I went to a Leonardo HD Live screening earlier at the Skirball Center. As you may remember, I had made plans to go to London to see the Leonardo show before I heard about the Challenge.
After I bought my ticket, I got an email saying that Luke Syson, the curator for the show, would be available for a talk and Q&A before the screening, so I went for it. NYU was really nice in providing free drinks and crackers and cheese. Syson stressed that the National Gallery is interested in organizing
scholarly shows that illuminate the subject matter rather than purely
blockbuster shows. Syson recently joined the Met and has a very long title, so I'd better not bungle it. It was interesting to hear Syson. The show took five years to put together. How the artwork came together had already been reported elsewhere in the press, but the coups were obviously Lady with an Ermine from Poland and the Louvre's version of Virgin of the Rocks. The Louvre will host its own Leonardo exhibit showcasing the newly restored Virgin and Child with St Anne in a month, and the National Gallery will lend its so-called Burlington Cartoon, a related huge drawing that has never been used as a cartoon (that is, used to transfer a drawing onto canvas with pins).
During the Q&A session, I thanked Syson for organizing an amazing show, and I asked him about attribution, which I thought was a safer subject to discuss than conservation and cleaning, and in particular about Salvator Mundi and Madonna Litta. Syson was remarkably forthright about Madonna Litta, saying that it was probably painted by Marco d'Oggiono rather than Boltraffio. I was a little perplexed by this; I think all the drawings related to Madonna Litta in the show were by Leonardo or Boltraffio. His comments on Leonardo's ermine as a "super-ermine" or "ur-mine" were really funny -- an ermine doesn't really look like this, he said, and Leonardo's version is super-muscular.
In the prescreening (which came with the show), the audience was treated to a bunch of multiple choice questions projected on the screen. Some were downright silly -- do we really need a question on whether Leonardo worked during the Renaissance, the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution? But I did find out that he was a vegetarian and that his notebooks were hard to read because he wrote in a dialect.
The screening itself was entertaining, but in a slightly silly way. I guess there always seems to be a need to dumb things down when it comes to culture. This was obviously no substitute for seeing the show in person, but still I found myself uncovering new details or wishing that I had spent more time with certain works, such as the Burlington Cartoon. The initial screening was live and took place during a private viewing for cultural illuminati the night before the show opened. Some of them were asked to opine on the paintings. I recognized only two: Michael Craig-Martin, a British artist who taught at Goldsmiths and nurtured the YBAs (including Hirst) and actress Fiona Shaw, whose Medea from years ago made an indelible impression.
Following the screening was another Q&A with Robert Simon, the art historian who was instrumental in researching Salvator Mundi, the newly attributed Leonardo. I'd have liked to stay for the entire session, but it's been brutal for me in terms of getting enough sleep, so I left after a few minutes.
Roberta Smith's NYT review on the HD screening is right on the mark; it's a poor substitute for the real thing. Elsewhere I've heard Luke Syson say that one should spend a minimum of ten minutes with each painting. Years ago I'd have been bewildered by this statement. But in the intervening years, I've definitely learned that reproductions are never accurate enough -- Michael Craig-Martin makes the same points about color, depth and scale and that even seeing paintings side by side deepens one's knowledge of them.
Critics have been universal in their praise of this show. The chief art critic of the Times of London, Rachel Campbell-Johnston, writes that "It is the single most amazing show I have ever seen -- or felt." The HD screening uses superlatives over and over. As it drew to a close and snippets of wildly positive reviews were flashed one after the other, I once again felt that I was really fortunate to have seen it.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Athens: Gallery 11 -- the Finish Line
[I just got home tonight. I'll fill in the rest retrospectively.]
February 20, 2012, Monday
Miles flown: 1500 miles + 3452 miles
Flight time: 3h 40 min + 7h 20 min
Left: 1:30 pm from Athens ATH
Arrived: 8:20 pm at New York JFK
Before I exited the Syntagma Metro station, I glanced at the clocks. 10:58 am, two minutes before the gallery was due to open. I emerged just in time to catch the Changing of the Guard at the Parliament Building.
My steps quickened as I crossed the road and passed the French Embassy. In my haste I passed a street that turned out to be Merlin, where Gagosian is located. Merlin did not seem to have a sign, so I had to head back for it. I was surprised that #3 looked quite dark. It certainly wasn't the airy gallery I was expecting.
I started to wonder if my quest was about to be derailed by a bit of Greek drama (or tragedy). I had entertained doomsday scenarios where a Greek exit from the Euro and the return of the drachma precipitated cataclysmic chaos -- the worst consequence of which was that scores of people would fail to complete the Challenge.
The Athens gallery has a similar setting as the Geneva gallery. It's located in a building that has other establishments. I looked at the various buzzers, and well, it was all Greek to me! Finally I spotted the Gagosian buzzer. I rang and waited.
When my call was answered, I felt a sense of relief. All my weekends since January 14 have involved a visit to at least one Gagosian gallery. I have flown internationally three times in six weeks. I was looking forward to the end of the Challenge. I stepped inside the gallery. I'm here for the Spot Challenge, I announced. Well admittedly it's not as sexy as declaring I'm Bond, but I've used the same line at every gallery.
She looked at my card and took out her stamp and said, This is your last stop, congratulations! Then she wanted to take a photo of me to post on Facebook. Pick a painting you like, she added helpfully. I took a quick look and stood next to one. Ah the popular one, she said, so I wasn't scoring points for originality. Here's my triumphant portrait in Athens, which I've copied from Facebook.
She confirmed that I was the first to finish in Athens, as I had
suspected. I figured out later that the number of people who finished
before me is between 59 and 66 (inclusive). According to Facebook, at
least one other person finished in Athens today.
As I walked briskly towards my hotel, I felt a bit of exhilaration. So I had done it after all! Then I heard a call and turned and saw another staff member from Gagosian who had caught up with me. It's good I saw you, she said, as I wondered what she was after. I thought that I had dropped something, perhaps my passport or some cash or both, as I had done before. Though I was sure that I had checked prior to leaving, my senior moments are clearly becoming more frequent.
You have to come back and sign something. So I followed her back to fill out a short form asking for some personal details and the personal dedication I'd like Damien to make. I had to surrender my Spot Challenge card with them. I'd guarded it as closely as my passport. Now I'd need to wait for its return along with the print.
There was some Greek drama after all, which unfolded as soon as I got to the airport at 12:45 for my 2:35 flight. I was connecting in Heathrow for New York, and as I looked at the screens, I discovered my flight was canceled. This was not good. I knew that being stuck in the afternoon would lessen my chances of getting home on time.
I was directed to Ticketing, and of course there was already a line. I was doubting that there would be a connection that could still get me back home before work on Tuesday. Then the staff called out for people bound for New York.
There were five of us, and there was an Aegean flight whose checkin was just about to close. I was the first to be checked in, and I moved quickly when I noticed the flight was leaving at 1:30. So I was really lucky that I would make my connection after all -- and that the Greeks are so efficient. I was also lucky that I showed up to the airport earlier than I normally would. And I was very lucky that this was the only flight cancellation I faced during the course of the Challenge.
February 20, 2012, Monday
Miles flown: 1500 miles + 3452 miles
Flight time: 3h 40 min + 7h 20 min
Left: 1:30 pm from Athens ATH
Arrived: 8:20 pm at New York JFK
Before I exited the Syntagma Metro station, I glanced at the clocks. 10:58 am, two minutes before the gallery was due to open. I emerged just in time to catch the Changing of the Guard at the Parliament Building.
My steps quickened as I crossed the road and passed the French Embassy. In my haste I passed a street that turned out to be Merlin, where Gagosian is located. Merlin did not seem to have a sign, so I had to head back for it. I was surprised that #3 looked quite dark. It certainly wasn't the airy gallery I was expecting.
I started to wonder if my quest was about to be derailed by a bit of Greek drama (or tragedy). I had entertained doomsday scenarios where a Greek exit from the Euro and the return of the drachma precipitated cataclysmic chaos -- the worst consequence of which was that scores of people would fail to complete the Challenge.
The Athens gallery has a similar setting as the Geneva gallery. It's located in a building that has other establishments. I looked at the various buzzers, and well, it was all Greek to me! Finally I spotted the Gagosian buzzer. I rang and waited.
When my call was answered, I felt a sense of relief. All my weekends since January 14 have involved a visit to at least one Gagosian gallery. I have flown internationally three times in six weeks. I was looking forward to the end of the Challenge. I stepped inside the gallery. I'm here for the Spot Challenge, I announced. Well admittedly it's not as sexy as declaring I'm Bond, but I've used the same line at every gallery.
She looked at my card and took out her stamp and said, This is your last stop, congratulations! Then she wanted to take a photo of me to post on Facebook. Pick a painting you like, she added helpfully. I took a quick look and stood next to one. Ah the popular one, she said, so I wasn't scoring points for originality. Here's my triumphant portrait in Athens, which I've copied from Facebook.
 |
| I wore the same jacket as I did in HK, but the rest of the outfit was different, I assure you... |
As I walked briskly towards my hotel, I felt a bit of exhilaration. So I had done it after all! Then I heard a call and turned and saw another staff member from Gagosian who had caught up with me. It's good I saw you, she said, as I wondered what she was after. I thought that I had dropped something, perhaps my passport or some cash or both, as I had done before. Though I was sure that I had checked prior to leaving, my senior moments are clearly becoming more frequent.
You have to come back and sign something. So I followed her back to fill out a short form asking for some personal details and the personal dedication I'd like Damien to make. I had to surrender my Spot Challenge card with them. I'd guarded it as closely as my passport. Now I'd need to wait for its return along with the print.
 |
| gago11's journey ended on Feb 20, 2012 in Athens |
I was directed to Ticketing, and of course there was already a line. I was doubting that there would be a connection that could still get me back home before work on Tuesday. Then the staff called out for people bound for New York.
There were five of us, and there was an Aegean flight whose checkin was just about to close. I was the first to be checked in, and I moved quickly when I noticed the flight was leaving at 1:30. So I was really lucky that I would make my connection after all -- and that the Greeks are so efficient. I was also lucky that I showed up to the airport earlier than I normally would. And I was very lucky that this was the only flight cancellation I faced during the course of the Challenge.
A Morning in Athens
I started my morning at the Acropolis. My options were limited for a brief Monday morning in the city, as a number of the main museums, including Tschumi's Acropolis Museum, are closed. I was struck by the degree of construction, or restoration, at the site. I couldn't remember if it was like this before. My Michelin Greece guide is considerably dated but warns, "The steps are very slippery." The Propylaia are actually the monumental gates to the Acropolis, which comprises a number of buildings: the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and, of course, the Parthenon.
I really enjoyed myself here and then made my way down through the ancient Agora, or marketplace. I walked along the Panathenaic Way, which cuts through the Agora. As I understand it, the Panathenaia was a festival honoring Athena that took place every year. This included musical contests, sporting competitions and religious sacrifices (according to a YouTube video by Open University). The Panathenaic Way was part of the route of the procession to the Acropolis. Every four years, a slightly longer festival incorporating special games would be held. The Michelin guide claims that the Parthenon frieze, the bulk of which are in the British Museum, depicts the Panathenaia. However Wikipedia claims that this interpretation is problematic as a temple structure would then depict mortals and a (then-)contemporaneous event. Wikipedia also claims that no description of the frieze survives from antiquity.
After my walk through Agora, I happened upon the ruins of Hadrian's library. Then I was off to Gagosian for my last stamp.
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| View from the Acropolis |
The Panathenaia and the Panathenaic Way, courtesy of Open University @ YouTube
After my walk through Agora, I happened upon the ruins of Hadrian's library. Then I was off to Gagosian for my last stamp.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Art Sleuth in Assisi
February 19, 2012, Sunday
Miles flown: 676 miles
Left: 8:25 pm from Rome, FCO
Arrived: 11:15 pm at Athens, ATH
Having been Rome a few times, I decided to take a day trip outside of Rome before flying to Athens. It came down to Tivoli (Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa) or Assisi. If I had picked my destination based on which Franz Liszt piece I enjoy better, Tivoli would have won. But despite the logistical difficulties with visiting Assisi on a Sunday, I went there.
Then once I got to Assisi, I had to take a bus to go uphill. I got off at the last stop and then wandered downhill towards San Francesco, the main purpose of my visit. The views of the valley were stunning. San Francesco comprises two churches, the Lower and the Upper Basilicas. The Lower Basilica came first and is in the Romanesque style and was built in the 13th Century.
The Upper Basilica houses a famous fresco cycle on the life of St. Francis. Authorship, however, is uncertain. Vasari attributed the cycle to Giotto, but the attribution has been deemed problematic and art historians have called this the "Assisi problem." As early as the 19th century, doubt was cast on Giotto's authorship, and this continued into the 20th century starting with the German art historian Rintelen in 1912. Alastair Smart has argued cogently in his book published in 1971 that the Assisi St. Francis cycle is not by Giotto but by at least three artists / artist workshops. This is supported by Bruno Zanardi, who has also argued that the Roman artist Pietro Cavallini was responsible for some of the most important frescoes. However, a problem for Giotto naysayers is that Giotto's presence in Assisi was well documented, so presumably he should have painted something.
A disastrous earthquake struck Assisi in 1997 and the frescoes were shattered and had to be painstakingly restored. It was really wonderful to be able to see this art. Perhaps even more miraculous are the Cimbaue frescoes in the Upper Basilica that have survived in a ruined state. The frescoes have oxidized and look like photo negatives, but hints of the bold and magisterial compositions remain.
During the winter time, all the masses take place in the Lower Basilica, and there are four masses on Sundays, so I revisited the Lower Basilica a few times, in between the next-to-last and last masses and after the last mass. Great art abounds in the Lower Basilica as well. Simone Martini decorated one chapel, and Giotto and his workshop (or perhaps just his workshop) were responsible for a chapel and the right transept. My favorite works are by Pietro Lorenzetti in the left transept and his Deposition in particular.
A three-hour bus ride brought me back to Tiburtina around 5 pm. I then took the train for the airport and flew to Athens on an 8:25 pm flight.
Airfare: $117.36
Hotel: $66.06
Miles flown: 676 miles
Left: 8:25 pm from Rome, FCO
Arrived: 11:15 pm at Athens, ATH
Having been Rome a few times, I decided to take a day trip outside of Rome before flying to Athens. It came down to Tivoli (Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa) or Assisi. If I had picked my destination based on which Franz Liszt piece I enjoy better, Tivoli would have won. But despite the logistical difficulties with visiting Assisi on a Sunday, I went there.
Cziffra plays Liszt's "Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este", courtesy of YouTube
Sunday train connections for Assisi are especially tricky, as there are few direct trains between Rome and Assisi, and most require a change in Foligno. Complicating my trip, line B of the Metro was not running, so I went to Termini to catch a train for Tiburtina, and then I transferred to a train for Assisi. It look me a while to figure out that the left luggage office at Tiburtina didn't open until 7:30, about twenty minutes before my train for Assisi.Then once I got to Assisi, I had to take a bus to go uphill. I got off at the last stop and then wandered downhill towards San Francesco, the main purpose of my visit. The views of the valley were stunning. San Francesco comprises two churches, the Lower and the Upper Basilicas. The Lower Basilica came first and is in the Romanesque style and was built in the 13th Century.
 |
| Views of the valley |
 |
| San Francesco on top of the hill |
 |
| San Francesco |
Cziffra plays Liszt's "St François d'Assise: la prédication aux oiseaux", courtesy of YouTube
A disastrous earthquake struck Assisi in 1997 and the frescoes were shattered and had to be painstakingly restored. It was really wonderful to be able to see this art. Perhaps even more miraculous are the Cimbaue frescoes in the Upper Basilica that have survived in a ruined state. The frescoes have oxidized and look like photo negatives, but hints of the bold and magisterial compositions remain.
During the winter time, all the masses take place in the Lower Basilica, and there are four masses on Sundays, so I revisited the Lower Basilica a few times, in between the next-to-last and last masses and after the last mass. Great art abounds in the Lower Basilica as well. Simone Martini decorated one chapel, and Giotto and his workshop (or perhaps just his workshop) were responsible for a chapel and the right transept. My favorite works are by Pietro Lorenzetti in the left transept and his Deposition in particular.
 |
| Lorenzetti Deposition, courtesy of f_snarfel @ flickr |
Airfare: $117.36
Hotel: $66.06
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Roma: Gallery 10
Feburary 18, 2012, Saturday
Miles flown: 3452 miles + 898 miles
Flight time: 10h 45min (7h 5min + 3h 40min)
Arrived: 4:20 pm Rome FCO
I had a dreaded 3.5 hour layover at Heathrow. The kind of layover that is too long, but yet not long enough for a brief escapade. I considered visiting Hampton Court Palace, but in the end, I decided to read piles of New York Times at the airport.
I arrived at Fiumicino Airport at 4:20 pm and got my hopes up for catching the 4:38 pm train to the city. I almost made it, but I had no cash on me and went to the wrong ticket counter instead of the real Trenitalia counter, which would have accepted credit cards. So instead I watched the train pull out and stubbornly waited half an hour for the next train instead of taking a taxi. Since Gagosian was open until 7 pm, I had enough time, but part of me just really wanted to take a taxi and get it over with.
Once I got to the city, I walked everywhere. A few weeks ago Europe was hit by extreme cold, and now the weather was much more inviting. After I got my card stamped, I went to the Pantheon, one of my favorite places anywhere. It's the best preserved structure from antiquity; the technology that went into building the dome was lost for centuries. Raphael was buried there, as was the first King of Italy following unification, Vittorio Emanuele II. It inspired the German photographer Thomas Struth to take some memorable photographs. Nearby was Piazza Navona with Bernini's fountains. Quite a contrast between Classical and Baroque, but Classical wins for me.
A Rome visit calls for gelato and the Trevi Fountain. While the New York Times swears by San Crispino, I decided to revisit Giolitti, where I hadn't gone in years. This shop has been making gelato for over 100 years. The Obama daughters made gelato here, and Hepburn and Peck visited in Roman Holiday.
I had dinner at L'Asino d'Oro, where Jeff Chu (the second person to complete the Challenge) ate as well during his Rome visit. Jeff wrote about his experience for the Wall Street Journal. The restaurant has good reviews on the web and what I had definitely tasted better than it looked.
Airfare: $908.90
Hotel: $102
Miles flown: 3452 miles + 898 miles
Flight time: 10h 45min (7h 5min + 3h 40min)
Arrived: 4:20 pm Rome FCO
I had a dreaded 3.5 hour layover at Heathrow. The kind of layover that is too long, but yet not long enough for a brief escapade. I considered visiting Hampton Court Palace, but in the end, I decided to read piles of New York Times at the airport.
I arrived at Fiumicino Airport at 4:20 pm and got my hopes up for catching the 4:38 pm train to the city. I almost made it, but I had no cash on me and went to the wrong ticket counter instead of the real Trenitalia counter, which would have accepted credit cards. So instead I watched the train pull out and stubbornly waited half an hour for the next train instead of taking a taxi. Since Gagosian was open until 7 pm, I had enough time, but part of me just really wanted to take a taxi and get it over with.
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| Yes, I'm in Italy (Via del Corso) |
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| Gagosian Rome |
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| Thomas Struth's photograph of the Pantheon, courtesy of Whitechapel Gallery |
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| Bernini's "Nile," Piazza Navona |
I had dinner at L'Asino d'Oro, where Jeff Chu (the second person to complete the Challenge) ate as well during his Rome visit. Jeff wrote about his experience for the Wall Street Journal. The restaurant has good reviews on the web and what I had definitely tasted better than it looked.
 | ||||
| I can't recall what the meat was (getting old, think it was boar?), but the sauce was chocolate and vinegar |
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| Night falls on Ancient Rome |
Hotel: $102
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Last Leg...
I hope to complete the last leg of the challenge with Rome and Athens this long weekend.
51 people have already completed the challenge. Over 20 people have two galleries or just one gallery remaining.
51 people have already completed the challenge. Over 20 people have two galleries or just one gallery remaining.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
#AverageJoe and the Challenge
Speaking of trading paper clips...
Josef Valentino has financed his trip by selling shares at 20 pounds each. (Be sure to watch the amusing clip.) He's now on his way to Hong Kong...
Josef Valentino has financed his trip by selling shares at 20 pounds each. (Be sure to watch the amusing clip.) He's now on his way to Hong Kong...
New York: Gallery 9
February 11, 2012, Saturday
I made a quick trip uptown for the third Gagosian gallery in New York before I head to Rome and Athens next weekend.
The first Hirst spot painting from 1986 could be found in the Madison Avenue location. I was prohibited from taking photos of paintings unless I was in it. I had a photo taken of a 1988 spot painting where some paint had come off.
On my subway ride back home, someone got on and started ranting:
I'm an angel who has been sent here
Look my way if you're a female angel
You! You're a homosexual; you should be thrown under the tracks
We'll put the rapists and the homosexuals on Staten Island
A random passenger yelled, How can an angel talk this way?
I'm going to Washington
I'm fixing Washington
I'm using 25 million dollars to start my own ministry
My stop arrived and I had to get off the train.
Bus and subway: $2.25
Previous Gagosian gallery visit: Malevich and the American Legacy, March 19, 2011
I made a quick trip uptown for the third Gagosian gallery in New York before I head to Rome and Athens next weekend.
The first Hirst spot painting from 1986 could be found in the Madison Avenue location. I was prohibited from taking photos of paintings unless I was in it. I had a photo taken of a 1988 spot painting where some paint had come off.
 | |||||
| A small corner of Untitled (with Black Dot), 1988 |
 |
| Something for every budget at the Spot Shop next door |
I'm an angel who has been sent here
Look my way if you're a female angel
You! You're a homosexual; you should be thrown under the tracks
We'll put the rapists and the homosexuals on Staten Island
A random passenger yelled, How can an angel talk this way?
I'm going to Washington
I'm fixing Washington
I'm using 25 million dollars to start my own ministry
My stop arrived and I had to get off the train.
Bus and subway: $2.25
Previous Gagosian gallery visit: Malevich and the American Legacy, March 19, 2011
Sunday, February 5, 2012
"Blogging" the Spot Challenge
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| Three more to go... |
Having now visited eight of eleven galleries, I decided to blog about my experience. So strictly speaking, this is not a blog. I'll be filling in most of this retrospectively. Perhaps my decision to blog is another nail in the coffin for the "Death of the Cyberflâneur." Seventeen have already completed the challenge, with the first two being a crypto-socialite and a tech journalist. So it seems a bit more fun now to write about the challenge than to worry about publicity.
The Challenge was instantly appealing, as I am no stranger to flying to see art exhibitions or a historic reunification of a Yuan dynasty scroll. And coincidentally, I had already planned to be in London to see the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery over the Jan 14-15 weekend, and it's easy for me to cover the New York galleries as I am a New Yorker.
I planned the following trips for the Spot Challenge.
1. I extended my Jan 14-15 trip through Jan 16, which is Martin Luther King day, a US holiday, to cover London, Paris and Geneva.
2. Chinese New Year fell on Monday Jan 23. My parents decided to spend their new year in Kuala Lumpur. So this provided me with an excuse to spend Chinese New Year with my parents there after a quick stop in Hong Kong.
3. I flew to Los Angeles on Jan 28 for the Beverly Hills gallery.
4. Feb 20 is another US holiday (Presidents Day). I'd cover Rome and Athens that long weekend.
I sought to minimize disruptions to work, so this plan required just two days off work. I took Friday Jan 20 and Monday Jan 23 off and was back in the city on the night of Chinese New Year.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
New York: Galleries 7 and 8
February 4, 2012, Saturday
My first weekend in town in a bit, and I went to Chelsea.
I'd spent plenty of time in airports and on airplanes to catch up with stacks of NYT. One article I read was a Sunday Arts & Leisure feature on Doug Wheeler. Wheeler is a founder of the Light & Space movement, but I'd never heard of him before, and I also did not know about the Light & Space movement. However I've been to several James Turrell light installations, including the 2010 Dhatu at Gagosian at Britannia Street. As the NYT article notes, "Mr. Wheeler’s role as a pioneer had been diminished in Mr. Irwin’s and Mr. Turrell’s favor, perhaps owing partly to the difficulty of both the work and the artist."
So I arrived excitedly at David Zwirner for the Wheeler, but there was a line waiting. Even after I got inside the gallery, I had to wait. I waited for a total of two hours, which to be fair, the gallery staff warned us about. I used the time to flip through interesting old catalogues on display. Coincidentally I had just seen art by Craig Kauffman, described by NYT as a "sculptor of plastic" in his obituary, and by Helen Pashgian at LACMA the week before. All these West Coast artists had exhibited together, and I felt that I got to the party a bit late.
When it was finally my turn to see the Wheeler installation, I'd forgotten the story about the little boy in Bilbao from the NYT article, who did not realize that the "wall" in front of him was actually penetrable light. I was unimpressed at first until I realized I was fooled by Wheeler's trompe l'oeil. Once I stepped inside, I found that Wheeler had created a disorienting infinity environment in a room with no sharp corners. The curved walls gave an illusory effect of never-ending tunnels.
Zwirner has three spaces on 19th Street -- 519, 525, 533. The other spaces were showing On Kawara's date paintings ("Today" series). Karen Rosenberg of the NYT quips, "Right now in Manhattan you can see a large group of astonishingly simple
paintings, installed in multiple branches of a gallery, that
demonstrate a single artist’s global reach... Speaking broadly, you could say that one is about time and the other is about money."
I stopped at the two Gagosian outposts, of course, as well as at Mary Boone. Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds installation from the Tate Modern was considerably downsized for the Chelsea incarnation. I found it more accessible and the shimmering porcelain seeds were beautiful.
Previous Gagosian gallery visit: Andreas Gursky opening, Nov. 4, 2011 (21st Street)
My first weekend in town in a bit, and I went to Chelsea.
I'd spent plenty of time in airports and on airplanes to catch up with stacks of NYT. One article I read was a Sunday Arts & Leisure feature on Doug Wheeler. Wheeler is a founder of the Light & Space movement, but I'd never heard of him before, and I also did not know about the Light & Space movement. However I've been to several James Turrell light installations, including the 2010 Dhatu at Gagosian at Britannia Street. As the NYT article notes, "Mr. Wheeler’s role as a pioneer had been diminished in Mr. Irwin’s and Mr. Turrell’s favor, perhaps owing partly to the difficulty of both the work and the artist."
So I arrived excitedly at David Zwirner for the Wheeler, but there was a line waiting. Even after I got inside the gallery, I had to wait. I waited for a total of two hours, which to be fair, the gallery staff warned us about. I used the time to flip through interesting old catalogues on display. Coincidentally I had just seen art by Craig Kauffman, described by NYT as a "sculptor of plastic" in his obituary, and by Helen Pashgian at LACMA the week before. All these West Coast artists had exhibited together, and I felt that I got to the party a bit late.
When it was finally my turn to see the Wheeler installation, I'd forgotten the story about the little boy in Bilbao from the NYT article, who did not realize that the "wall" in front of him was actually penetrable light. I was unimpressed at first until I realized I was fooled by Wheeler's trompe l'oeil. Once I stepped inside, I found that Wheeler had created a disorienting infinity environment in a room with no sharp corners. The curved walls gave an illusory effect of never-ending tunnels.
 |
| On Kawara painting, courtesy of David Zwirner |
I stopped at the two Gagosian outposts, of course, as well as at Mary Boone. Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds installation from the Tate Modern was considerably downsized for the Chelsea incarnation. I found it more accessible and the shimmering porcelain seeds were beautiful.
 | |||
| Ai Weiwei Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern, January 23, 2011 |
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