10.06.2010

Well I've apparently taken a summer break, but am back, and wanted to share some great and not so great art I saw this weekend. First up was Pipilotti Rist at the Luhring Augustine Gallery.
Pipilotti is a video artist whom I've never known all that much about, but definitely remember enjoying in the past, and when I read that she had a current installation in Chelsea I had to check it out. The main gallery space was filled with floor to ceiling scrims - many of them - and the video was projected onto and, of course, through them. I loved this effect as it made the images very 3-D. Add to that the ability to walk in between the scrims and it's as if you were right there in the scene...a scene of sheep in a field - quite nice. The back room had, among other things, Rist designed wallpaper which I would absolutely love to cover my walls with. Photo below is of a video triptych which is also part of this show.I also stopped in to see some Dale Chihuly (who doesn't love him?) at the Marlborough Gallery, but was under impressed. Too many flowers for my taste. The best part was that the entire front of the gallery was open to outside and the sun was shining in illuminating the pieces. Of course this exhibition will not alter my views of Chihuly. He is and will always be a genius. Photo below is one I took of said flowers.
Next up I happened upon this:That thing is bigger than me. It was awesome!!!! You can see it and many more metal sculptures of oversized accessories by Liao Yibai at the Mike Weiss Gallery.

I checked out the Gerhard Richter show at the Drawing Center and eh, I liked the watercolors, but I'm not a fan of pencil drawings to begin with, so sad little simple pencil drawings like the ones that made up the majority of this show, didn't do it for me.

Last, but not least, I hit the weekend only gallery RE:FORM SCHOOL "which took over four-stories of the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral School in SoHo. This high profile art exhibition, event series, and public awareness campaign is designed to bring together and engage the creative community in the drive to reform the American public education system."
It was tons o' fun. They took the ex-oldest Catholic school in New York City (which just closed) and filled it with contemporary art.
I've attached a video of the installation by artist Michael Murphy.



Finally, just because I found it recently, is a John Waters interview. I could listen to him talk all day long. It's worth taking the 20 minutes and watching the whole thing. He's so entertaining.
Big Think Interview with John Waters | John Waters | Big Think