’ request, her ladies in waiting are searching for something in the wedding chest so that our beautiful ‘goddess’ can have a moment to herself. There is a sense of urgency vis a vis the dichotomy of the private versus the public. A curtain just barely separates Venus from the background, so that she can carry on with her self-pleasure. The curtain also serves as a theatrical backdrop for the viewer’s enjoyment of the performance.

Titian’s painting did not appease all viewers, however. Mark Twain cited that the picture was “the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses” and that “it was painted for a bagnio, and it was probably refused because it was a trifle too strong.” (1880 travelogue A Tramp Abroad).

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Hope you enjoyed this warm winter interlude. More to come tomorrow... 

Gallerizing: The days of Whine & Cheese

Fall has fallen. It's already the unprecedentedly early Jewish New Year (Happy Rosh Hashanah y'all). That means the art world season has only just begun. The white cube galleries have opened their doors and popped the corks to some inexplicably bad wine and the class-act Pabst Blue Ribbon for art lovers, hangers-on, wannabes, gallerinas, collectors, and let's face it, those who are there just for the free booze. 

Each year, I wait with anticipation for this time of year. Yet as of the past few years, I've been severely let down. It seems as though these galleries in Chelsea are just filling their walls with whatever seems uber-contemporary (in this case I mean: has the ability to both intrigue/disgust/confuse/annoy simultaneously). Shuffling among the masses to view B art no longer has its charm as perhaps the misguided me once could appreciate. 

The interest in 'gallery-hopping' has become too mainstream. There is less interest in the art aspect but rather using the experience to post or Tweet about. Ersatz art enthusiasts would be standing in front of a god-awful $15,000 post-Abex work with a PBR in one hand whilst making a finger mustache with the other. 

The problem I have with this, is the same problem I have with people taking pictures in museums or children running around in art institutions... it leaves less room for those of us who truly want to observe the art in a meaningful way. 

So after hearing statements such as: this last night "Dude, it smells like weed in here. Where's the weed at?", "Does standing next to this sculpture make me look thinner?"and "Would the owner be pissed if I move the painting a little to the left to get better lighting for my pic?" GALLERIES SHOULD HAVE A MEMBERSHIP POLICY! There, I said it. Taking the elitism of the white cube system to an even 'eliter' territory. Museum exhibition openings are reserved for museum members -- those serious enough about the art institution to shell out X amount of $ for the year. The same system should apply for galleries - openings reserved for those willing to invest in the mission of the gallery and the artists the gallery represents. NO FREE BOOZE FOR YOU, perhaps then something other than swill could be served to a select number of invitees. 

One of the more meaningful exhibitions I saw last night was at DC Moore Gallery (535 West 22nd St). 

Barbara Takenaga's recent paintings at DC Moore are riveting and other-worldly. There is some immaculate pleasure derived from the resplendent images that evoke natural phenomena. There is a natural element as well as an iconographic formula, triggering the imagery of mandalas, that blend marvelously in her work. 

Sphere/Horizon, 2012, Acrylic on linen, 42 x 36 in. 

(Photo courtesy of Cherise Gordon)

White Grid on Silver, 2013, acrylic on linen, 54 x 90 in. 

(Photo courtesy of Cherise Gordon)

Lines of Force (red), 2013, Acrylic on wood panel, 54 x 45 in. 

(Photo courtesy of Cherise Gordon) 

Sphere/Horizon reminds me of an orb or even an extra-terrestrial jellyfish that has just landed. The dotted canvas creates a 3-D texture that lends itself to a richly brocaded Appearance. Biker chick and skater boy just can't get enough... it is apparent that the work is optically engaging and amazingly detailed that repeat (or elongated viewing) is essential. Her work is magnetic for sure, but is it prophetic? Does the red coloring in Lines of Force represent scalding magma? Are the two shadows in White Grid on Silver aliens ready to probe humans for scientific experimentation? The abstract nature lends itself to a bit of whimsy, but there is a deeper, darker element underway. Be sure to catch this show before it ends on October 5. 

I leave you all with the acknowledgement that galleries must face the ongoing struggle of keeping art pure, specialized, and a deeply enriching experience for viewers. Perhaps ace the PBR & mediocre art just to appeal to the masses... 

$119.9m price tag.

This was the face I made upon discovering that Sotheby's sold one of the 4 versions of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' to businessman, Leon Black, on 2 May 2012 for about $120m. While I appreciate a beautiful pastel and a poem, this work surely fetched for triple of what would be an already exorbitant sum. Existential angst, indeed.

Having seen it at the MoMA with hoards of smart-phone toting museum goers capturing a shot of one of the most recognizable images in the art world, I was reminded of Thomas Struth's photography.

Struth brilliantly captures onlookers of Las Meninas at the Prado Museum in Madrid. 

I was also reminded of the horrendous swarms of people at The Louvre surrounding the Mona Lisa. What makes the work of art more of a visceral experience nowadays... is capturing it on a personal electronic device and broadcasting it to friends, family, and voyeurs. Does this legitimize the experience? Does tweeting or uploading a Facebook status with the image enhance the viewing pleasure? 

Like Struth, I prefer watching people watching the art... 

The Armory Show was Armored to Battle Basel

Why did I feel that my soul was not sucked out of my body at the Armory Show in NY as I did perusing the insanity that was Miami Basel?

Miamians ....errr... people from Miami, have an appreciation for being seen around art and culture. And because everything there is in excess, clearly being photographed around TONS of bad contemporary, wannabe ABEX paintings and Hirsts reveals "high culture."

To prove my point, Google "Miami art basel 2011" and you'll see mostly society pictures including P. Diddy in a zebra/leopard concoction. Google "Armory show ny 2012" and actual art will appear. Shocking.

The lack of fluidity in Miami Basel and the disconnected sequencing of art was more than disorienting... it was downright frustrating.

It takes the grid system of New York to clearly map out how an art fair should be run. The flow from Modern to Contemporary at the Armory Show made the art-viewing clear and logical.

I felt stifled and suffocated in the labyrinth of Miami... wading through layers and layers of mediocre art with a supremely high price tag was disheartening to say the least.

As a native NY'er, I am proud to say that in the battle between Armory and Miami Basel, the reigning champion was a fair that logistically made sense and did not overwhelm one's senses.

One of the many reasons I Art New York.

Channeling Gertrude in honor of the Steins Collect Exhibition

If you have not already seen the Steins Collect at the MET, go, go, go! It is laden with Matisses, Picassos, Cézannes galore, as well as a stunning pastel by one of my faves Odilon Redon. Also, "Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera written by Gertrude and set design by Florine Stettheimer, is featured. 


Please enjoy the prose that my lovely mother concocted in honor of Gertrude Stein's interesting linguistic abilities. 

The collection was one of looking and viewing and beholding at the Met Museum one to be and hold in the beholding of the joy in the enjoying of all that displaying.  Some were certainly following, commenting on this one and ones in the collection,  commenting and reading and looking and thinking  beholding in the walking in and out of the spaces in the rooms.  To be walking in and out one  beholding and viewing all the ones next ones  in the collection on the ones in the collecting. This one was one charming with charming meaning, certain with important meaning, historic meaning, meaning meaning that was coming out of and following importantly.  This one was one beholding and meaning always there was something coming out of and walking  viewing to other ones with meaning,  Some following the something coming out of this one  following the next one something completely charming!

Met in the Met

So it's been an insanely long time since I've blogged. Since then I've been spending an inordinate amount of time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've been to exhibitions featuring Indian art, Middle Eastern/Orientalism, and an American wing featuring the good, the bad, and the ugly of American artwork.. too bad there was so little of the former...

While I love the MET, there is still something daunting about the fact that when you leave one major exhibition, you still find yourself in a museum. The MET is a series of miniature (some not so miniature) exhibitions which can be constituted as museums. Essentially, the MET is a museum within a museum within a museum... ad nauseum.

The word labyrinth comes to mind, a maze of sorts.  And the moment I think of the word labyrinth, this also comes to mind... 

Which immediately leads me to think about something else...ummm... Dance magic dance...?

Tomorrow I'll be attending the preview of the Steins Collection. So excited to feast my eyes on Matisse and Cézanne and then feast on French cuisine in the Members Dining Room. Magnifique!