New York New York New York

Having just spent a few days in NYC, I am happy to report the Art scene is alive and well – I would even call it “thriving” - despite the abysmal economic situation. I spent most of my time in Chelsea, where there is an air of exuberance and much diversity to be found…..and to my delight, an abundance of painting. Very little strictly conceptual work (at least in the galleries I managed to see – there are probably 200 in Chelsea alone). Here are snapshots of some of the work I found most inspirational:



Noel Grunwaldt at Stellan Holm Gallery
Elegant and ominous watercolors and ink drawings of birds, eerily suspended between life and death. Beautiful paintings about death and decay – I love the inherent contradiction. There were also six small silver sculptures which were cast from the actual remains of the dead birds.





Dusty Boyton at Denise Bibro Gallery
Large,loosely painted exhuberant canvasses inhabited by a motley cast of human and animal characters. These paintings power lies in the tension that arises out of visual and emotional contradiction - they convey equal parts irreverence, fear, elation, humor, pathos. It took me awhile walking around the gallery to really “get” this work…….but once I did, I loved them all. The big, cartoonish imagery was deceptively simple at first – this was a good reminder that well conceived art takes time to appreciate.




Xiaoze Xie “Acts and Scenes” at Charles Cowles Gallery
I don’t know anything about this painter, whom I assume is Chinese. These were enormous monochromatic paintings of mostly American politicians sitting at tables, whispering to each other etc. The most striking was this one of a soldier being transferred out of what appears to be a combat zone in Iraq. A chilling statement which also reads beautifully as an abstract piece.




Duston Spear “Floating World” at Sara Tecchia Gallery
This is a woman after my own heart – she cuts up her old canvasses and work clothes and reassembles them into new bodies of work. These paintings depicted battle scenes which she desribes as representing her own “internal civil war” of creating art. Again, she creates beauty out of certain destruction. Foot soldiers, horsemen, and archers form battalions locked in close combat.

Kristin Moran at Anna Kustera Gallery
These were knock out paintings that I am still trying to understand – this one looks like something exploding in the middle of a contemporary kitchen.

I don't remember who the artist is.....sorry.....but this painting made me laugh out loud - at the bottom it says, "Some cannibals were eating a clown when one said, "does this taste funny to you?'"

More NYC pix to follow in next post.