this week in art

QIN FENG: DESIRE LANDSCAPE

Qin Feng exhibit has been extended through April 26 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Ethan Cohen Fine Arts
14 Jay St. between Hudson & Greenwich Sts.
Extended through April 26, free
212-625-1250
www.ecfa.com
www.qinfeng-art.com

Originally scheduled to run March 17-26 in conjunction with Asian Contemporary Art Week, “Qin Feng: Desire Landscape” has been extended through April 26 at Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, so there are still a few days left to see this beautiful show by the Xinjiang-born Chinese artist. Utilizing calligraphic imagery with bold, expressive brushstrokes, Qin creates stunning unframed canvases that the gallery has hung on the walls using magnets, giving them a more inviting and personal atmosphere, welcoming visitors into their abstract wonder. Based in Beijing and Boston (where his wife is a professor and he was recently included in the Museum of Fine Arts group show “Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on Chinese Tradition”), the fifty-year-old Qin calls these works “Desire Landscapes,” ranging from circular and rectangular pieces, some in pairs and trios, to a breathtaking large-scale scroll-like painting that unfurls right by the front entrance, guiding visitors into the uniquely carved-out space. In addition, “Ode to Life — Memory of Fathers” features a long row of exquisitely painted fans arranged on a table above which hang a series of rather mundane framed works on paper that are the show’s only weak point. After experiencing “Desire Landscape,” you’ll be desiring to see more from this extremely talented artist.

ROB PRUITT: THE ANDY MONUMENT

Andy Warhol looks over Union Square in Rob Pruitt’s sparkling sculpture (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

A TRIBUTE TO A NEW YORKER
Union Square, 17th St. & Broadway
Through October 2, free
Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 20, the New School, 66 West 12th St., $10, 6:30
Guide by Cell: 646-862-0945
www.publicartfund.org/robpruitt
the andy monument slideshow

In 1968, Andy Warhol moved the Silver Factory from East 47th St. downtown to the Decker Building overlooking Union Square Park, where he and his many superstars and artisans would remain until 1974. New York City visual artist Rob Pruitt pays tribute to Andy and those years with “The Andy Monument,” a glittering chrome statue of Drella standing on a modest pedestal in the pedestrian plaza near the northwest entrance to the park. Warhol, his ever-present Polaroid camera around his neck and carrying a Macy’s shopping bag in his right hand, is scanning over the swirl of life rushing in and out of the park, right where he used to give out signed copies of Interview magazine. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, the silver statue recalls the aluminum foil Billy Name wrapped the inside of the original Factory in as well as the Mylar balloons Warhol called “Silver Clouds.” Pruitt, who was born in Washington, DC, in 1964, explains in the press release, “Like so many other artists and performers and people who don’t fit in because they’re gay or otherwise different, Andy moved here to become who he was, to fulfill his dreams and make it big. He still represents that courage and that possibility. That’s why I came to New York, and that’s what my ‘Andy Monument’ is about.” The second Factory was also where Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas on June 3, 1968, but Warhol survived, soon able to get back to partying at the nearby Max’s Kansas City and hanging around with Lou Reed, Holly Woodlawn, Joe Dallesandro, Candy Darling, Joe Campbell, and Jackie Curtis, all referenced in Reed’s 1972 downtown anthem, “Walk on the Wild Side,” as well as so many others. It’s a beautifully crafted statue honoring the revolutionary American Pop artist and iconic figure whose work is as beloved as ever these days. On April 20, Pruitt will participate in the Public Art Fund Talk “Andy Touched Me” at the New School with PAF director and chief curator Nicholas Baume, cultural critic Wayne Koestenbaum, and artist and writer Rhonda Lieberman.

RACHEL FEINSTEIN: THE SNOW QUEEN

Rachel Feinstein’s “The Snow Queen” fairy-tale installation is on view through Friday (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Lever House
390 Park Ave. at 54th St.
Through April 22
Admission: free
www.leverhouseartcollection.com
the snow queen slideshow

This is the last week to see Rachel Feinstein’s inventive reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” on view at the glassed-in Lever House lobby gallery through Friday. Feinstein divides her sculptural representation of the 1845 classic fairy tale of good and evil into five distinct elements: “The Soldiers,” a group of nutcracker soldiers in the middle of the space (the smallest one looks a lot like Rudy Giuliani); the elegant “Snow Queen’s Room,” a dramatic white space that can only be seen in its entirety from out on the street and that includes the classical sculptures “Goblin and Children” and “Goblin and Mirror”; “The Mirror Room,” a two-walled mirrored area with the abstract sculpture “Girl and Reindeer” and the painted mural “Ruins,” covered with animals, houses, and, well, ruins; the colorful, Play-Doh-like “Flower Girl,” who is picking roses from the planter, surrounded by birds; and “Golden Carriage,” an upended vehicle in the outside plaza, with a flickering eternal light. “One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking-glass which had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was reflected in it almost shrink to nothing, while everything that was worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever,” Andersen’s story begins. “The most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people became hideous, and looked as if they stood on their heads and had no bodies. Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth. The demon said this was very amusing.” Although the Arizona-born Feinstein includes no boiled spinach, she does make great use of of looking-glasses, lovely landscapes, demons, and distortions, mixing childlike wonder with Baroque finery.

1001 CHAIRS FOR AI WEIWEI

People around the world will gather in front of Chinese embassies on Sunday at 1:00 to show their support for missing artist Ai Weiwei (BBC photo)

Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in New York
520 12th Ave. between 42nd & 43rd Sts.
Sunday, April 17, free, 1:00
www.facebook.com/creativetime

On April 3, fifty-three-year-old controversial Chinese artist and activist was arrested in Beijing for what the government later called “economic crimes.” Ai has been missing ever since, leading to an international outcry against China’s continued abuse of human rights. People around the world will be showing their support of Ai on Sunday, April 17, at 1:00 as they bring chairs and sit down in front of Chinese embassies, evoking Ai’s 2007 Documenta projects “Fairytale — 1,001 Qing Dynasty Wooden Chairs” and “Fairytale — 1,001 Chinese Visitors,” the former consisting of said number of chairs, the latter involving 1,001 Chinese citizens temporarily moving to Kassel, Germany, the hometown of the brothers Grimm. “The point is: how to make everybody feel that all this is made for him or her, for each individual, and to enable the participants to have a very detailed and carefully planned trip that is free?” Ai explained to ArtZine China in 2007. “I see what kind of hopes, what kind of worries, what kind of frustrations . . . and waiting, and anticipating . . . then the dream, then imagination, then . . . maybe surprise. This of course reflects a great number of social, political, and economic factors, because we often have to ask who we are, what do we get from an event like this.” In many ways, Ai could have been referring to Sunday’s event, when protest participants will share their hopes and dreams that the artist will be freed. “1,001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei” is being sponsored by the innovative nonprofit organization Creative Time and was specifically suggested by art curator Steven Holmes. As Creative Time lays out, “Artist and activist Ai Weiwei is an internationally regarded figure who has fought for artistic freedom and for freedom of speech throughout his distinguished career, envisioning and shaping a more just and equitable society through his work. . . . Referencing the spirit of his work, ‘1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei’ calls for his immediate release, supporting the right of artists to speak and work freely in China and around the world.”

MoCCA FEST 2011

69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Ave. between 25th & 26th Sts.
April 9-10, $10-$12/day, $15-$20/both days, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
212-254-3511
www.moccany.org

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year at MoCCA Fest 2011, taking place April 9-10 at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Ave. The lineup, as usual, is extensive and impressive, featuring such exhibitors as Drawn + Quarterly, Fanfare-Ponent Mon, Meathaus, NBM, First Second, Rabid Rabbit, Top Shelf, Pantheon, Act-I-Vate, Abrams, Fantagraphics, and various Scandinavian consulates general along with signings by Ben Katchor, Michael Kupperman, Dean Haspiel, Kim Deitch, Mo Willems, R. Sikoryak, Galit & Gilad Seliktar, Neil Kleid, Stephen Vrattos, Farel Dalrymple, and Tom Forget, among many others. Two dozen panels are scheduled, from “The State of Editorial Cartooning,” with Ruben Bolling, Tim Kreider, and Ted Rall, moderated by Brian Heater, and “A New Generation of New Yorker Cartoons,” with Drew Dernavich, Paul Noth, Zachary Kanin, and Emily Flake, moderated by Bob Mankoff, to “Reciprocal Influence: Comics and Graphic Design,” with Chip Kidd, Craig Yoe, Yuko Shimizu, Josh Bernstein, and David Mac, moderated by Jeff Newelt, and “The Enterprising Will Eisner,” with Jules Feiffer, Denis Kitchen, and Paul Levitz, moderated by Charles Brownstein. In addition, Jerry Robinson will be talking “Batman, the Joker, and Beyond,” Gahan Wilson will be getting into “Playboy and Beyond,” and Peter Kuper will be presenting the 2011 Klein Award to the great MAD veteran Al Jaffee. Brings lots of cash, especially singles and fives so you can buy lots of small books and cool pamphlets that you’ll find only at MoCCA Fest. And if you’re looking for a little something extra, sign up for the Tenth Anniversary Wine Tasting and Fundraiser for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, being held at their 594 Broadway home Saturday night from 8:00 to 10:00; admission is only twenty bucks.

ANARCHIST/ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIRS

NYC ANARCHIST BOOK FAIR
Judson Memorial Church (and other venues)
55 Washington Square South
April 8-10, free
www.anarchistbookfair.net

NEW YORK ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Ave. at 67th St.
April 8-10, $20/day, $30/two-day pass, $45/three-day pass (includes catalog)
www.armoryonpark.org
www.sanfordsmith.com

The publishing industry is currently going through revolutionary change as digital ebooks threaten the future of the physical book. Although there are still plenty of people who believe that the thrill of holding a book in their hands, putting it on their shelf in its proper place once finished, will never go away, there is a new generation of readers who might never care about that feeling of accomplishment. You are likely to find a lot more of the former rather than the latter at this weekend’s fifty-first annual NY Antiquarian Book Fair, being held April 8-10 at the Park Ave. Armory. More than two hundred exhibitors will be selling first editions, maps, illustrated books, manuscripts, and other literary treasures that would never be quite the same seen on a Kindle, Nook, or iPad. There’s no telling who will show up at the fifth annual New York City Anarchist Book Fair, which begins today with the Anarchist Film Festival ($10 suggested donation), taking place this afternoon and tonight at the Sixth St. Community Center and promising to “celebrate a global uprising and resistance to state repression.” On Saturday and Sunday, exhibitors will set up at Judson Memorial Church, where attendees can check out such workshops and panel discussions as “Food Not Bombs in New York City and Long Island: Diverse Tactics for a Singular Mission,” “Farmworker Justice, Green Capitalism, and Trader Joe’s: A Presentation on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers,” “Disarm and Hammer: Anarchist Pacifists in Nuclear Direct Disarmament Actions,” and “Sexuality, Surveillance, and Government Infiltrators: Fragmenting the Radical Left Through the Terrorization of Animal Advocacy.” In addition, the Anarchist Art Festival at the Living Theater will feature “Seven Meditations on Political Sado Masochism” today and tomorrow and the Anarchist Art Laboratory “Deconstructing Power, Creating New Routes” on Sunday.

MODERN LIFE: EDWARD HOPPER AND HIS TIME

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
Wednesday – Sunday through April 10
Admission: $12-$18 (pay-what-you-wish Fridays from 6:00 to 9:00)
212-570-3600
www.whitney.org

Throughout his long life, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) captured the lonely side of American life in his paintings, filling canvases with desolate streets that have not woken up yet (“Early Sunday Morning”) and solitary figures looking out windows and doorways (“South Carolina Morning,” “A Woman in the Sun”) as if there is something else, something more, out there. Even in works that feature more than one person, a single character stands out, like the smoking clown in “Soir Bleu.” And while several painting cliques tried to claim him as one of their own, including the Social Realists, the Precisionists, and the Ashcan School, Hopper never saw himself as part of those groups. There won’t be nearly as much loneliness as the Whitney’s “Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time” comes to a close this weekend. Visitors have been packing the gallery in its last days, getting lost in Hopper’s intriguing world view, alongside paintings, photographs, sculpture, and film by such Hopper contemporaries as Charles Burchfield, Reginald Marsh, Alfred Stieglitz, George Bellows, Charles Sheeler, and Ralston Crawford. Although the Whitney boasts a collection of some 2500 Hoppers, the works by others outnumber those by Hopper by nearly two to one here, and many of the Hopper canvases on view are familiar Whitney presences, but be on the lookout for several terrific etchings, prints, and drawings, including “Night Shadows” and “Untitled (Rooftops),” and the lesser-seen large-scale painting “Barber Shop.” You should also make your way to the small hallway leading to the bathroom to see photos of Hopper, his wife and model, Jo, and many of his colleagues. Although not a revelatory exhibit, “Modern Life” places one of America’s most important painters in historical and artistic context, especially his captivating use of color and light. The Whitney is also currently showing “Glenn Ligon: AMERICA,” “Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection,” “Singular Visions,” “Slater Bradley and Ed Lachman: Shadow,” and, beginning Friday, “Dianna Molzan: Bologna Meissen.”