I’m into James Siena. He did it his way. Go see his show at PaceWildenstein, which “includes Siena’s signature abstract paintings but also debuts a new working method, as evidenced by the drawings on view. Known for densely patterned paintings, gouaches and drawings generated by the artist’s adherence to algorithmic systems, Siena has, in recent years, begun to vary the rigidity of those systems and the rigidity with which those systems are implemented. The result has been works which appear more chaotic and most recently, and surprisingly, a series of drawings where the twisting lines and forms transform into tortured faces of old men and women”.
ClampArt is showing a collection of vintage photographs by Jeannette Montgomery Barron. Featuring stars from the world of art and culture, Montgomery Barron’s work comes across as intimate and comfortable, and puts a human touch on these legendary, familiar faces.
Jeannette Montgomery Barron Vintage Portraits From The 1980s ClampArt
521 W. 25th
Tomma Abts, the 2006 Turner Prize winner, has a show at the New Museum. Featuring fourteen of her 18 7/8″ x 15″ canvases, the show encapsulates the pristine, hard-edge yet subtle playfulness of her work. I’m glad she won the Turner Prize, and is still relevant, even as her work is a 21st Century flashback to the 1950s.
Ingrid Capozzoli Flinn will have a show opening soon at Figureworks. The show will run through the month of May, with an opening scheduled for Friday from 6-9PM.
Ingrid Capozzoli Flinn
PAINTING THE FEMALE FORM Figureworks
168 N. 6th St.
Brooklyn
HOMBEASE, a site specific public art project exploring the notion of home, is coming to Harlem. This year’s project, which features 16 international artists, will “inhabit a five floor historical landmark townhouse in Sugar Hill, and transfer the building by creating site-specific works about Home”. The event will last from April 27th – May 18th, with an opening scheduled for April 27th from 1-9 PM.
Sergej Jensen has a show opening April 9th at Anton Kern. Featuring a “group of quietly beautiful formalist textile-based paintings”, the work is composed of “stitched together and stretched dyed sheets of fabric, such as burlap, raw silk and linen, even knit wool”. Echoing Alberto Burri, this should be an interesting show by this Danish artist.
Van de Weghe is showing a series of Warhol / Basquiat collaboration paintings. Made between the years of 1984-1985, the six paintings “underscored each artist’s unique style and production method while at the same time giving rise to a vibrant and original body of work”. It will be nice to finally see these pieces in real life.
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat
COLLABORATION PAINTINGS Van de Weghe Fine Art
521 W. 23rd St
There is so much good art to see in New York right now. Add to the list a Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn Musuem. Opening on April 5, the show is sure to be full of recognizable, fun yet successful pieces. There will even be a Louis Vuitton shop selling his designs. What finer way to celebrate the commercialization of the art world?
