LOOK INTO MY OWL

Happy Halloween and to our pagan friends, a prosperous new year. Here is a timely post to celebrate. The current show at Yvon Lambert New York is the first U.S. solo excursion for artist Berlinde De Bruyckere.

De Bruyckere has a love for the old masters and she learned anatomy from the inside out. Her father was a butcher. The intent behind these sculptures is not to shock or disgust; rather, the artist hopes that you will empathize with the anguish and loneliness in the forms. The heads have been left off of the figures in hopes that the viewer will concentrate on the gesture and glean information without the aid of a screaming head.

Berlinde De Bruyckere
10 October - 15 November 2008
Yvon Lambert
NYC

Vik Muniz is opening his first solo show in Germany at Arndt & Partner Galleries. Four bodies of work cascading two floors will be exhibited.

Most of the work to be shown are connected in some way to the history of art. The most impressive are these tributes to the ancient Nazca lines of Peru. Muniz recreated these large scale earthworks with the twist of modern symbols. Aerial photographs of these impressive icons will be on view at the gallery.

Vik Muniz
Checkpoint Charlie
29 October 2008 - 17 January 2009
Arndt & Partner
Berlin

It’s always exciting to get that first glimpse of a new creation from Plaseebo. Behold… “Bank America (come suckle on the tit of credit)”.

This piece is a unique urethane custom, cast from an original sculpt by Bob Conge. Take notice of details like the glass eyes, rubber baby bottle nipples and red glass hart with excremental accessory.

“This sculpt was started 6 months ago (long before the BAIL OUT) and was inspired by the blatant greed and unfair loan-shark type fees and interest rates charged by American banks. It is just short of theft! With this piece I want to express the true image of the bank beneath the placid mask of business as usual. The bank takes your money and then shits on your dreams.”

~ Bob Conge

Galerie Max Hetzler is kicking off November with an intriguing display of paintings from Alber Oehlen. Two distinctly different bodies of work produced seventeen years apart will be on view.

The paintings from 2008 (above) are composed of large collage elements with flashes of fluid paint applied to the surface whereas the offerings dating back to 1991 (below) could be categorized as traditional abstraction.

Here’s the thing that makes this exhibit special. Move through the gallery in one direction and witness the recent work from 2008.

When you get to the end of the gallery, simply turn around and the 1991 exhibit is on display. Brilliant!

Alber Oehlen
1 November - 20 December 2008
Galerie Max Hetzler
Berlin

New York transplants from the former Soviet Union Alina and Jeff Bliumis are enjoying their first solo exhibition in the United States. “Dam Lines” opened this week at the Andrea Meislin Gallery.

The couple are interested in language and the verbal and physical barriers that are inherent in translation. The show features photography, painting and an installation conceived by the duo. In an effort to extend the reach of their work beyond the confines of the gallery space, the artists have set up site specific installations throughout lower Manhattan. They also installed more of their “Language Barriers” in the rural setting of their home in the Catskills. Photographs documenting both areas are on display at the show.

Alina and Jeff Bliumis
Dam Lines
23 October - 20 December 2008
Andrea Meislin Gallery
NYC

“Sparrow Lane”, despite the niceties of floral wallpaper and plush carpeting, is an unsettling place. This latest photographic exhibition from Holly Andres is up now at the Robert Mann Gallery.

The emphasis of the imagery is young ladies on the brink of womanhood and their inquisitive nature. The viewer is never privy to their discoveries. The mood and composition all center around these findings with the overtly posed characters blinding the audience with disquieting stares.

Holly Andres
Sparrow Lane
23 October - 6 December 2008
Robert Mann Gallery
NYC

Rodney Graham has assembled an excellent show for the Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery. “It’s All Black and White” is a cross section of media ranging the gamut including drawing, painting, photography, prints, sculpture and interactive installation.

The nucleus of the exhibit is the “Mini Rotary Psycho Opticon” which is a replica of a device used by the legendary band Black Sabbath during an early 1970’s Belgian television appearance. Guests of the gallery are welcome to pedal themselves into optic bliss.

Rodney Graham
It’s All Black and White
21 October - 19 November 2008
Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery
Munich

Ernesto Neto has transformed the inside of the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. He has taken over both floors of the exhibition space with a variety of work.

“The Wisdom of the Parts” stretches through the gallery like a cocoon awaiting and encouraging visitors to enter it’s confines to be reborn, metamorphosed from who they were prior to engagement. This sculpture acts more like an installation infusing the olfactory with the perfume of spice and overwhelming the sense of place in space. This piece is also a collision of natural form and fabricated material. These opposing forces mirror the tension that holds the art together.

Ernesto Neto
…Ai…ai…
11 October - 15 November 2008
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
NYC

Carlo Ferraris has two exhibitions running concurrently at the Florence Lynch Gallery.

“I brought this fucking house because of this table!” is comprised of video, photographs and an audio installation all documenting a table and the place it occupies in space. The title of the show is a bit of a mystery, is it supposed to be bought instead of brought? The confusion increases as the gallery has written the sentence a few different ways on their website. The work is all very strong so ambiguities concerning classification should be overlooked.

Also on view from Ferraris is “All the artwork I would have made if Horen Higgins was my father”. The centerpiece is the only electro-domestic handgun ever made. No home should be without this modern convenience.

Carlo Ferraris
I brought this fucking house because of this table!
16 October - 15 November 2008
Florence Lynch Gallery
NYC

Mexico City is a place in flux. Old buildings are being torn down in favor of the modern skyline. Alejandra Laviada explores the deserted edifices and collects the artifacts within into temporary sculptures. The results are then documented by way of the photograph. These exercises are Laviada’s way of remembering the past before it is gone forever. The large scale photographic evidence of her efforts are currently on view at Danziger Projects.

Alejandra Laviada
Photo Sculptures
11 October - 22 November 2008
Danziger Projects
NYC

Elms Lesters continues to pound the art world with one great show after another. “Adaptation/Translation”, the latest exhibition from José Parlá is no exception.

Parlá is a student of wildstyle and focuses on how tags incorporate visually into urban decay. The paintings are on canvas but feel as though they were removed from a graffiti dream wall.

The gallery has produced a stunning book to commemorate the exhibition. In addition to covering “Adaptation/Translation” it documents José Parlá’s travels as well as previously unpublished works.

“As our society moves forward through time, ever faster and in ever more complex patterns of living, we forget our spirit - our inner growth. We believe ourselves to be on the cusp of evolution but perhaps we are only experiencing an involution. The marks on the walls of our cities are perhaps a testimonial, like scars of a wounded civilization.”
- José Parlá

José Parlá
Adaptation / Translation
10 October - 8 November 2008
Elms Lesters Painting Rooms
London

Last month we gave you the heads up on Lazarides Gallery’s “Outsiders NY” show. Here are some exclusive exhibition photos that should make you want to check it out for yourself. “Outsiders” has been extended through October 26th.

MORE PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP
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