~VIRTUAL INSANITY/last call !!

virtual insanity

LAST WEEK TO CATCH – VIRTUAL INSANITY !!

the card – for VIRTUAL INSANITY – a small group show curated by MAXWELL WILLIAMS – with MICHAEL BELL-SMITH, JOHN MICHAEL BOLING, OLAF BREUNING, KATHY GRAYSON, JAMES HOWARD, LUCKY DRAGONS, JILL MAGID & TIFFANY MALAKKOTI.
the show opened on MARCH 21 and runs – just thru this SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2009.
CINDERS GALLERY – 103 HAVEMEYER – WILLIAMSBURG – BROOKLYN.
HRS: WED-SUN 1-7PM

cinders logo

the show’s card – above – has got to be the best card for the year, so far !! dunno bout the show – it had a strange all-over feeling – maybe that was the point !! – but the card is a poppin’ classic !!

the show has scored 2 reviews.
check out: VIRTUAL INSANITY on FLAVORPILL !!
and, check out: VIRTUAL INSANITY on FADER !!

. . . we were !! at the OPENING – & – here’s the OPENING PIX !!

well, this was a strange enough show. it wasn’t like it was the most poppin’ show I’d ever seen, esp at Cinders. but maybe that was the counterintuitive point !!: virtual insanity is not dramatic – like a hand-made woodcut by CANNONBALL PRESS (aka MIKE HOUSTON & MARTIN MAZORRA) – or even the crazy screenprint world of BRIAN CHIPPENDALE – but more like – digital – blanket invasive. as in – too many emails !! hold the info. and please next time – pass on the OLAF BREUNING – he’s way too over-exposed !!

virtual # 1
MICHAEL BELL-SMITH contributed a beautiful little loop projection, ‘Return to Forever’, 2009
Courtesy the artist and FOXY PRODUCTION.

virtual # 2
MICHAEL BELL-SMITH, ‘Return to Forever;, 2009
HD video loop (edition of 3), Dimensions variable.

well, it was projected small – but dimensions are variable – so imagine it big. on the wall facing your bed !! forever.
would you ever need to go outside, again. well that’s a thought – that makes a beautiful digital thing: turn and go wrong.
of course that’s insane. or might make you insane. but if you weren’t captive on a spaceship – or almost as bad – an inner city housing complex with no patch of sky in sight – and could walk out a door anytime in the real world, and hopefully every now and then be witness to a real sunset – on water well, then it’s not so scary. but what can you really see from your window ?
and, when’s the last time you saw a sunset on water ?

virtual # 3

virtual # 4

virtual # 5
KATHY GRAYSON, ‘Lava Life’, 2009. oil and acrylic on panel. 16 x 20 in.
Courtesy the artist and KIM LIGHT/LIGHTBOX, Los Angeles.

Kathy calls these . . . “self portraits of bad photo booth green screening” !!
WHAT !! green screening / gone wrong ? LOL. too many digital options !!

virtual # 6
KATHY GRAYSON, ‘Lost’, 2009. oil and acrylic on panel. 16 x 20 in.
Courtesy the artist and KIM LIGHT/LIGHTBOX, Los Angeles.

virtual # 7
KATHY GRAYSON, ‘Ray Man’, 2009. oil and acrylic on panel. 16 x 20 in.
Courtesy the artist and KIM LIGHT/LIGHTBOX, Los Angeles.

virtual # 8
TIFFANY MALAKOOTI, Gmail (Self Portrait)’ 1 & 2.
most curious – to come around the virtual curve – simulated – digital – drawings.

virtual # 9
TIFFANY MALAKOOTI, ‘Gmail (Self Portrait) 1’, 2009
Graphite on paper, 11 x 8.5 in.
Courtesy the collection of M. Ernest Williams

vitual # 10
TIFFANY MALAKOOTI, ‘Gmail (Self Portrait) 2’, 2009
Graphite on paper, 11 x 8.5 in.
Courtesy the collection of M. Ernest Williams

virtual # 11
JAMES HOWARD, ‘Neurotransmitter Warehouse (Yukiko Version)’, 2009
Print on paper (Edition of 3), 59.1 x 39.4 in.
Courtesy the artist
. . . seamless digital manipulation.

virtual # 12
JAMES HOWARD, ‘Large Victory Game’, 2009
Print on paper (Edition of 3), 59.1 x 39.4 in.
Courtesy the artist

virtul detail
detail, James Howard, ‘Large Victory Game’.

Virtual # 13
LUCKY DRAGONS, ‘Peace on earth’, 2009
Customized electronics, software, Dimensions variable.
Courtesy the artist.

virtual # 14

virtual # 15

virtual # 23
JOHN MICHAEL BOLING, ‘Twenty Years Ago Today’, 2007
Quicktime screen capture of website (Edition of 4)
Infinite loop, Courtesy the artist.

virtual # 24

virtual # 25

virtual # 24
on the right, MAXWELL WILLIAMS – the show’s curator.

virtual # 18
KATHY GRAYSON (right), with PATRICK GRIFFIN.

virtual # 19
PATRICK GRIFFIN was wearing a g-r-e-a-t button.

virtual # 20

virtual # 21

virtual nick
center, snappin snaps – NICK KUSZYK !!
on the left, STO, and at the right, the curator of ‘VIRTUAL INSANITY’, MAXWELL WILLIAMS>

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH