Author Archives: jolanta

What if you could never make anything beautiful?  And what if you wanted to be an artist but no one would help you, support you, or encourage you?  These are two of the many dynamics underscoring Phyllis Rosser’s intent in making art. I met with Rosser recently in her studio on the edge of Soho, […]

Suddenly it seems that Andy is everywhere, in galleries, in bookstores and on T.V. Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties, by Steve Watson, was recently published by Pantheon Books; Andy Warhol, a documentary film by Ric Burns, played on PBS; and three New York City exhibits (“Sculls, Hammer & Sickles” at the Perry Rubenstein gallery […]

Cecilia Muhlstein: Mary Kelly, whose infamous book, Post-Partum Document, is a seminal work of conceptual art, which addresses the role of science, feminism and how the various significations of the body become re-imagined as performance. It seems that in your pieces like The Reliquarium, Mean Body and Rest there is a certain relationship to these […]

“Wax Works” brings together a brief, albeit multifaceted, survey of wax-based art. Most compelling are the two works of Michael Zansky. His art, which is beyond sense or sensibility, exists as bold hyperextensions of his subconsciousness. In The Nature of Matter and Beyond the Standard Matter, Zansky gouges and paints, adding convulsing forms that bob […]

The six figure paintings in the show at DCKT Contemporary explore my interest in the physical forces of nature and the possibilities of how these can interact with, intersect and fragment the body. My work reflects my love of physics and the phenomenon of these unseen natural forces around us. Natural phenomena such as light, […]

Cindy Sherman’s retrospective exhibition by French curators Régis Durand and Véronique Dabin straightforwardly shows the career of a very un-straightforward artist. In Sherman’s photographs, what you see is not what you get. Or, what I get takes me through complex notions of postmodern theories of (female) identity. This is not to say that the curators […]

With all the new forms of technology affordably available to consumers and artists alike in today’s age, one would think that the realm of sound art is more accessible than ever before and overwhelming in its possibilities. But how far has this new technology allowed artists to reexamine sound as an artistic medium? Have the […]

Gallery director Jonathan Shorr tells me that all of these most recent works by Selma Hafizovic on display in his gallery were inspired by one work, THE BEST OF FRIENDS. Depicted in this oil on canvas are two dark, gray heads closely tucked together. They appear to be emoting, whispering their most intimate thoughts to […]

Melanie Pullen’s collection of more than 100 photographs that comprise “High Fashion Crime Scenes” is based on vintage crime scene images that she mined from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department, the County Coroner’s Office and other primary sources. Drawn to the rich details and compelling stories preserved in the criminal records, she […]

Anyone who has seen dialogue emerge from the writing on a bathroom wall understands our ability to respond and react to language and its implications. We assimilate a huge amount of information daily—that information comes in many forms. Sound bites, song lyrics, advertisements, blogs, profiles, overheard conversations, the media, etc. This deluge of information serves […]