~MELISSA BROWN – PALISADES: opens this SAT, too !! with a little bit of TRIENNIAL & BIENNIAL BTW . . .
MELISSA BROWN: ‘OVERLORD ENVY’.
‘MELISSA BROWN: PALISADES’ – opens SAT FEB 25, 2012 / 6-9 PM
the show runs FEB 25 thru MARCH 31, 2012
KANSAS GALLERY – 59 FRANKLIN ST. – TRIBECA, NYC
from the gallery press release:
“The Palisades Interstate Park characterized by a stark topography of towering walled cliffs that evocatively mirror the skyline of New York City renewed MELISSA BROWN’S interest in observational landscape painting.
She returned to the site again and again over the course of a year, gradually assembling a portrait of the area.
Using ‘markers’ that refer to points on a trail map, the abstract paintings create a visionary parallel between real space and gallery space in the way imagery is discovered, processed, made, and rediscovered.
Central to the exhibition is an exploration of PAREIDOLIA, a psychological phenomenon that seeks to find meaning in random stimuli. (!!)
In ‘Palisades’ pareidolia manifests itself in the form of anthropomorphic and multi-faceted rocks and plant life unique to the region. In the paintings, these elements are transformed into resident, totem-like characters, their weathered faces suggesting the area’s ancient geological past, while simultaneously underscoring the region’s urbanized present. The works thus become suffused with fanciful allusions to the ghosts and vestigial presences of former inhabitants of the area.”
BTW
just saying:
btwn the wonderful, small, yet really ocean-sized & precisely on point (!!) not to forget visually empowered !! – group show, ‘OCEAN SIZED’ at KUNSTHALLE GALAPAGO, (in DUMBO, BROOKLYN), CRAIG COLORUSSO’S solar powered SUN BOXES APP launch with its cutting graphics, as well as forward moving & green powered music (in WILLAMSBURG, BROOKLYN), and now including MELISSA BROWN’S visually empowered, passionately visionary, and heat-seeking ‘PALISADES’ in TRIBECA, MANHATTAN – I’d say that pretty much puts to shame – those hugely dry as bones, achingly academic, and terribly insipid, not to forget, unoriginal & flat – ok. let’s just say: sadly devoid of power and visually challenged NEW MUSEUM triennial and the long suffering WHITNEY Biennial – and leaves them in the proverbial dust . . . at least at they come across in the advance reviews, photos, and street buzz, “looks like an ART FORUM show”/AFC/Art Fag City (!!).
apart from the required NEW YORK TIMES write-ups, which come across as tired and excitement challenged,the term un-inspired,comes to mind again – the Holland Cotter NYT review on the NEW MUSEUM show ends: “. . .if even just a few of these artists manage to discover, as they grow and change, what ungovernable really is, and be it, future generations will owe the New Museum a debt of thanks.” (!!) don’t expect to see or read too much bally-hoo on these hulking institutional shows, which incidentally aspire to be taste-setters and even, career-changers (!!) – in the real world. nor huge attendance numbers.
come on – let’s see them publish the nitty gritty attendance numbers !!
in fact the CAROL VOGEL advance column on the Whitney Biennial, has a hidden ‘gem’ – translate: giggle. come on guys lighten up, it’s only the art world !! not Syria.
“Our ideal viewer is going to come seven or eight times,” said show co-curator, Jay Sanders. (!!) dude, that’s gotta be the best dreaming-in-color, in the whole damn over-played . . . scenario !!
that being said at least Argentinian sculptor ADRAIN VILLAR ROJAS, addresses some cutting edge moment issues with his “colossus in clay” at the NEW MUSEUM (Randy Kennedy).
and likewise, HOLLAND COTTER makes note of what might be a very interesting and timely piece at the Whitney, by the New York scene’s own young conceptualist, NICK MAUSS.
Apparently Mr. Mauss “has recreated a room by CHRISTAIN BERARD – an artist, illustrator, and set designer working in PARIS during the 1930s and ’40s – that still exists today at the Guerlain Institute in Paris”.
“Featuring trompe-l’oeil paneling that Mr. Mauss has cut out and appliqued in velvet and ribbons, the room is a period piece of sorts that he has paired with a group of works from the Whitney’s own collection . . .”
what, “trompe-l’oeil paneling” !! quelle shades of URS FISCHER at Shafrazi, a few years back, or what. anybody else thinking that, out there ?
. . . guess I’d love to see a photo of it, to see how it really plays out, as opposed to how Cotter writes it up. and, I have to admit Nick’s ‘time travel’ Parisian ‘postcard’ of an installation sounds the smartest, and most on point, of the entire lot, both Triennial and Biennial. he comes the closest to offering a compelling calling card to visit – as it gets . . . NICK MAUS, may as well just call him the ‘break-out’ boy – of the advance dailies !!
hey. if there’s a Mr. A and and Mr. H, can a Mr. Maus – be far behind ?
QUIET DISOBEDIENCE ? – count me, in !! NOT !!!!!! (to the quiet part !!)
see: “A Colossus in Clay Speaks to a Generation” – Randy Kennedy, NEW YORK TIMES
see: “Biennial Tweaks Its Boundaries” – Carol Vogel, NEW YORK TIMES