LOOK INTO MY OWL

The work of Daniele Buetti embodies the subtle simplicity of a good poem. “Snowflakes Over a Burning House” is a showing of his recent work at Haunch of Venison. The gallery has been transformed into an installation that is the perfect nimbus for Buetti’s multifarious manifestations. Alongside the lightboxes pictured here, the show also subsumes video and sculptural works. The general theme of the exhibit strays but always revisits ambiguities that concern every creative.

Daniele Buetti
Snowflakes Over a Burning House
30 August - 11 October 2008
Haunch of Venison
Zürich

The photography of Taryn Simon is now on view at Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. She has gone where few have tread and returned with evidence that is both visually and conceptually compelling. From a nuclear waste facility (above) to a fireworks testing ground or a gun manufacturing plant (below), Simon has hit some hot spots and tendered an aesthetic for danger and controversy.

Taryn Simon
An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar
13 September - 25 October 2008
Gagosian Gallery
Beverly Hills

It’s as though the 1970’s have risen from the ashes at DCKT Contemporary. Ryan Humphrey has opened his latest show “All or Nothing”. The exhibition has a macho theme that predates political correctness, leaning back to a time that it was acceptable to flex in public. The discourse moves from the classic Trans Am imagery to the ice box adorned with stickers and filled with alcohol and condiments. This work is truly all or nothing and if you don’t like it, Humphrey may beat you down without a thought of legal ramification.

Ryan Humphrey
All or Nothing
19 September - 1 November 2008
DCKT Contemporary
NYC

Packard Jennings produced this amazing pamphlet. There are eight pages depicting the imagined downfall of a shopping mall. I first became enchanted with his “Business Reply” illustrations via orphaned images on a discussion board a couple of years back. After an exhaustive search I still could not find the identity of the artist… until now. Packard Jennings, see his site, enjoy the anarchy.

Jennings spent a day at the mall leaving his pamphlets in odd places for the unsuspecting shopper. His actions led to a 24 hour banishment from the mall. Here’s the video.

A room surrenders a glimpse into the inhabitants soul. The painters in the current show, “Interiors: Paintings By” at Gallery 10G have picked up on this phenomena of the externalized interior. These are not mere architectural renderings; the artists have added bits of fancy excogitated from their perception. The results range from charming to surreal. Don’t miss the opportunity to check out the spaces created by Natasha Kissell, Ian Hartshorne, Michael Tole & Louise Thomas. While marveling at painterly technique you may just find an idea for a rug that really ties your room together.

Interiors: Paintings By
Kissell, Hartshorne, Tole & Thomas
17 September - ? 2008
Gallery 10G
NYC

A lot of commercial work in the fashion advertising industry has traversed into fine art. The current show at Cook Fine Art is a display of this intersection. The exhibit includes some very impressive photographs minus the logos and sales pitches. If you are in NY, put something nice on and strut over to the gallery.

Miles Aldridge | Richard Avedon | David Bailey | Simon Emmet | F.C. Gundlach | Horst P. Horst | Frank Horvat | Sarah Moon | Helmut Newton | Irving Penn | Rico Puhlmann | David Seidner
15 September - 30 October 2008
Cook Fine Art
NYC

The commercial work of Dave Anderson took him on trips around the country. These journeys spurred Anderson to head out on his own to produce the current photographs on view at Clampart. The artist traveled through twenty states with a rule that the expedition would not rely on any road that had more than two lanes. Many of the results are scenes seldom seen by those short on time.

Dave Anderson
Roadside Ghosts
18 September - 18 October 2008
Clampart
NYC

The sculptures of Michel de Broin are in a class that few occupy. The blend of deep concept and gut level response make for a powerful combination. He’s got a heavy schedule of museum and gallery shows coming up in France, New York and Canada over the next few months. Check his website for upcoming events and an archive of previous works.

Lady Aiko wants you to “Shut Up & Look”. The idea of less talk and more art is certainly appealing and her latest solo show at the Brooklynite Gallery verifies this precept. The works are visually engaging with an all over chaotic treatment of the surface. Aiko uses an invigorating combination of stencils, spray paint and brushwork to convey the layered feel of a throw up on the street while achieving the thoroughness expected of gallery work.

Aiko
Shut Up & Look
13 September - 11 October 2008
Brooklynite Gallery
NY

A tremendous undertaking has reached fruition in the Bronx. This past weekend, “Street Art Street Life: From the 1950’s to Now” opened with a huge street fair in front of the Bronx Museum. The showing contains global works from late 50’s grainy black and white photographs to current video installations created specifically for the exhibit.

Lately, the trend has been for galleries and museums to pick up on street works and offer the artists well deserved exposure to contemporary art enthusiasts. This multimedia experience covers the street going back five decades and proffers the path that led to this acceptance.

Street Art Street Life
14 September 2008 - 25 January 2009
Bronx Museum

David Choe has relocated to New York City and as usual, he’s keeping busy. First off he is part of an impressive group show at the Bowery. The show was organized by Lazarides Gallery and has involved some of the coolest artists on the block including, Faile, Blu, Paul Insect, JR, Zevs, Ian Francis, Conor Harrington, Space Invader, Polly Morgan, Antony Micallef, Reas, Jonny Yeo, Mode2, Bast, Mark Jenkins, Vhils & Miranda Donovan. Sounds like a great collection of work. “Outsiders - NY” opens for private view on September 25 at 6pm and then is available for public viewing for about 2 weeks.

Choe has also been painting at the new Upper Playground set to open at the end of September in NYC. Later on this year he will be putting up a solo show in China and next year in Korea.

The current exhibition at the Catharine Clark Gallery is an invitation into the fugue. The elaborate “self-portraits” of Julie Heffernan are on view through the end of September. These internal landscapes reveal much about the artist but the power of the viewer does not extend plenarily. The ornate structures are a simulation of entirety, for the majority of these structures remain unseen. Perhaps with prolonged interaction more secrets may unfold.

Julie Heffernan
Broken Homes
30 August - 27 September 2008
Catharine Clark Gallery
San Francisco