#katehaveles

[artlog]

Sink Into Christine Sciulli's Video Projections

Propulsion by Christine Sciulli (Installed at Art in General 2014 Gala) from christine sciulli on Vimeo.

Last seen at the Art in General Spring Gala, Christine Sciulli's work is mesmerizing--scribbly white lines of light dance off each other and melt into the mesh backdrop. Looking at the projection, it's almost impossible to tell where the wall is; the lines appear like three dimensional threads you could reach out and pluck from the endless pool in which they float.

Check out some of her past installations below:

Christine Sciulli, Languid, 2013 from christine sciulli on Vimeo.

ENGULF, 2013 from christine sciulli on Vimeo.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

Lifesize Last Supper Molded By Hand

Opening in two separate locations, Gagosian New York presents an exhibition of work from Urs Fischer, stemming from his 2013 museum show, YES, at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

In YES, Fischer invited over 1,500 individuals to aid in creating an impressive array of hand-molded sculptures, working with clay as if sketching; Fischer’s own larger pieces were interspersed among the communal works. This new exhibition at Gagosian isolates particular elements of YES, as Fischer casts the sculptures in bronze and turns the ephemeral eternal.

Fisher’s classically-inspired last supper will be on view in Gagosian’s new uptown space, while downtown in a former Chase bank, selected works from YES are seen in their new silver- and gold-plated bronze incarnations. A large segment of the sculptures in the downtown show were created collaboratively, with Fischer initiating their forms and leaving them to be added to and further shaped by others while at MOCA.

Urs Fischer’s last supper opens April 3rd at Gagosian on 821 Park Avenue in New York, on view through May 8th, 2014. Opening reception April 3rd,  6 – 7:30 p.m.

The other half of the Urs Fischer exhibition opens April 3rd at 104 Delancy Street in New York, on view through May 23rd, 2014. Opening reception April 3rd, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

Cartoons on Acid

Inspired by cartoon characters of another era, with raucous figures dancing across fractured, delirious backdrops, the work of Ryan Travis Christian seems almost to have a heartbeat—an irregular, runaway one at that. Behind the bright Disney eyes of his subjects lurk dark secrets, living in a trippy, inside-out world; the otherwise tidy brick houses become monsters and figures are stretched and bent until hardly human.

For his second solo exhibition at Western Exhibitions, Check please, Ryan Travis Christian presents a collection of new work, including pieces in the artist’s signature black-and-white graphite style, as well as other works on paper and sculptures incorporating elements of color. Complementing the show inside is a mural on the outside wall of the gallery space, painted by Ryan Travis Christian and other artists.

Check please opens April 25th, with a reception from 5 – 8 p.m., and runs through June 6th, 2014 at Western Exhibitions in Chicago.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

Isa Genzken: Retrospective 

Isa Genzken: Retrospective moves on from MoMA to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

A multi-media artist with a career spanning over four decades, Genzken has established herself as one of the most influential sculptures of her time. This retrospective however features painting, photography, collage, artist's books, film, and performance alongside Genzken's more familiar sculptures; many of these additional works have long remained unrecognized Stateside, and are on view for the first time in Chicago. 

Isa Genzken: Retrospective opens April 12th at MCA Chicago, on view through August 3rd, 2014.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

American Invasion in the Marais

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac brings a taste of the States to Paris this spring, presenting New York-based artist Tom Sachs’ seventh solo exhibition American Handmade Paintings in its Marais location.

The works convey a distinctly American theme, incorporating familiar brand logos and iconography; neither a celebration nor condemnation of American culture, American Handmade Paintings captures the simultaneous success and failure of American life. Says Tom Healy in his essay on the exhibit, “Sachs is defining a new American sublime, embracing our flaws, our fall, our tarnish, but still stubbornly flirting and hoping, playing the role of the romantic artist as only an American could.”

The exhibit comprises works created mainly through the processes of pyrography and marquetry, two vastly different techniques. Pyrography requires no other tool than a flame, burning images into wood as if it were a pencil; marquetry, alternatively, is an elaborate craft that involves layering veneers to create designs. Each piece is deliberately hand-worked, with traces of its creation in plain view, lending a certain folky aesthetic to the exhibit as a whole.

A fully illustrated zine is available for purchase on the artist’s website, with a catalog of works in the show and essay by Tom Healy.

American Handmade Paintings is now on view at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris until May 3, 2014.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

SEE // Inspired by the Silver Screen

Actor, author, director, artist James Franco will present his latest visual work in what is to be his second one-man show with Pace Gallery.

Titled James Franco: New Film Stills, the show opens April 11 with a public reception the preceding evening. Franco’s previous exhibitionat Pace London featured a multi-media installation inspired by Hitchcock’s iconic thriller Psycho. Said Franco of the piece, “Film becomes raw material and is sculpted into new work.” This theme continues in New Film Stills, a collection of enigmatic photographs that recreate Cindy Sherman's iconic Untitled Film Stills. Franco's work represents an interesting inversion of Sherman's originals, however; whereas Sherman approached film in the shoes of an artist, Franco comes to art as an established film star. 

James Franco: New Film Stills opens April 11 at Pace Gallery on West 25th Street in Manhattan, with a public reception April 10, 7 to 9 p.m. The show will close May 3, 2014.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

Your Favorite Musicians, Coming Soon to a Museum Near You?

The Wu Tang Clan is set to release their new double-album, The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin…, with an unusual caveat. 

Produced over six years, the album will only be released in one single copy, sold at auction as an exclusive work of art (distribution rights will be included in the sale, in order to retain the exclusivity of the album). The idea that musical artists ought to be esteemed on the same level as masters of fine art is the driving force behind this project, and with this album members of Wu Tang hope to change the face of contemporary music; they argue that the digitalization of music has devalued albums and the artistry put into their production.

For The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin…, high profile British-Moroccan artist Yahya was commissioned to craft a one-of-a-kind, hand carved nickel-silver box. Before hitting auction, this modern day artifact will make the rounds through a series of museums and other art venues, where visitors will be able to view its elaborate case as well as listen to the 31 tracks. Once for sale, the album is hoped to fetch a pretty penny; the group has hinted that the price will be in the millions. Cash rules everything around me, indeed.

Dates have not yet been announced for the tour or auction.

-Kate Haveles

[artlog]

SEE // In Bloom in L.A.

While spring has yet to make an appearance on the East Coast, peak blooming season has arrived in Los Angeles County for the native wildflower seed sowing initiative, Wildflowering L.A.

Artist Fritz Haeg, in collaboration with public art organization LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division), orchestrated the widespread project across fifty public sites around southern California, industriously sowing seeds in Fall 2013 to bloom and bring the landscape to life in Spring 2014. For each site, Haeg provided the land owners with packets of seeds and instructions for sowing; the final patches of flowers are marked with carved wooden signs identifying the site number and seed mix used. Wildflowering L.A. will be celebrated next month at an event at The SHED, hosted by La Loma Development.

La Loma presents Wildflowering L.A. at The SHED in Pasadena, California April 26th and April 27th, 2014.

-Kate Haveles