'Fluff War' and 'Wildlife' are on view through June 15, 2019 at Anton Kern Gallery. All images courtesy the gallery. Lead image: 'Untitled (Exhibition of Dust)' David Shrigley.
YELL! features more than 50 artists whose personal accounts take shape as written testimonial, recitations, video, paintings and collage work. The outside walls, painted white offer calm in the chaos of midtown. A white picket fence surrounds the perimeter, as do stock images of “happy families.” The inviting facade is a set up for what lies within the walls, mean’t to contrast and question the notion of American idealism with the lived experiences of people navigating anything beyond an accepted “normal.”
Through verse, performance and visual art, the installation is a crude but sincere representation of what it feels like to live in the world with mental illness. The lineup feels timely, as we approach the end of Mental Health Awareness Month.
“We decided that it would be an incredibly significant opportunity for us to bring our members' voices to the public to really take up space, and give them an opportunity to share their lived experience with mental illness,” shares Gallery Director, Rachel Weisman.
Rich Courage, Fountain House member of 20 years is among the featured artists performing live. “It changed my life. It helped me get a life. It helped me go from feeling like nobody to realizing I'm somebody. And I am no longer depressed.” You could find him at the intersection of 34th ST and Broadway delivering a scene from his play “The Very Last Dance of Homeless Joe,” which kicks off with the hum of his harmonica alongside an Alsation stuffed animal.
The final module of the multi-sensory experience emphasizes community-based recovery options and is staffed by a trained peer specialist who is available to answer questions and provide visitors with resources.
YELL! will be traveling to Governors Island at the end of July where Fountain House is an Organization in Residence.
SPRING/BREAK
On a spontaneous whim, SPRING/BREAK took a trip back to the Old School on Prince Street for a surprise ‘secret superlative’ salon. The last minute decision matches the unconventional ethos of the fair, challenging the often pretentious ideology of the art world. It was the fair’s 4th immersive program biennial, but the first invite-only iteration featuring over 100 returning artists and curators. Continuing their practice of bringing together the coolest, campiest, eccentric art together, the space was filled with everything from surrealist paintings to tiny cigarette butts sculptures.
Future Fair
Although only in its third iteration, Future Fair has already become the rebellious, older sister of New York Art Week. In working towards the advancement, sustainability, and empowerment of art galleries, Future Fair offers a profit-sharing model between their local, national, and international exhibitors. In early May, the fair returned to Chelsea Industrial with 57 exhibitions offering an introduction to new up-and-coming artists or a reunion with the ones you always loved. Highlights include Chrissy Angliker’s chaotic, hyper-textural takes of impressionism, Caitlin McCormack’s eerie, roughly crocheted sculpture of the classic fruit bowl, and Davariz Broaden’s figurative realism paintings of adolescents in nature juxtaposed with a melancholic color palette.
RTA x Frieze
At the cusp of Frieze, RTA announced a collective with the fair committed to elevating creative dialogue and artistic expression through collaborations with rising stars. For the debut, RTA brought on performance artist, choreographer, and commercial movement director Sigrid Lauren who then created “Bad Seed.” On top of the shattered glass runway within the futuristic Soho flagship store, a drummer in dark sunglasses and pursed lips sat. Dancers painted in chrome thrashed, crawled, and swung on ladders among the new RTA collection which inspired the show with its biased cuts, draping of silhouettes, and Vegas graphics. It was a sensational performance about losing and finding oneself, involving the audience as well by taking pictures on a disposable camera. Surely, the RTA collective will be the place that introduces well-deserved artists to the forefront.
VISO PROJECT
The VISO PROJECT has unveiled its latest space at 46 Pearl Street, following successful pop-up installations in TriBeCa in 2019 and at Frieze LA in 2022. The hybrid space acts as a gallery, showroom, and store, showcasing artwork from international artists. The inaugural installation featured Madrid-based design studio Casa Antillon, amongst other collaborations, including a collaboration with Mombiedro Studio, the design label of Spanish-born architect Ángel Mombiedro, below. VISO will also showcase capsule collections of home accessories, ceramics, and textiles, available both in-store and online. The brand emphasizes craftsmanship and sustainability, creating limited-edition goods that will last for generations.
Frieze New York 2023
Frieze New York, the leading international contemporary art fair in the US, was presented last week at The Shed in Manhattan. Featuring over 65 prestigious galleries, the fair delivered a captivating showcase of contemporary art, spanning painting, sculpture, photography, and video. Alongside the exhibition, Frieze New York offered an array of public programs, including engaging talks, must-see performances, and inspiring screenings. The Shed's innovative design provided a flexible and immersive space for the fair, spread across two floors and complemented by inviting outdoor areas.
As the focal point of the South Korean Artist's first solo Los Angeles show, the yeti is painted, overlaid on city maps, and even constructed into a bronze sculpture. Since 2014, she’s been a character Kang returns to — one from a collection of figures drawn in his signature abstract expressionism, animamix style, a visual fusion of animation and comics. After the passing of his sister-in-law, he turned to the yeti as a manifestation of her in the hope of helping his then five-year-old niece understand parting.
The yeti resembles a softer, rounder Domo with no mouth, but the same all-seeing eyes, representing “a benevolent spirit that watches over the girl, offering protection and guidance just beyond the visible realm.” In childlike pictures — similar to his storybook, It will be alright — the yeti holds the niece, twigs, seedlings, and balloons. However, Kang shares that “eventually [they] became the symbol of a universal love between parents and their children, now it’s more like every stroke or every line I make on the canvases I think about people — I think about loved ones as if I’m making wishes for them.
While Kang’s personal life changed in 2019 with his loss, the entire world was beginning to shift as well. In an attempt to take control of the unraveling chaos, he started the series, Draw Your Own Map. Brochures became canvases for imaginary cartoon collages and Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro-akin scenes. The advertisements for the cities’ restaurants, hotels, tours, museums, and waterparks remained as a reminder that capitalism never takes a pause. Still, “it was a process of marching towards the light from the darkness,” Kang says, which is why displayed in the east viewing room are his own teeming fictional maps, painted illegibly in black and white with pops of neon colors. Inside are hidden cheerful messages, such as “Don’t forget the magic,” “I will walk with you,” and “Keep on dreaming.”
Together, the exhibition is a continuation of Kang’s artistic dedication to conveying happiness and comfort to his audience through adolescence memories. His thick, clean lines and simple silhouettes mimic youthful coloring books. The characters featured are mostly animal-like plushies given to babies. It has become a crossroad from his own personal story to others, from timid to sharing his stories in unfiltered ways, from the east to west, and from grief to hope.
