~LISA YUSKAVAGE: OPENING PIX
IMAGE: COURTESY DAVID ZWIRNER GALLERY/SCREEN GRAB OFF GALLERY WEBSITE.
LISA YUSKAVAGE – OPENING TO-NITE: TUES SEPT 27, 2011 / 6-8PM
the show runs SEPT 27 – NOV 5, 2011
DAVID ZWIRNER GALLERY – 519 W. 19th St – CHELSEA, NYC
LISA YUSKAVAGE . . .
NATASHA LYONNE . . . of ‘AMERICAN PIE’ FAME.
CHARLOTTE RONSON
CHUCK CLOSE
CHUCK CLOSE
DAVID SALLE
JOHN CURRIN
LISA YUSKAVAGE, ‘Outskirts’, 2011. oil on linen, 86 x 120 x 2 in.
yeah, there are actually 2 (bad) girls here.
and yeah, all the paintings are pretty explicit. and yes, this bad girl – wild child has a bouquet of flowers up her butt – does that make her a good girl ? it’s all rather lyrical, as opposed to hard core nasty.
the 2 profiled twins, looking to be naughty boys – have the most sinister, eerie touch in the show.
the new work benefits from – a whiff of stylistic dialog with KARA WALKER.
. . . . as well as with a nod to the hard plastics – within the never sentimental – often grotesque, also over-the-top realm of JOHN CURRIN.
but the specific narrative here is with the Irish ? well. some kind of ancestral folklore. this little leprechaun, is straight out of Lord of the Rings.
and yes, there’s another little man, from olden times, up on the cliff – looking guard out over the scene – in the other direction . . . towards the village landscape. a number of the paintings in the show – have this tension between past and present. the buttoned up Puritan Pilgrim ancestors – and what we have evolved to as a culture – in a couple of short centuries. (see that top header image, again).
that’s freedom for ya. we’ve come along way. don’t knock it. but perhaps – be wary.
of all the fun & games. that sweet spot – can be just on the edge – of too soft. culturally.
and, maybe still too outrageous, too-in-your face for some. Hallmark cards gone fuzzy hard-core . . . there-in lies the power.
painting-wise . . . it’s right on.
detail, LISA YUSKAVAGE, ‘Triptych’, 2011, oil on linen, Triptych. each 77-1/4 x 70-1/8 x 1-1/2 in.
and often luminous.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
(NOTE: PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING POSTED: THURS SEPT 29, 2001 – 6:50 AM)