OK, one of the great things about living in New York City is that there really never is a shortage of art shows–photography art shows–to go and experience. Minneapolis is great, but seriously, Weinstein would have to put on a new show every day of the week in order to keep up with the pace here. The selection to choose from is so huge, in fact, that it really helps to plan, dare i say ‘curate’, your gallery hopping experience. My latest researching tool of choice is artcards.cc–it has a great user interface that allows you to arrange and print your gallery itinerary–perfect for you obsessive nerd types.
Anyway, last week I realized that there was a whole spat of potentially interesting minimalist photography shows within 10 blocks from where I work, so I decided to check them out, see if any interesting juxtapositions/realizations came up, and get my brain thinking about the current state of Chelsea photo shows.
First stop: Gagosian Gallery (21st Street) – Hiroshi Sugimoto – 7 Days / 7 Nights
This was my second visit to this show, as I had never seen a Sugimoto exhibition in person before, and the beauty of the presentation kind of warped my experience of it the first time around. Approaching it a second time, equipped with expectations, I still found the photographs to reek of beauty…perhaps a little too much. The concept behind the images is a bit thin–the images are long exposures, each from a separate day of the week, which span the entire course of, you guessed it, the day or the night. The rigid obedience to which Sugimoto follows his ‘rules’ is impressive, but other people have done it, and pushed the envelope a lot further, too (On Kawara and Tehching Hsieh spring to mind first, as they both have work currently on view at MOMA). I’ve realized that, for me at least, the selling point of Sugimoto’s work is it’s beauty–and that’s OK! The concepts behind the images are good supports, but are by no means the main interest of his work. Rather, Sugimoto has proven himself to be a master at rendering the concept of time in a gorgeously visual form.
Second Stop: Andrew Kreps Gallery – To Be Determined (group show)
Another show that seemed worthy of a second visit is the current exhibition at Andrew Kreps Gallery. Curated around a group of artist/photographers ‘…whose work stretch the limits of photography”, the show exhibits a surprisingly good balance of formal and conceptual investigations with the medium. Personal favorites were Walead Beshty’s experimental darkroom abstractions and Torbørn Rødland’s image of a stack of ‘Practical Photography’ magazines, but surprisingly good pieces from Roe Ethridge and Liz Deschenes were also present. Most artists were represented by only one or two pieces which seemed to be just about right. I probably could have done without as many tube-pieces from Josephine Pryde, but sculpturally they helped hold the space together. Overall an amazingly cohesive group show that provides an exciting survey of artists making work with photography, about photography.
Third Stop: Luhring Augustine – Luisa Lambri (closes today)
I really wanted to like this show, but I just had a gut feeling that I wouldn’t. Subtlety in photography treads an exceptionally thin line between beauty and boredom. Sugimoto, previously discussed, pulls it off with his large luscious prints. Unfortunately, Lambri’s images were so modestly sized (I can’t believe I’m actually complaining that photographer’s images weren’t big enough–I swear, Lambri is the only exception), that I wasn’t able to fully lose myself in the images. Additionally, the images were grouped in clusters that encouraged a game of ‘detect the differences’ from print to print. Her intentions of expressing the fourth dimension apparently take second when it comes to games ripped off from the back pages of ‘Highlights’. To Lambri’s credit, the far-back room of the gallery isn’t that bad, the images from the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea stand to be the most interesting of the entire show. Still, Sugimoto comparisons aside, I feel it could have been much better had the photographs been a little larger, and not grouped in cliché clusters.
Final stop: John Connelly Presents – Jeffrey Tranchell (in the Tunnel Room)
I only visited this show one time, so I don’t feel entirely confident reviewing it, but I found interesting (note I didn’t say ‘good’ or ‘bad’) enough to warrant greater examination. The photographic works in the show are entirely lifted images from magazines with various price stickers affixed to their surface. Honestly as I write this out I can’t see how I would think this work would be anything but utter horseshit, but really, they aren’t that bad. There’s a beautifully simple coin rubbing that almost warrants a trip itself. The video which cycles through a series of images lifted from apartment rental listings is a little half-assed to me, but it still operates nicely in the space. All-in-all, a decent showing of work based on appropriated photography that doesn’t bore. Check it out–let me know what you think.
Ahh, blogging in my underwear on a Saturday night. Move to New York, kids. Be cool, like me.
