this week in art

INDOORS/OUTDOORS

Detail of Zeke Decker's untitled oil painting displays his style (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Hey You Gallery
61 Delancey St. at Allen St.
Saturday, December 19, 12 noon – Sunday, December 20, 12 noon
Admission: free

Zeke Decker, Matt Engel, Gabe Rizzotti, and Eleni Kontos have taken over an empty storefront and basement on the corner of Delancey and Allen, creating a makeshift gallery displaying their artwork, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and video. Particularly impressive are several pieces by Decker, who also leads the Jersey reggae hip-hop band the Homewreckers; downstairs, you can watch a short video showing how Decker created the large collage next to the monitor in twenty-four hours, while upstairs you’ll find his forty-five-square-foot abstract oil painting, made in one hundred hours, featuring thick globs of color that look ready to break off the canvas, which is merely stapled to the wall. Time is of the essence here; on Saturday afternoon, December 19, the four artists will collaborate on a new piece that they will work on continuously for twenty-four hours, resulting in a fresh, completed work by December 20 at noon.

FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES

Gonzalez-Torres leads the way to Hodges in Chelsea (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

FLOATING A BOULDER: WORKS BY FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES AND JIM HODGES
FLAG Art Foundation
545 West 25th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Wednesday – Saturday 12 noon – 5:00 pm through January 31
Admission: free
www.flagartfoundation.org

PAIRED, GOLD: FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES AND RONI HORN
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
Through January 6 (closed Thursday)
Admission: $18 (pay-what-you-wish Saturdays 5:45-7:45)
212-423-3500
www.guggenheim.org

Even in death, Cuban avant-garde artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres continues to team up with some of his friends and colleagues and offer presents to strangers. At the beginning of 2009, Andrea Rosen presented “A Shadow Leaving an Object,” a dual exhibition matching Gonzalez-Torres’s mirror piece “Untitled (March 5th) #1” (1991) with Robert Gober’s “Prison Window.” From certain angles, you could see Gober’s work, way up at the top of a wall, in Gonzalez-Torres’s eye-level mirror in the otherwise large, empty Chelsea space. Gonzalez-Torres’s and Jim Hodges’s pieces interact similarly at the FLAG Art Foundation, where Hodges has curated a two-floor show combining his fragmented circular mirrors, stained-glass screens, colorful fabric hangings, and “the bells/black” sound installation (yes, you can ring the bells, which are all at a different pitch) with Gonzalez-Torres’s double clocks (“Perfect Lovers”), candy and poster sculptures (yes, go ahead and take one of each), and lighted go-go-dancing platform, where every day at an unannounced time a male dancer will get on the lighted stage and gyrate away for five minutes. Primarily focusing on temporality, the exhibit, which also includes six billboards by Gonzalez-Torres spread across three boroughs, closes January 31.

Gonzalez-Torres leads the way to Horn at the Guggenheim (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Guggenheim has gotten into the action as well, teaming up Gonzalez-Torres, who died of AIDS in 1996, with another living artist, New York native Roni Horn, in “Paired Gold,” which can refer to both the material itself as well as their brief but treasured friendship. After winding your way through the Guggenheim’s Kandinsky retrospective – we’ll have more to say about this wonderful show in an upcoming post – make sure to go into the very last gallery at the top of Frank Lloyd Wright’s spiraling structure, where you’ll have to walk through Gonzalez-Torres’s large-scale ceiling-to-floor gold-colored beaded curtain, “Untitled” (Golden), in order to see Horn’s “Gold Field,” two pounds of pure gold pounded into a delicate sheet that looks like it would disintegrate at the merest touch. (Don’t try this or the security guard will be very unhappy.) Gonzalez-Torres called Horn’s 1990 sculpture, “Forms from the Gold Field,” a “new landscape, a possible horizon, a place of rest and absolute beauty”; it’s simply delightful to see these two innovative and influential sculptors back together again, sharing a place of rest.

LAST CHANCE: CHELSEA ART STROLL

Dan Flavin show warms the heart in cold Chelsea (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

You don’t have to seek out a fireplace, Christmas tree, and cup of cider to escape the chills of the holiday season; instead, you can bask in the warm glow of “Dan Flavin: Series and Progressions,” at David Zwirner in Chelsea through December 19, multiple connected spaces in which Flavin’s minimalist light sculptures bounce soft reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, and more off one another. But as welcoming as most of the show is, one of Flavin’s barriers, “untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection),” cuts the last room in half, a stark difference from the other pieces, as well as “alternating pink and gold,” which runs around the walls of the cavernous gallery next door. Several other shows worth seeing are also closing on December 19. In Luke Smalley’s “Sunday Drive – A Memorial Exhibition” at ClampArt, the photographer, who passed away in May at the age of fifty-three, has created a narrative series in which three hot young women visit their hot young boyfriends in prison, but Smalley, as was his wont, focuses on the macho males, who seem to have walked right out of a Bruce Weber shoot.

Form meets function in Judd furniture show (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

If you’re still seeking warmth, stop in to see “Bill Viola: Bodies of Light” at James Cohan and allow yourself to be hypnotized by the thirty-minute high-def video “Old Oak (Study),” as the sun rises and sets behind a stunning tree. The show also features eight other short video projects, including several that involve water in a fascinating way. And if you do decide to head to Chelsea to see these last-chance displays, be sure to stop by Julie Saul from 4:00 to 6:00, when New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast will be signing copies of THEORIES OF EVERYTHING in conjunction with the exhibition “Sad Sacks, Worry Warts, Hellions & Bad Eggs: A New Print Series,” which continues through January 9. In addition to the fun prints are several of Chast’s charmingly decorated pysanka Easter eggs. Also on view at Julie Saul is “Heads: A Group Exhibition,” featuring works by Rineke Dijkstra, Soo Kim, Gary Schneider, Tanya Marcuse, and others. Finally, if you find yourself getting tired from all the running around, do not – we repeat, do not – take a seat in any of the chairs at Sebastian + Barquet, where a little-known side of Donald Judd is being revealed through December 23. It turns out that he loved making functional furniture, and several examples of his work are on display, looking very Judd-like.

CABARET CINEMA: IN A LONELY PLACE

: Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart go on quite a ride in Ray classic

IN A LONELY PLACE (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, December 18, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org/cabaretcinema

Humphrey Bogart stars in Nicholas Ray’s powerful, intense film about a cynical Hollywood screenwriter with a violent side. Dixon Steele (Bogart, in one of his strongest performances) is asked to write a screenplay based on a pulpy romance he has little interest in, so he brings home a coat-check girl who has read the book so she can tell him the story. The girl turns up dead, and Steele, known for his drunken forays and abuse of women, is the main suspect. Aspiring star Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), who has recently moved into the same Beverly Hills apartment complex, supplies an alibi for Steele, but she might have ulterior motives for doing so. Ray’s moody, introspective gem keeps you guessing until the very end. This special screening, introduced by Ken Brown, is part of the Rubin Museum’s weekly Friday-night film series, which is currently focusing on the exhibit “The Red Book of C. J. Jung,” is in the gallery space right outside the downstairs theater. (All of the museum’s galleries are open for free after 7:00.) Upcoming screenings in this series include Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’ECLISSE on January 8, David Lynch’s BLUE VELVET on January 15, and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s THE FACE OF ANOTHER on January 22.

SUPER SABADO

Joaquín Torres-García, “New York Street Scene (Escena de una calle de Nueva York),” oil on board, 1920

EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Tuesday – Sunday, suggested donation $6, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday, December 19, free, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
212-831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

For its fortieth anniversary, El Museo del Barrio reopened in October with much fanfare following an extensive renovation, enhancing its stature at the top of Museum Mile. Dedicated to Latino arts and culture, El Museo is kicking off its next era with a spectacular new exhibit, “Nexus New York: Latin / American Artists in the Modern Metropolis.” Running through February 28, the exhibition traces the history of Latin artists with direct ties to New York City – either living here, studying here, or working with New York-based artists in Europe, South America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, and other locations. “Artists do not work in vacuums,” curator Deborah Cullen notes in her introduction to the excellent accompanying catalog. “The city itself is yet another character in the story, for it was the very nature of New York that invited and fostered such creative energy.”

“Nexus New York” links together such artists as Joaquín Torres-García and Adolph Gottlieb, Maria Martins Pereria e Souza and Marcel Duchamp, Marius de Zayas and Francis Picabia, Roberto Matta and Robert Motherwell, Al Hirschfeld and Miguel Covarrubias, and David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jackson Pollock, offering a fascinating look inside unique aspects in the development of twentieth-century contemporary art. The work of Torres-García, specifically, is nothing short of a revelation, including drawings, wooden figures, watercolors, and such dazzling paintings as “Fourteenth Street (Calle Catorce)” and “New York Street Scene (Escena de una calle de Nueva York).” There’s a reason why an entire chapter in the catalog is dedicated to reconsidering Torres-García: “Unlike many native artists who believed a ‘truly’ American art should reflect nature and the landscape,” Cecilia de Torres writes, “his New York work was all about the spirit of the modern city, rather than its realistic depiction.”

Alice Neel, “Carlos Enríquez,” oil on canvas, 1926

The centerpiece of “Nexus New York” is the extensive section devoted to the relationship between American painter Alice Neel and Cuban artist Carlos Enríquez. The couple married in 1925 and first lived in Cuba before the tragic loss of their first child doomed their relationship. Their individual portraits of their second child, Isabetta, is quite telling; in 1930, Neel paints her as a scary, doll-like figure, while Enríquez, four years later, shows her to be much more real and human. An excerpt from a documentary made by Neel’s grandson, Andrew, further looks into their life. The exhibit also delves into work by a more familiar couple, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, particularly the political implications of Rivera’s aborted Rockefeller Center mural. There are also exemplary pieces by Wilfredo Lam, José Clemente Orozco, Jean Charlot, Camilo Egas, and many others.

The free Saturday program on December 19 celebrates the Three Kings with a photo booth in the courtyard, holiday storytelling with Papoleto Melendez, live music from the Children’s Aid Society Chorus and José Obando and friends, an art workshop for kids, gallery tours, a spoken word performance by the Peace Poets, the eighth annual Coquito Tasting Contest, and comedy from Latina Divas Marga Gomez and Carmelita Tropicana. In addition to “Nexus New York,” El Museo also has on view “Voces y Visiones: Four Decades Through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection,” which gives a terrific capsule history of the museum and its mission, with works going back to the Taíno Legacy through graphics and politics, traditional and devotional objects, abstraction, migration and language, and more, as well as “Raíces: The Roots of Latin Music in New York City.” And the café features some fine fare, homemade Latino plates (all under ten dollars) with an ever-changing menu; we highly recommend the spicy pulpo if it’s available.

JAPAN BRAND: THE WISH LIST

The Wish List features beautifully designed displays (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Felissimo Design House
10 West 56th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through December 24, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm (closed Sundays)
Admission: free
www.japanbrandnyc.com

Once again Felissimo in Midtown has given over its space to the Japan Brand pop-up shop, two floors of unique and unusual contemporary products from Japan available for a limited time only. You can find small Bitowa Aizu lacquer bowls, Echizen-Uchihamono forged cutlery, enn tableware, Imabari towels, Japonica silk apparel and accessories, Kutaniyaki wineglasses, Kyoto Premium textiles and stationery, Yanase cedar bags and purses from Monacca, Nippon Sense furniture, Tsugaru Japan lacquer jewelry, and other cool items you’ll see nowhere else. Even if you’re not looking to buy anything, it’s still worth a visit to check out the meticulously designed store, which includes a photography exhibit examining the historical, cultural, and commercial aspects of color in Japanese art and a festive display by master calligrapher Kotaro Hachinoche. Among the special events are a floral workshop with Eve Suter on December 12 at 3:00 (registration required, $20) and late-night shopping on December 15 with Japanese delicacies, sake, and a talk by photographer Florence Montmartre (6:00 – 8:00, RSVP required).

UNINHABITABLE MANSIONS

Brooklyn indie supergroup is supporting strong debut album

Tuesday, December 15, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., $12-$15, 7:30
Sunday, December 20, Cameo, 93 North Sixth St.
www.myspace.com/uninhabitablemansions

Uninhabitable Mansions is an art collective and Brooklyn mini-supergroup that features Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Danny Comer and Chris Diken from Radical Dads, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Their debut album is a steady stream of inventive indie pop that enjoys stopping and starting, dropping in and out and back again, with most songs developing slowly and quietly at the outset. Indeed, UM is in no hurry, which is a good thing, because the characters in their songs are often lost souls, waiting for something or someone, not knowing where they’re going. “There’s nothing here to see for miles,” they sing in “Big Kick,” which charges out of the gate with a searing guitar line that lasts for nearly a minute before the lyrics begin. (The six-strings go deliriously screechy at the end.) In the acoustic-based “Do You Have a Strategy?,” which features an infectiously quirky hook, they explain, “You say someday our bones will turn to dust / Darling, it’s true, but what’s the rush / A little rust wouldn’t hurt you / Let’s stop right here / The days will wait for us.” In the trifecta of “Do You Have a Strategy?” “Midnight Topography,” and “Maps: Not Accurate,” references are made to missing landmarks, shifting skylines, standing in thin air, and maps, over and over. They sing of escape, looking for a way out, drifting, floating, heading in the wrong direction, searching for a “place that nobody knows.” “Staring at the ceiling and you start to get the feeling that / There’s nowhere to go,” they sing in the poppy “We Already Know.” The band’s subtle, ethereal sound befits the line “We’re sick of solid ground” from the album’s opener, “The Speed Is Deceiving,” and indeed, much of the record itself is deceiving, in compelling ways. In addition to being musicians, UM also makes unique literary and art projects; for example, on their Web site, you can purchase Diken’s short story “The Killer at the Beach” paired with a trench coat designed by Sara Jones as well as T-shirts, handmade books by Guertin, and even a yardstick. On December 15, they’re playing with the Antlers and Sharon Van Etten at a sold-out Bowery Ballroom show, but there are still tickets available for their December 20 gig at the Cameo Gallery inside the Lovin’ Cup Cafe with Revival Times and Pocketknife.