Saturday, December 1, 2012

Michal Chelbin -Sailboats and Swans @ Andrea Meislin Gallery

Michal Chelbin. Nadia. Women's prison, Ukraine, 2010

Michal Chelbin. Nadia. Women's prison, Ukraine, 2010
Image courtesy of Andrea Meislin Gallery
































DO NOT miss seeing this show!
Michal Chelbin is color pallete and portraits are breathtaking!

Sailboats and Swans
 Michal Chelbin
 October 18, 2012 - January 19, 2013
 “Chelbin is always looking, drawing what is hidden to the surface. She captures—we shudder.” A.M. Homes from her essay in Sailboats and Swans For Immediate Release Media Contact: Maureen Sullivan maureen@redartprojects.com, 917.846.4477 Exhibition: Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, 534 West 24th Street, October 18 – January 19th, 2013 Publication: Twin Palms Publishers, featuring 62 full color plates on 120 pages; essay and interview by acclaimed writer A.M. Homes with Michal Chelbin and her partner Oded Plotnizki. PDF available for media review now; advance print copies available in September. Michal Chelbin’s latest body of photography, shot in seven prisons in the Ukraine and Russia over the past six years, explores what it means to be locked and constantly watched – and to be looking back at such a person in this surreal world within a world. Chelbin’s portraiture is renowned for it visual contrasts – old and new, odd and ordinary, fantasy and reality –and for unmasking the legendary qualities not immediately apparent in individuals. The title, Sailboats and Swans, refers to the idiosyncratic, and almost mocking, bucolic and fantastical murals and wallpaper backgrounds she found throughout the prisons. These contradictions of life in prison abound in girls’ flowery dress prison uniforms, murderers working as nannies to other women’s babies in the new mothers’ prison, young girls serving time alongside grandmothers – perhaps witness to their own futures, and the mesmerizing human blend of fear and cruelty in the boys’ and mens’ prison - where big tattooed bodies are now zombie-like, worn down by the daily travails of trying to survive being locked up in a world devoid of hope. For the past decade, Michal Chelbin has been traveling to shoot in the Ukraine and Russia, the countries of her ancestors, drawn to the extreme contrasts and mythological qualities. Through the connections she made, she gained incredibly rare access to create portraits of the prisoners. Never asking the crime until after finishing the portrait allowed the artist to see the individual through her lens, not the prisoner, in sittings that sometimes lasted for hours until the mask wore down. “I usually photograph people outside the mainstream, and I look for faces and eyes that express the complexities of life and for a gaze that transcends from the private to the common,” stated Chelbin. All of her projects have been centered on a group who share something in common - Strangely Familiar focused on the small town circus performers, The Black Eye is comprised of portraits of wrestlers and athletes, and those locked up are her subjects in Sailboats and Swans. In Chelbin’s work there is always a sense of mystery and multi-dimensional narratives. Nothing is obviously resolved, and questions linger for the viewer to struggle with as she does: who is this person? Why is he dressed like this? What does it mean to be locked? Is it a human act? Is it fair? What do we see when we look at a locked person? Do we punish him with our eyes? Does a killer still look like a killer? Is it human to be weak and murderous at the same time? Michal Chelbin Sailboats and Swans will be on view from October 18 – January 19th, 2013, at Andrea Meislin Gallery, 534 West 24th Street, NYC. www.andreameislin.com The Artist Israeli-born and based artist Michal Chelbin’s work is in many prestigious private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Jewish Museum, New York, The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, The Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, The Portland Art Museum and The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel. Her work has been short-listed for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Competition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She previously had solo shows at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel and Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York who represent the artist. In addition to Sailboats and Swans, previous publications include Strangely Familiar and The Black Eye.

http://www.andreameislin.com

Saturday, November 24, 2012

ARTmostfierce Affordable Print Pick of the week- David Wojnarowicz for Printed Matter


This one is a must have! Get yours now!
Happy Shopping!

Category: Printed Matter Edition Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 21.5 x 28 cm. Process: letterpress Color: black-and-white Edition 100 Signed: Signed and Unnumbered Price Info: $250.00

http://printedmatter.org/catalogue/moreinfo.cfm?title_id=92729
Untitled (One day this kid . . .) New Edition with the Estate of David Wojnarowicz Launch on Wednesday, November 28, 5-7PM Printed Matter has worked with the estate of David Wojnarowicz and PPOW to produce a new letterpress edition of Wojnarowicz’s iconic work, Untitled (One day this kid . . .). The work features an image of Wojnarowicz as an innocent child encompassed by angry bold text describing the abuse that he will inevitably endure in his life because he is gay. The words provide a very powerful and moving autobiographical story of Wojnarowicz's life, giving readers a small insight into the life of this enigmatic East Village artist. Originally published in 1990 as a Photostat, 30 × 40 1/8 in. Edition of 10. This new edition is produced as a letterpress print, in an edition of 100 with 10 Ap's printed by Coeur Noir studio in Williamsburg. Each print has an authentication stamp from the Estate of Wojnarowicz on the back. Printed on a thick 8.5 x 11 inch card the piece feels like a tablet. The embossed texture of the image and text gives this edition a further three dimensional quality. The edition will be launched on Wednesday 28th November from 5pm - 7pm with a small reception at our Chelsea store front. In conjunction with this edition release we have curated a selection of editions, publications and ephemera by and about David Wojnarowicz.

The edition can be purchased here

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Open Letter to Encourage Mutual Citizen Support New York City Artists Unite to Support the Rockaways and the Flooded Areas of New York City

No Regrets'' 2012 , Rockaways, NYC. © Ruben Natal-San Miguel

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

 The Rockaways geographically, as you know, are the area that is breaking the waves between the Atlantic Ocean and JFK Airport and New York City in general. Demographically, it is very diverse and not a privileged area. In recent years, the Rockaways became an incredible inspiration and haven for the artists and creative community of New York. As the Rockaways are, at their best, a melting pot between the local community and the creative energies of the city, it is a location where New York is anticipating and creating the images and dreams we all live on. Hurricane Sandy completely devastated the peninsula, and a couple of days after the storm, families with children are still standing next to their destroyed and ruined houses trying to keep warm without food, water, electricity, heat, or internet. The artistic community is sending you this letter to support the city in your amazing, monumental efforts in all boroughs to save our city and to encourage the creative communities in New York to invent exemplary ways of helping our neighbors and fellow New Yorkers!

 Respectfully yours,

 Marina Abramovic, Doug Aitken, Francis Alÿs, Darren Aronofsky, Tauba Auerbach, Matthew Barney, Klaus Biesenbach, Adrien Brody, Giada Colagrande, Francisco Costa, Anthony D. Curcio Jr., Willem Dafoe, Anna Deavere Smith, Roe Ethridge, James Franco, Lady Gaga, Antony Hegarty, Jonathan Horowitz, Spike Jonze, Steven Klein, Terence Koh, Padma Lakshmi, Madonna, Laurel Nakadate, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Phillips, Jonathan Pierce, Rob Pruitt, Terry Richardson, Rockaway Artists Alliance, Cynthia Rowley, Cindy Sherman, Jenny Shimizu, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe, Mickalene Thomas, Ryan Trecartin, Liv Tyler, Gus Van Sant, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Rachel Weisz, and Italo Zuchelli

 Please spread the word, post it, tweet it, or email to friends!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Film Forum, New York October 31-November 13, 2012




 Film Forum, New York
 October 31-November 13, 2012


Film Forum is pleased to open GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, a new documentary by Ben Shapiro. Gregory Crewdson's riveting photographs are elaborately staged, elegant narratives compressed into a single, albeit large-scale image, many of them taken at twilight, set in small towns of Western Massachusetts or meticulously recreated interior spaces, built on the kind of sound stages associated with big-budget movies. Shapiro's fascinating profile of the acclaimed artist includes stories of his Park Slope childhood (in which he tried to overhear patients of his psychologist father), his summers in the bucolic countryside (which he now imbues with a sense of dread and foreboding), and his encounter with Diane Arbus's work in 1972 at age 10. Novelists Rick Moody and Russell Banks, and fellow photographer Laurie Simmons, comment on the motivation behind their friend's haunting images. But Crewdson remains his own best critic: "Every artist has one central story to tell. The struggle is to tell and retell that story over again - and to challenge that story. It's the defining story of who you are." Gregory Crewdson's work is in many collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The body of work featured in the film is "Beneath the Roses," and was produced from 2002-2008. Film Forum will be selling the book by the same title during the film's engagement. On Gregory Crewdson: "Crewdson often shoots at twilight, and the bewitching qualities of what T.S. Eliot called 'the violet hour' fill almost every shot... He is a master of menace, melancholia and the macabre. He turns the American dream into a quiet nightmare." --The Telegraph (UK) On the film: "A refreshingly frank look at the artistic process, as comprehensive and lovingly realized as the work it pays tribute to." --Filmmaker Magazine GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS (2012, 77 mins.) Produced, Directed and Photographed by Ben Shapiro. Editor: Tom Patterson, Nancy Kennedy. Original music: Dana Kaproff. Featuring: Gregory Crewdson, Russell Banks, Rick Moody, Melissa Harris, Richard Sands. USA. Zeitgeist Films. EVENTS: Gregory Crewdson and filmmaker Ben Shapiro in person Thursday, November 1 at 8:00 pm screening VISITOR INFORMATION Film Forum 209 West Houston Street New York, NY 10014 USA T. +1.212.727.8110 Website: Film Forum | Crewdson For further information please contact the gallery at newyork@gagosian.com or at +1.212.741.1111. ---------- Gagosian Gallery was established in 1980 by Larry Gagosian in Los Angeles. Attuned to the dynamics of today's world, Gagosian Gallery has since evolved into a global network, currently maintaining distinctive exhibition spaces in eight cities: New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Geneva, and Hong Kong. On October 19th, 2012 Gagosian Gallery will inaugurate its twelfth gallery space in the north of Paris, at Le Bourget. Over the last three decades, Gagosian Gallery has presented an exceptional historical program alongside a roster of ambitious exhibitions by the world's most renowned living artists. Such exhibitions, which have placed Gagosian Gallery at the forefront of the contemporary art scene, are accompanied by beautifully designed, scholarly catalogues and monographs. The gallery is also publishing catalogue raisonnés on several of its artists.

Exhibition of recent paintings, prints, and tapestries by Chuck Close opens at the Pace Gallery in New York

Exhibition of recent paintings, prints, and tapestries by Chuck Close opens at the Pace Gallery in New York

LACMA presents The X, Y, and Z portfolios by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe

LACMA presents The X, Y, and Z portfolios by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe

South African photographer Alfred Kumalo, who depicted apartheid, dies at age 82

South African photographer Alfred Kumalo, who depicted apartheid, dies at age 82

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Kunstroof Rotterdam

Stolen art can be burden if thieves who robbed Rotterdam's Kunsthal exhibition this week don't have a plan

Stolen art can be burden if thieves who robbed Rotterdam's Kunsthal exhibition this week don't have a plan

MdM Salzburg presents works from an outstanding Austrian collection of photography and media art

MdM Salzburg presents works from an outstanding Austrian collection of photography and media art

ARTmostfierce Affordable Print Pick of the Week: Zoe Crosher for 20x200



The Triple Vision Flattened Fantasy from the Disbanding of Michelle duBois

by Zoe Crosher

I just happen to visit the Modern Museum of Modern Art yesterday to see the New Photography 2012 show . Among the selected artists for it one of them is Zoe Crosher which, had been a great fan of her work. A big surprise for me was to see that among the images for Zoe Crosher, Michelle Dublois series on display one of them was the one that our dear art maven Jen Bekman selected as this week feature on 20x200. Now folks, I highly encourage you to get one. They are limited edition and sign and how often you will get to say that you own the same image that is currently on display at the MoMA...? You get my point? Kudos to Jen Bekman and her 20x200 for making high art available to all of us. And, now like Sofia Vergara will say in the K-mart ads...NOW GO!

http://www.20x200.com/artworks/4227-zoe-crosher-the-triple-vision-flattened-fantasy

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Nocturnal/Activo de Noche: an exhibit by Ruben Natal-San Miguel @ The New York Public Library as part of Hispanic Heritage Month September 7-October 31,2012


Nocturnal/Activo de Noche: an exhibit of photographs by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, curated by Elizabeth Barragan.
Experience the transformative effects of NYC's bodegas and other businesses that serve its communities 24/7 as they light up the night. 
Opening reception September 15, 2012 @ 3:30 PM
Artist's Talk  - September 15, 2012, Saturday @ 3:30 pm
In Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month 2012
On view at the Bronx Library Center September 8 through October 31.
Admission - Free
'''Nicol'' 2012, East Harlem, NYC. Ruben Natal -San Miguel

Now through Wednesday, October 31, 2012
New York Public Library

Bronx Library Center

310 East Kingsbridge Road (at Briggs Avenue)
Bronx, NY 10458
(718) 579-4244
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Bronx Library Center
310 East Kingsbridge Road
Bronx, NY 10458
Phone: (718) 579-4244
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to Fordham Rd.; follow signs indicating exit to Grand Concourse and 188th St. On Grand Concourse walk north one block to Fordham Rd.; then turn east and walk two blocks (keeping left) to East Kingsbridge Rd. Walk north on East Kingsbridge Rd. half a block.
to 207th St.; change to BX12 bus eastbound to Valentine Avenue/Fordham Rd. (just past the Grand Concourse); walk one block east (keeping left) on Fordham Rd. to East Kingsbridge Rd. Walk north on East Kingsbridge Rd. half a block.
to White Plains Rd. and Pelham Parkway; then take BX12 bus west to Fordham Rd./Grand Concourse. Turn east and walk two blocks (keeping left) on Fordham Rd. to East Kingsbridge Rd. Walk north on East Kingsbridge Rd. half a block.
to Fordham Rd.; walk five blocks east (keeping left) on Fordham Rd. to East Kingsbridge Rd. Walk north on East Kingsbridge Rd. half a block.

Nocturnal/Activo de Noche: an exhibit by Ruben Natal-San Miguel

Nocturnal/Activo de Noche: an exhibit by Ruben Natal-San Miguel