this week in art

RICHARD SERRA DRAWINGS: A RETROSPECTIVE

Richard Serra, “Pacific Judson Murphy,” paintstick on Belgian linen, 1978 (© Richard Serra / photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Tisch Galleries, second floor
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Tuesday – Sunday through August 28, $20
212-570-3949
www.metmuseum.org

San Francisco-born conceptual artist Richard Serra does things in a big way. Based in New York City and Nova Scotia, Serra is justly celebrated for his enormous Cor-Ten steel curved plates that have been shown at the Gagosian in Chelsea and, most dramatically, at the Museum of Modern Art as the centerpiece of the 2007 retrospective “Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years.” But “Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective,” on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through August 28, sheds a whole new light on his creative thought process and working methods. In 1977, he famously said, “There is no way to make a drawing — there is only drawing.” But he’s more recently said of drawing, “It’s just another way of thinking.” Comprising nearly eighty works, this first-ever retrospective of Serra’s drawings, which is arranged more or less chronologically from a charcoal-on-paper drawing from 1971 to a site-specific piece commissioned for this exhibition, reveals how Serra once again re-creates and reimagines an artistic medium, taking it to new heights, both literally and figuratively. The majority of works were made using paintstick on such materials as Belgian linen, forged steel, and handmade paper. “I’d melt down paintstick, then flood a board or a table with the liquid paintstick and then lay down the screen on top of the heated material, lay the paper over that and work on the reverse side of the paper by applying pressure with a hard tool, usually a piece of metal,” Serra describes on the accompanying audio guide. “The drawings assume a variable density of the material through the liquid suction coming up through the screen, as a way of making a continuous repetitive mark without seeing what I was doing.” The resulting drawings emit a physicality that echoes much of his sculptural work, from “Heir,” which recalls one of his wall-leaning pieces, to “Blank,” an intriguing space in which a pair of ten-foot-by-ten-foot black squares, stapled to the wall, face each other, making the viewer feel like he or she is standing in between two of Serra’s huge plates.

Richard Serra, “September,” paintstick on handmade paper, 2001 (© Richard Serra / photo by Rob McKeever)

In fact, winding through the exhibit as a whole mimics the feeling of moving through Serra’s sculptural installations, only in black and white, but with a new surprise around every corner. A series of Robert Smithson-esque circular drawings, including “Black Tracks” and “September,” feature thick globs of paintstick. Such charcoals as “Giza Pyramids, Egypt” and “Le Corbusier, Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France” offer a much lighter touch. The round “Institutionalized Abstract Art” sits high on the wall like a black sun or black hole. The short 1968 videos Hands Scraping, Hand Catching Lead, Hand Lead Fulcrum, and Hands Tied predict the unusual function of the hand in Serra’s future oeuvre. The diptychs “The United States Courts Are Partial to Government” and “No Mandatory Patriotism” comment on Serra’s emotional reaction to the abrupt removal of the 1981 public art installation “Tilted Arc” from Federal Plaza downtown. And “Union,” commissioned for the retrospective, is composed of two floor-to-ceiling black rectangles that occupy their own room, a white wall between them, forming their own fascinating alley. Clearly, Serra likes doing things in a big way, and the Met Museum is indeed big, in more ways than one. In conjunction with the retrospective, the Met will host gallery talks with special consultant Magdalena Dabrowski on June 14 and 29 at 10:00 and with Ian Alteveer on July 12 & 27 and August 10 & 18. The films Art21: Richard Serra and Richard Serra: To See Is to Think will be screened on June 28 & 30 at 2:00, Judith Wechsler’s Drawing the Thinking the Hand will be shown July 26 & 28 at 2:00, and Serra’s Frame (1969), Railroad Turnbridge (1976), and Steelmill/Stahlwerke (1979) will be presented August 23 & 24 at 2:00, all free with museum admission. In addition, Serra will be at the Strand at 828 Broadway on June 14 at 7:00 talking about his work and signing copies of the exhibition catalog.

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY: ROOF PIECE

Trisha Brown Dance Company, “Roof Piece,” 1971 (photo by Babette Mangolte)

The High Line
Enter at 13th St. & Gansevoort
June 9-10, 7:00 pm
June 11, 5:00 & 7:00 pm
Admission: free
www.thehighline.org
www.trishabrowncompany.org
twi-ny slideshow

The Trisha Brown Dance Company has had quite a fortieth anniversary year, performing old and new works all over the world, including special shows at the Whitney and MoMA. They are concluding the celebration with a re-creation of their seminal 1971 dance “Roof Piece,” which will take place June 9-11 on rooftops surrounding the south end of the High Line. Unseen on outdoor rooftops since 1973, the piece, which is part of the High Line Art program, will feature the dancers — Neal Beasley, Elena Demyanenko, Dai Jian, Leah Morrison, Tamara Riewe, Nicholas Strafaccia, Laurel Tentindo, Samuel von Wentz, and Lee Serle — reacting to one another’s movement with improvisation. Admission is free and no RSVP is required, but be prepared for long lines to witness this wholly unique and exciting experience. The High Line is also likely to be crowded now that section two just opened, extending the former abandoned railway, which has been turned into a beautiful park, all the way to Thirtieth St. And keep a look-out for the various art projects along the High Line, including Kim Beck’s “Space Available,” which can also be found on surrounding rooftops; Julianne Swartz’s “Digital Empathy” sound pieces; Sarah Sze’s “Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat)”; Stephen Vitiello’s “A Bell for Every Minute” installation; Spencer Finch’s “The River That Flows Both Ways,” about the Hudson; and official High Line photographer Joel Sternfeld’s “A Railroad Artifact, 30th St., May 2000.”

Trisha Brown Dance Company triumphantly re-creates seminal “Roof Piece” along the High Line to conclude fortieth anniversary (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: On a beautiful early Friday evening on the High Line, Trisha Brown re-created her thrilling “Roof Piece” as hundreds of visitors lined the southern end of the High Line. Nine dancers wearing bold red outfits were spaced around the elevated park, two on the High Line itself, seven others scattered on surrounding rooftops, one dancer nearly within arm’s reach, another far off in the distance, barely visible. Improvised within a set dance vocabulary, the work begins as one dancer improvises the first move, which is then repeated as it travels from dancer to dancer in a specific order that recalls a visual game of telephone (and is then reversed), only without any mangling of the words. Although they’re all performing the same slow movements, they each come off in different manners, one dancer seen against the blue sky, another against a white brick wall, a third against the Jersey skyline, a fourth in a rectangular doorway that resembles a framed work of art. In an odd way, they recall Antony Gormley’s life-size, rooftop statues (“Event Horizon”) that filled Madison Square Park and the Flatiron District last year. There is no single place to be able to see all the dancers at once, so make your way around the area to catch each one. The thirty-minute performance, which concludes TBDC’s fortieth anniversary year, will be repeated Saturday at 5:00 and 7:00, with Sunday as a rain date in case one of the shows is canceled because of bad weather.

GILLIAN WEARING: PEOPLE / HELEN COLE: WE SEE FIREWORKS

Gillian Wearing, “Snapshot,” Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

“Gillian Wearing: People”
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 521 West 21st St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday – Saturday through June 24, free, 212-414-4144, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.tanyabonakdargallery.com
“Helen Cole: We See Fireworks”
PS122, 150 First Ave. at East Ninth St.
Tuesday – Saturday through June 11, $10, 212-352-3101, Wednesday – Friday 4:30 – 9:00, Saturday – Sunday 2:00 – 9:00
www.ps122.org

Two very different shows by conceptual British artists are currently shining a light on memory and performance, offering intriguing looks at individuals with fascinating stories to tell. On the second floor of the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea (through June 24), YBA legend Gillian Wearing has installed “Secrets and Lies,” a confessional box in which videos of people in form-fitting masks — with holes cut out for the eyes to reveal their emotional state — share personal tales of bullying and murder as well as virginity and drinking menstrual blood. The participants responded to Wearing’s call to “confess all on video,” and with the masks on they hold nothing back. As difficult as it is to listen to some of these piercing narratives, visitors are sure to be transfixed by their honesty and openness, making them wonder what secrets or lies they would share if they were on the other side of the booth. It continues Wearing’s career-long investigation of identity, which is also evident on the first floor in “Snapshot,” seven video portraits of women arranged in age order, accompanied by headphones on which an older woman relates her own tale, and in the short film Bully, in which a bullied man directs a group of individuals in a re-creation of an event that scarred him.

Visitors can shine a light on their own memories in “We See Fireworks” at PS122

Memory and performance are also at the heart of Helen Cole’s “We See Fireworks,” installed in PS122’s Ninth St. gallery through June 11. In a dark room with only a couch, approximately three dozen bare lightbulbs hang from the ceiling at varying levels, many featuring different-shaped filaments that slowly glow as each new tale begins. Cole has asked people to talk about an experience in their life that had performative elements, whether it be a family gathering, a school party, or other encounters (that tend to be lighter than those in Wearing’s works). Each story begins in complete darkness, then one or more bulbs come on, forcing the visitor’s attention in that direction, looking at the bulb as if it were the teller of the tale, until multiple bulbs come on, making the stories feel more universal. Like Wearing’s masked confessors, Cole’s unseen narrators can be unnerving at first, but the more time you spend in their company, the more rewarding it all becomes. If you would like to add your own memory, you can do so today from 4:30 to 6:30 and 7:00 to 9:00. “We See Fireworks” concludes PS122’s “The UK Comes to the EV” festival, which included the previous productions “Action Hero — Watch Me Fall” and “Curious — The Moment I Saw You I Knew I Could Love You.”

SHEN WEI DANCE ARTS AT THE MET

Shen Wei will perform the first site-specific dance in the Met’s history June 6 & 13 (photo courtesy Shen Wei Dance Arts)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Charles Engelhard Court
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Monday, June 6 & 13, $30-$75, 7:00
212-570-3949
www.shenweidancearts.org
www.metmuseum.org

Born in Hunan, China, in 1968 and based in New York City since 1995, visual artist, dancer, and choreographer Shen Wei founded Shen Wei Dance Arts in July 2000, appearing over the last ten years at such prestigious venues as the Venice Biennale, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Kennedy Center, the New York City Opera, the Sidney Opera, and the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In June 2009, SWDA performed a thrilling site-specific dance in and around Ernesto Neto’s “anthropodino” sculpture in the Park Ave. Armory, and this June they’re set for another unique experience: On June 6 and 13, SWDA, which favors slow, careful movement, will present the first-ever site-specific dance in the long history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The company, which consists of Javier J. Baca, Cecily Campbell, Hunter Carter, Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Evan Copeland, Jenna Fakhoury, Sara Procopio, Joan Wadopian, Adam H. Weinert, and Brandon Whited, will perform a new multimedia piece, with costumes by Shen Wei and Austin Scarlett and a live electronic score by Illusion of Safety’s Daniel Burke, in addition to a piece from their repertoire. The event will be held in the recently renovated Charles Engelhard Court of the America Wing, among works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frederick William MacMonnies, Hiram Powers, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Janet Scudder, John La Farge, Daniel Chester French, and Paul Manship as well as Martin E. Thompson’s massive Branch Bank of the United States facade. “I am looking forward to the experience of joining the beauty of bodies in stillness and the beauty of movement,” Shen Wei said in a statement, explaining that he has created “a piece celebrating the body in works of art of the past and the body in movement in the present.” Part of the Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Series, the performance can be seen seated around the court ($60) or standing in the Balcony Galleries above ($30). The June 6 performance will be followed by a reception with Shen Wei and the dancers (an additional $15).

HOWL! FESTIVAL 2011

This weekend’s Howl! Festival pays tribute to what would have been Allen Ginsberg’s eighty-fifth birthday

Tompkins Square Park
Ave. A to Ave. B between Seventh & Tenth Sts.
June 3-5, free
www.howlfestival.com

The somewhat annual Howl! Festival has moved from the end of the summer to the beginning of the season, kicking off June 3 with the group reading of Allen Ginsberg’s epic 1955 poem “Howl,” with its unforgettable opening: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness. . . .” Getting under way at 5:00 in Tompkins Square Park, the free gathering, which also will be celebrating what would have been Ginsberg’s eighty-fifth birthday, will include such local literary luminaries as Darian Dauchan, Nicole Wallace, Curtis Jensen, Fay Chiang, Eliot Katz, Bob Rosenthal, John Giorno, Hettie Jones, and others, led by Bob Holman. The party continues on Saturday with the Great Howl! Out Loud Carnival for children (12 noon – 7:00 pm, Sunday also), with arts & crafts, games, miniature golf, face painting, balloon art, and more; the Hot Howl! Disco (1:00 to 4:00), with DJ Johnny Dynell; and live performances (2:00 to 7:00) by International Street Cannibals, Ekayani and the Tom Glide Space, Timbila, Emily XYZ, the Living Theater, LJ Murphy, John S. Hall & Musicians, Church of Betty, Bina Shariff, Vangeline Theater, Ed Sanders & Steven Taylor, Tyler Burba, and Arthur’s Landing, in addition to yoga classes, chanting monks, painting and sculpture, poetry circles, and other activities. On Sunday, Hip Hop Howl! (2:00 – 2:30) will feature a live mixtape showcase, House of Howl! (3:00 – 5:00) will consist of live music and dance under the theme “The High Life,” and Low Life 5: Flaming Queens (5:00 – 7:00) will conclude things with the much-loved two-hour production that this year pays tribute to the East Village’s LGBT artistic community and history, with such performers as Sade Pendavis, Vangeline Theater, the Pixie Harlots, Rachel Klein Theater, Go-Go Harder, and many more, dressed in elaborate costumes.

TWI-NY TALK: MOLLY SURNO — CINEMA 16 AT THE MET

Molly Surno is keeping the spirit of experimental and avant-garde film alive by bringing back Cinema 16

Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Friday, June 3, 7:00
Free with recommended admission of $20
212-570-3828
www.mollysurno.wordpress.com
www.metmuseum.org/collegegroup

In 1947, Amos Vogel founded Cinema 16 as an art community where film devotees could see and discuss experimental celluloid works. Vogel, who turned ninety this past April, later cofounded the New York Film Festival with Richard Roud, serving as its first director in 1963; the NYFF still features the “Views from the Avant-Garde” showcase every year. Since April 2008, photographer and curator Molly Surno has taken up the reins of Vogel’s initial call to arms, answering his question “Shall this audience continue unaware of these hundreds of thought-provoking, artistically satisfying, and socially purposeful films?” by bringing back Cinema 16. The L.A.-born, Brooklyn-based Surno puts together monthly programs that combine classic and contemporary avant-garde films with cutting-edge bands providing live scores. On June 3 at 7:00, she is presenting her latest gathering, being held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in conjunction with the exhibition “Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York.” Introduced by Met associate curator Jayson Kerr Dobney, the evening, part of the Met’s College Group initiative, will feature films by Andy Warhol, Rudy Burckhardt, Edgar Varèse and Le Corbusier, Gina Carducci, Herbert Kosower, and Francis Thompson and live music by Nick Zinner and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Shahin Motia of Oneida, and MV Carbon. As she prepared for the event, Surno was able to sneak in a few minutes to discuss experimental cinema and more with twi-ny.

twi-ny: You’ve held previous editions of Cinema 16 at such venues as the Kitchen, Smack Mellon, Galapagos, the Bell House, and MoMA/PS1, but your next edition is taking place June 3 at the Met, in conjunction with the “Guitar Heroes” exhibition. How did that come about? Did the location impact how you curated the program?

Molly Surno: To my amazement the Metropolitan Museum contacted me to do a performance as part of the programming for the “Guitar Heroes” exhibit. Humbled and inspired, I tailored this program entirely to the current show. The band is composed of some of Brooklyn’s most incredible string players, echoing the three centuries of string instruments on display. The films I selected are all based on the idea of a cityscape being a muse for artistic expression. “Guitar Heroes” shows the journey of string instruments from Southern Italy to New York and the way the luthiers drew from their environments. I took that same premise and selected films that used one’s surroundings as the platform for creative influence. Francis Thompson’s film N.Y., N.Y. quite literally examines the day in a life of a New Yorker but through a kaleidoscope-type lens; Andy Warhol’s Screen Test of Salvador Dalí expresses the culture of an artistic community congregating in New York; Gina Carducci’s Stone Welcome Mat journeys from the Sicily of her grandfather’s home super-8 films to her own return to Southern Italy decades later from the eye of a New York–based artist, among other tales of our surroundings informing and motivating creative works.

Francis Thompson’s “N.Y., N.Y.” is among the avant-garde films Molly Surno will be presenting at the Met on June 3

twi-ny: What do you choose first when putting together a program, the films or the musicians?

MS: The selection process entirely depends on the commission. For the Met the “Guitar Heroes” exhibition completely dictated both the musical and film curation.

twi-ny: Where did your love of experimental films come from? Was there a “Eureka!” moment? For us, the Eureka! moment, for example, was taking a class with Amos Vogel back in college. Is he familiar with what you’re doing?

MS: I am actively trying to find my way uptown so that I can meet Amos and potentially do a program together. It’s on the wish list.

twi-ny: Are there certain films out there that you’ve been searching for but have been unable to find or gain access to? Who are the new artists making experimental films today who have a similar spirit to those made by such innovators as Maya Deren, Bruce Conner, Shirley Clarke, and Stan Brakhage?

MS: Certainly films are hard to access because they weren’t preserved properly. For example, I wanted to show some Italian experimental film for this program, but there is so little that was properly archived (or archived at all). There is a community that is vibrant and active around the preservation of experimental films, and through them I have met some incredible contemporary avant-garde artists, including Joel Schlemowitz, Gina Carducci, MM Serra, and Mark Street, to name a few. A few years back I showed a piece by an artist named Ezra Johnson, who also works with animation. His work blows my mind.

twi-ny: You’re constantly surrounded by avant-garde film and music. Do you ever just push it all to the back of your mind and spend a Saturday night checking out The Hangover Part II, Thor, or the latest Twilight or Pirates of the Caribbean flick?

MS: This might be my favorite question any journalist has ever asked me. Oddly enough, the more experimental films I watch, the harder it is for me to sit through big-budget films. I mean, let’s put it this way: For me, a Saturday night spent among purely escapist entertainment would include The Godfather or The French Connection. . . . That is about as mainstream as I like to get.

!WOMEN ART REVOLUTION (!W.A.R.)

!WOMEN ART REVOLUTION will make its theatrical debut this week at the IFC Center with appearances by several of the women featured in the film

!WOMEN ART REVOLUTION (!W.A.R.) (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, 2010)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
June 1-7
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.womenartrevolution.com

Since the mid-1960s, visual artist and educator Lynn Hershman Leeson has been tracing the history of the American feminist art movement, interviewing many of the most innovative and influential women artists of the last fifty years. After playing at the Sundance, Toronto, and Berlin Film Festivals, her documentary, !Women Art Revolution (!W.A.R.), opens June 1 at the IFC Center, with a series of special guests on hand at many of the screenings to talk about the revolution. Serving as director, writer, editor, producer, and narrator, Leeson shows works by and speaks with such seminal artists and art-world figures as Nancy Spero, Judy Chicago, Miranda July, Yvonne Rainer, Yoko Ono, Marcia Tucker, Martha Rosler, Miriam Schapiro, Carolee Schneemann, Marina Abramovic, Faith Ringgold, and the Guerrilla Girls, using new and archival footage that examines the growth of the movement. The film, which features an original soundtrack by Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, will run for one week at IFC, with the following special appearances, all with artist Alexandra Chowaniec: Leeson (6/1, 6:10), Leeson and Kathleen Hanna (6/1, 8:10), Howardena Pindell (6/2, 2:10), Carolee Schneemann (6/2, 6:10), J. Bob Alotta (6/2, 8:10), Janine Antoni (6/3, 12:15), Joyce Kozloff (6/3, 6:10), Martha Wilson (6/3, 8:10), Pindell (6/4, 2:10). B. Ruby Rich (6/4, 6:10 PM), Guerrilla Girls Frida Kahlo and Kathe Kollwitz (6/4, 8:10), Pindell (6/5, 2:10), Connie Butler (6/6, 4:10), Carey Lovelace (6/6, 6:10), and Lovelace and Faith Ringgold (6/7, 6:10). In addition, the full video and written transcripts of the interviews can be found online at the Stanford University Special Collections archive.