2009. summary

best to read 'letter of intent first. its the first blog.

i am starting at a 'beginning' by in brief course reviewing 2009.

at the beginning of this year i went back and reviewed three of the most important group
shows of 2009. they were still standing. one, at the kitchen curated by debra singer,
which had abstraction as a theme. it is a sorry state we find abstraction in today if this
is any indicator. it included a number of 'favorites' of the critics at the moment. and later
i will bring a number of them up in the context of 'art investment' because thats an issue.
suffice to say i was wholely disappointed in the content of the show but not the idea and
the experience, thats the sad part. it is in the memory and if i walked away with any thought
it was the appreciation of the trouble the curator went through to mount a show on
this very important topic. too bad the art- much of it- was and is , sad.

and then to white columns which had its end of year show entitled 'looking back'.
this review had a few notable inclusions and one outstanding piece. the issue of
'reduction' daresay 'minimalism' keeps popping up in the art world if for no other reason
then one would expect that given the place it has in the american art-psyche. it is-
for me- the greatest pleasure to find a work of art- hopefully an artist- who can in -
a thoughtful, meaningful and visually succinct way( think feliz gonzalez torres!!!!)
achieve. i thought the piece as you walked in white columns on the left wall by
matias faldbakken - before you go up the steps. the 'bulletin board ' wall. was a
superb example of what i speak of above. it was of tile . when i had the chance,
i went 'online' and was hoping to find example after example of this caliber from this
artist and was unfortunately disappointed. this is a theme i will come back to over and
over again: how can it be an artist like FGTorres
using the most simple materials create one masterpiece after the other, and yet we have
artists that can only make one or two good pieces .what a shame. this piece was outstanding though.


i must mention the last group show of interest. namely the one mounted at andrea rosen.
entitled 'the perpetual dialogue' there was a lot to see and, with exception of a few pieces,
was exactly what it was billed. a cacaphony.

so now some quick thoughts:

thank you to larry G. for the peace offering , or should i say guilt payment,given to the art world in mounting the piero manzoni
show- which was beyond museum quality. same can be said for the picasso show.

roni horn. a master, or is it a mistress ,of minimalism

i was delighted to see everybody- well almost- get on the bandwagon and trash the despicable
decadence and pomposity of the urs fischer experience at the new museum. this museum has
lost track of its original mission.

for the more intellectually minded - as opposed to 'entertainment' driven- the leon ferrari
and mira schendel 'tangled alphabets' at the MOMA.

speaking of the MOMA- yes it is this 'entertainment' question that keeps popping up.
witness pipilotti rist turning the entire feel of the museum into a pink (literally) pussy-
cat hookah,lounge . all it was lacking was the smoking stations and a rolling bar.
it undeniably created a mood though. and it was entrancing.

i did have a bit of an eye-opening at the franz west show in baltimore and have a deeper
respect for his work. not nec an appreciation- but respect is enough. i will mention that
the two sculptures installed in the marty margulies collection/warehouse in miami
by West are two of the finest pieces of art on view in that city.

artbasel in miami was a bit of a bust and i went away - notes in hand- sort of left only
with the memory of the FGTorres pieces in the de la cruz collection. this is a comprehensive
and superb collection of his work. and the building is beautiful.
speaking of miami i wish i could say something nice about the rubell collection but i
cant. i dont know how these two get away with it; actually i do know and thats the
sad thing about it. thoroughly lacking in thoughtfulness and completely obsessed with
'entertainment' quotient and 'investment'. 'pump up the volume' rubells!!!! i respect
the deep interest in art but am very suspect of the rest of the merchandising.

sol lewitt at mass MOCA : there is nothing more to say. he has taken the old world
notion of mural and fresco and the most elementary principles of graphic art and idea
and has combined them like no other has or ever will. supersize us sol!

yes, to those who write in the forum, a special mention for james castle.

a special mention to robert kinmont- at alexander and bonin

drop dead perfection of gerhard richter at marian goodman.

finally, here are artists to watch. some are known. and i have very explicit things to say
about the work here and later briefly.

gedi sibony. pretty much on target but frequently 'slips up' in the same way that
tony feher does. i have much more to say on this artist in a later blog.

jacob kassay. his show at 11 rivington was superb, his two pieces at artbasel were entirely
lacking, his piece at the kitchen was one of the more memorable but he has to mount his
work on a stiffer material,.he is playing havoc with the canvas and eventually the canvas
is going to give way under the pressure, and collapse, so start thinking board or wood panel.


sarah crowner. is on a trajectory, no question about it.

william cordova. the drawings and work on paper are some of the best work of its kind
being done today. some of the smaller sculptures resonate and he ought to watch out
with the larger pieces because they do not work at all.

jim lee has a lot of potential and not much time left. if he would exhibit some discipline and not be so all over the place. he needs to focus.

an art dealer; frank elbaz in paris has - without ques- his finger on the pulse.
davide balula ( also in a superb small piece in a no longer existing small space - a delight- 'fake estate') and gyan panchal. the latter is the one who sold out the entire booth at the
armory with his simple constructions etc. everybody walked right by the booth and
it was only one collector who had the vision and understanding.

oh and a special mention to james hickey for his standing room
only thoughtful expose' of current afflictions of the art world. issues of quality vs. quantity.
assembly line art and art education at the expense of imagination.


my next blog will be on early 2010.

thank you for reading this and i appreciate comments.