The Chelsea gallery guide lists 248 art galleries. Most of them are in an 8 block stretch between 10th and 11th Avenues. Despite this density (or, more accurately, because of it), it is impossible to get more than a glimpse of the contemporary New York art scene.
There is such a wide variety of art in these buildings that it is easy to find work you hate, as well as work you love. I used the scanning methodology that I use in museums to guide me—if I saw something through an open door that drew me, I let myself be drawn in. If what I saw repelled me, I didn’t stick around to find out why.
Despite this tactic, some of the best work was around the corner and in the back of the back room. At George Billis, out of sight from the front, were precious, elegant paintings on sculptures by Russ Harvard, of the East Texas forests in winter; it was the best stuff in the place. In the back of Phoenix was a show of small works from the Textile Study Group of New York, completely delightful.
In the front of Nancy Margolis is a great set of porcelain sculptures by Soo Kuo Yuh. Whimsical German expressionism meets a kiln, if that could make any kind of sense. They’re at first delightful, then a little creepy, then you see the virtuosity.
Much of the work I saw was high concept, completely cerebral, or took itself way too seriously. The antidote to this was a hilarious send up of pharmaceutical advertisements at Daneyal Mahmood, by Justine Cooper. It’s a series of print and broadcast commercials for an imaginary drug, Havidol, tagline, "When More is Not Enough." More at havidol.com.
Regarding photography, it is not news that the most interesting work these days is coming out of China. I saw two shows from Chinese photographers, heavy on conceptual attitude, but with tremendous aesthetic appeal and really interesting ideas. Check out the 798 Avant Gallery site.
My one target in Chelsea was the Henry Wessel show at Robert Mann. Wessel is one of my photography heros, and he had a big impact on my sensibility when I took a workshop from him in 1977. There’s a second group of his work around the corner at Charles Cowles. Not only is he a master formalist, his best work often has the cool irony of Elliott Erwitt with the rigor of a Paul Strand. Seeing the prints live, I realized he is working in a dynamic range that digital cannot begin to capture. His prints have detail from the deep shadow of an entryway to the white stucco sunlit wall. Maybe in my lifetime there will be a digital equivalent to Tri-X, but don’t count on it.
My companion for the afternoon, Josh Wand, turned me on to a great lunch spot for when your feet get weary: the Half King at 10th and 23rd. Check it out when you’re in the neighborhood.
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