LOOK INTO MY OWL

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

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

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

This show just reached it’s conclusion but is still certainly worth a mention. “Wait for Walk” is a collection of photographs taken by Florian Böhm of pedestrians hovering on street corners in New York City. The series was recently exhibited at Cohen Amador Gallery. The pause for cross traffic made for some unlikely group photos. A wide range of emotions are portrayed to inspire the voyeur or in my case make a converted mountain man yearn for the diversity of the city.

Florian Böhm
Wait for Walk
10 September - 18 October 2008
Cohen Amador Gallery

Cryptic coloration has been in use by humans for military concerns dating back centuries and in nature for millennia. In the photographs of Liu Bolin, hiding takes on a personal note with political overtones. The invisible man calls attention to places and concepts by removing himself from the picture. Liu Bolin has a solo show opening at Galerie Bertin-Toublanc in Paris. Check the website for more images.

Liu Bolin
22 October - 22 December 2008
Galerie Bertin-Toublanc
Paris

Zeke K is interested in the moment and he captures these moments with careful set up and a camera. His current show “Stills from the Unrealized Films of a Stranger” is up now at Photoflow Gallery. The Giclée on canvas prints have the look of motion pictures, in this case, ones that were never made. The imagery is mostly dark in theme as the artist attempted to isolate a time when, “the featured character is about to do something that will change their life forever, a moment from which they can never return to whom they once were.”

Zeke K
Stills from the Unrealized Films of a Stranger
2 October - 1 November 2008
Photoflow Gallery
Sherman Oaks, CA

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

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