Election 2008: The Square Foot Show

Election 2008: The Square Foot Show @ Art Gotham

This was a very interesting show indeed...over 200 artists painted more than 300 square-foot-size canvases on the subject of politics. Simply, politics. The resulting artworks were as diverse and outspoken as the artists that were represented. Sarcastic caricatures, ambiguous abstractions, relief sculptures, text driven collages, timidly optimistic, painfully serious, etc. If you can see this show I'd highly recommend it! With hundreds of political points of view on display, you're bound to agree with one of them.

I was especially amused by all the different versions of Obama...everything from Robin Hood to George Washington, Jesus to Buddha. (It was not a McCain loving crowd of course) Here are come pictures...



I found this an interesting juxtaposition. Obama looking serious and contemplative...next to The Real Plumbers of Ohio.

My dear friend Nancy had a piece in the show! It's in the top center, with the puppet on the stage. You'll have to ask her to explain it all, because I can never wrap my head around conspiracy theories!


Art Gotham: 192 Ave of Americas (6th Ave btwn Spring & Prince)...Up through November 8th

Mary Henderson

Mary Henderson @ Lyons Wier Ortt Gallery

When I first passed by the gallery (it's on the first floor of my building) I thought these images were photographs. Shrug. But then I looked closer and discovered they were insanely photo-realistic paintings of photographs! Incredible. (I dare you to find a brushstroke!) The artist Mary Henderson found these pictures on a website that's used by soldiers and their families to exchange photos back and forth. She wanted to show us the faces of these men and women behind the politics and the headlines...the results are candid and vibrantly youthful. Impressive and poignant!




Lyons Wier Ortt Gallery: 175 Seventh Ave @ 20th Street...Up through November 8th

Blek Le Rat

Blek Le Rat @ Jonathan LeVine Gallery

I've been mentioning Banksy here a bunch lately, so let me introduce you to the man who influenced him the most: Blek Le Rat. (aka: Xavier Prou) He's a French graffiti artist who was using stencils to create street art 20 years before Banksy. He basically invented the life size stencil that you see everywhere today. He became well known for stenciling rats all over around Paris...hence his rodent inspired title.

Although I find his historical references and tongue-in-cheek social commentary interesting, I found the gallery too sterile an environment for his work. It belongs outside. I was far more interested in the video showing his graffiti work out on the streets, because that's what completes it. Transplanting his stencils into the a simply didn't translate for me.


Jonathan LeVine Gallery: 529 W 20th Street, 9th Floor...Up through November 15th

Swoon @ Deitch Projects

This weekend my friend Bishop took me to an AMAZING exhibit by Swoon at Deitch Projects in LIC. I find it truly unique how her work appeases both the gritty urban crowd (since she earned her stripes as a street artist and uses found objects) and the high-brow crowd (since her work is technically stunning and is rooted in influences such as German Expressionist woodcuts). Her work is so intricate that simply thinking about the number of man hours put into the creation of these grand pieces made me feel like a lazy sloth of an artist! (I had to remind myself that she had 75 collaborators) I was impressed and inspired.

As though this installation wasn't enough, outside the open doors of the gallery right there on the East River were her seven handmade boats. They were like little floating cities, that were sailed them down the Hudson!

Bishop and I adored this piece in particular...

A close up of her elaborately cut paper designs that covered the walls...

This fan behind the figure is made of pieces of painted doors...how cool is that!

Banksy Strikes Again

The same Banksy who put on the pet store installation I wrote about last week also left behind a few other artworks (rat themed murals) while he was in New York. I passed by this one a couple days ago (Canal & West Broadway I believe) and found it so delightful I had to share! From far away I really did think, "Who is painting over that Banksy mural?!!" Then closer up I saw it was a joke. He had me...

YOUNITY: Urban Women Artists

This weekend I got to check out a show by YOUNITY, which is an art collective for urban women artists. There was a regular exhibition inside featuring 60 international artists (celebrating the release of a book), but the more interesting part was the courtyard...


My friend Diva was one of the 12 women to cover the courtyard with beautifully painted murals, graffiti, and stenciled pieces. (She always covers her face...) Such a great group of ladies!

It's up at Alphabeta in Greenpoint (70 Greenpoint Avenue) through November 17th!

Banksy Pet Store

Earlier this week I came across this bizarre pet store (and charcoal grill) down in the West Village with my friend Laura. An aged tweety bird swinging in a cage? A rabbit filing her nails at a vanity?! We were both highly entertained and highly baffled. The next day I heard that famous British street-artist Banksy set up an installation of a pet shop...ah-ha! I returned to check it out in more detail...

As a carnivore, I never wanted to acknowledge where my processed foods came from...and as a vegetarian, I finds ethics in meat production lacking and factory farming icky. So needless to say, this installation struck a chord for me. And struck my funny bone at the same time. (Isn't that the best way to convey a message?) There are animatronic chicken nuggets...

And hotdogs and sausages squirming around in their cages...

Fish sticks swimming eerily in a giant fish bowl...

Monkey watching monkey porn...

...and a bunch of other amusing creatures! (There are even actors hired to play the clerks.) It's only up through the end of the month, so check it out while you can: 89 7th avenue just north of Bleeker Street. Oh, how I love that Banksy...