LOOK INTO MY OWL

“Meaning is Overrated”, a new show from Mark Jenkins opens tonight at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art. Jenkins is one of the heroes of the street that has been able to make the difficult transition from the outdoors into a gallery setting. The gallery has been kind enough to share with us this special sneak peek of works that you will be able to examine as part of the exhibit. The artist will be present for the opening so check with the gallery for details.

Mark Jenkins, Meaning is Overrated, Carmichael Gallery preview, 2010.

Mark Jenkins, Meaning is Overrated, Carmichael Gallery preview, 2010.

Mark Jenkins, Meaning is Overrated, Carmichael Gallery preview, 2010.

Mark Jenkins, Meaning is Overrated, Carmichael Gallery preview, 2010.

Mark Jenkins, Meaning is Overrated, Carmichael Gallery preview, 2010.

Mark Jenkins
Meaning is Overrated
21 January – 18 February 2010
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art
West Hollywood, CA

The Wynwood Walls is an ongoing outdoor mural project produced by Deitch Projects and Goldman Properties. Twelve murals were completed for the opening including work by Aiko, Os Gemeos and Nunca, Stelios Faitakis, Jim Drain, Shepard Fairey, Futura, Barry McGee, Ara Peterson, Clare Rojas, Kenny Scharf and the team of Swoon, David Ellis and Ben Wolf. Here are photos of some of our favorites.

AIKO, The Wynwood Walls, Miami, 2009.

Shepard Fairey, The Wynwood Walls, Miami, 2009.

Shepard Fairey, The Wynwood Walls, Miami, 2009.

Kenny Scharf, The Wynwood Walls, Miami, 2009.

The Wynwood Walls
NW 26th Street & 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL

Three installation pieces by Wolfgang Laib are on display at the Sean Kelly Gallery in NYC.

Wolfgang Laib, Frieze of Life (detail), 400 clay pots, white ashes, wooden shelves, 2009.

The wooden shelves that support the four hundred ash filled clay pots in “Frieze of Life” (above) have been situated nearly two-thirds of the way up the walls that enclose the installation. For this most recent work, Laib collected white ashes from various temples approximate to his studio in India. The piece, like much of this artist’s yield does not offer clarity nor division, instead a cyclical singularity has been sought with success.

Wolfgang Laib, Pollen from Hazelnut, 5 jars of hazelnut pollen, 2002.

Twenty-three years have passed since a pollen field has been seen in New York. A great opportunity to engage the senses. The hazelnut pollen was collected by hand and has been sifted onto the floor of the gallery. The shape of the field is that of a window or a door protruding into this reality from an unnoticed realm. This motif along with the use of elemental materials is also conspicuous in the earlier work, “Rice Meals” (below).

Wolfgang Laib, Rice Meals, 12 brass cones, rice, 1988.

Wolfgang Laib
Frieze of Life
29 October – 5 December 2009
Sean Kelly Gallery
NYC

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC is hosting an exhibition of captivating sculptural works by Brian Jungen. The museum put together an excellent site for the show and is offering a signed book in limited quantities through the online store.

Brian Jungen, Carapace, industrial waste bins, 2009.

Brian Jungen metamorphoses common items into chimerical sculptures that despite their chilling presence impress the viewer with a peculiar sense of the familiar. The soulless products that he manipulates, garbage cans, lawn chairs and sporting goods, serve as a reminder that everything living and inert can be regressed to the same essence.

Brian Jungen, The Prince, baseball mitts and dress form, 2006.

The upcycled components that converge into these new forms represent a venture that elicits a sense time travel. The works strike an equilibrium of past present and future. The items that we use today have been repurposed through traditional craft to birth objects as they might exist in a post industrial society.

Brian Jungen, Prototype for New Understanding #23, Nike Air Jordans, 2005.

Brian Jungen
Strange Comfort
16 October 2009 – 8 August 2010
National Museum of the American Indian
Washington, DC

Kiel Johnson has been invited back for a second solo show at the Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica.

Kiel Johnson, Two Sides to Every Story: AKA Boom Boom, chipboard, foam, tape and glue, 2009.

The artist has brought a wide array of media into play for this exhibition. The work operates on a memetic algorithm that holds significant personal meaning for Johnson but also conjures complex nostalgic reactions in the viewer. The transformation of fact through the circuitry of memory and experience drive the presentation.

Kiel Johnson, After and Before, ink on paper, 2009.

Communication of fuzzy thoughts that exist in a states of change can be a difficult task. In the form of a basic, albeit intricate abstraction, “After and Before” (above) posits a direct view of this duality in perception.

To further clarify his individuality, Johnson created an “autobiographical printing press” (below). Images chronicling the construction in the artist’s studio can be found here.

Kiel Johnson, Publish or Perish, pine ply, steel, aluminum, inkjet on paper, chipboard, 2009.

Kiel Johnson
17 October – 14 November 2009
Mark Moore Gallery
Santa Monica, CA

A solo exhibition of works by the late artist and architect Simon Ungers is on display at the Gering & López Gallery in NYC.

Simon Ungers, Light Works Museum, three renderings mounted to glass, one drawing mounted to glass, 1 DVD, 2005-2009.

Simon Ungers matured his aesthetic early on in post-war Germany. It was a place mired in the task of rebuilding, forgetting and trying to remember. When the human spirit is forlorn, survival depends on extraordinary signs of hope to continue. Ungers found his release through visionary architecture and sculptural works that pine for a better place.

Simon Ungers, Column (in Light), photograph printed on vinyl, 2009.

The bulk of the exhibition is made up of two-dimensional renderings of Ungers’ light works. This imagery allows the viewer to explore the sculptures in ideal settings at carefully conceived angles.

The highlight of the show centers on the large piece, “Light Installation” (below). Before his passing in 2006, Simon Ungers envisioned exhibiting the large work in the gallery’s Chelsea space. This show represents the fulfillment of his desire. The large columns of light and their placement evoke several architectural concerns. They are at once atrium and nave with specific reference to support. It’s certainly a passage worth taking in person.

Simon Ungers, Light Installation, acrylic, steel, fluorescent light fixtures, installation view, 2001.

Simon Ungers
Light Works
17 September – 31 October 2009
Gering & López Gallery
NYC

“Up Against”, an impressive variety of work from Janine Antoni currently inhabits the Luhring Augustine galleries in NYC.

Janine Antoni, Tear, lead, steel, HD video projection with surround sound, 2008.

The 4,182 pound wrecking ball that is part of the installation “Tear” (above) is accompanied by a projection of the artist’s eye. The wrecking ball was cast in lead and used to demolish a building. The soft metal gave slightly with each blow creating a history of each impact. The sound of these collisions have been synchronized to the blinking of the large eye. Should the effect be lost on the viewer, they should perhaps check for their own pulse.

Janine Antoni, Conduit, copper sculpture with urine verdigris patina, 2009.

“Conduit” (above) advances the body in relation to architecture theme. The sculpture was designed as a prosthetic device enabling a woman to urinate from the standing position. The piece is accompanied by a photograph of the artist making use of “Conduit” while standing on the roof edge of a large skyscraper. The work as a whole brims with humorous irony that could be lost if taken too seriously.

Janine Antoni, Inhabitat, lead, steel, digital c-print, 2008.

I have always thought of Antoni’s art as very personal. Response to her efforts vary depending on the expectations of the viewer. Some envision Janine Antoni serenely riding a carefully contoured wave while thrusting a torch to the sky. Others, like myself imagine her surfing with fire. The artist completely understands this dichotomy and uses the knowledge to both irritate and inspire.

Janine Antoni
Up Against
12 September – 24 October 2009
Luhring Augustine
NYC

Tim Noble and Sue Webster have taken their “20 Modern Classics” on the road to the Triumph Gallery in Moscow.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Spinning Heads in Reverse, painted bronze, 2006.

It is the first time that the pair have exhibited in Russia and they have made the most of the trip. Several pieces that highlight Noble and Webster’s preoccupation with the silhouette are on display including the figure ground reversal exercise of “Spinning Heads in Reverse” (above) and the more traditional shadow work found in “Untitled (Rat and Trap)” (below). Through these well established techniques, the artists encourage their audience to question their instincts and look harder.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Untitled (Rat and Trap), welded metal and light projector, 2005.

“Scarlett” (below) stands apart from the contour related works. Mechanical toys and other deposits hum and chatter on the surface of a workbench. The installation calls to attention the awkwardly nefarious view that children have toward adulthood.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Scarlett, workbench table, studio detritus, taxidermy animals, mechanical assemblages, electric motors, urine, theatre blood, cooking oil, peanut butter, 2006.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster
20 Modern Classics
22 September – 9 October 2009
Triumph Gallery
Moscow