Author Archives: jolanta

Big Themes for This Year’s Turner Sonia Rolak Fundamentalsubjects are in vogue in the contemporary arts; many artists worldwide areelaborating on and seem to be particularly fascinated with the most spectacularand final of them all: Death.   InLondon, for instance, four artists shortlisted for the yearly Turner Prize aretackling the "big" life subjects with a […]

Korean Hyper-Modernism in Moscow – Park Sung-Tae Selma Stern Spread over three floors at the Krokin Gallery in Moscow,Korean artist Park Sung-Tae’s latest installation reminds us of a high-techtower of Babylon or a modern version of Dante’s Inferno. The installationconsists of infants, grown-ups and animals made from aluminum grids. Thefigures are hung on walls, but […]

David Cotterrell’s Unlikely Endeavo NYARTS style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’>The first book to chronicle thework of British artist David Cotterrell, The Impossible Projectstyle=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’> explores Cotterrell’s fascinationwith technology, politics and romance. Cotterrell’s work often pushes the parameters of art and scientific discovery:playing with an acknowledged tradition of eccentric invention, he customizesexisting technologies to assert new use-values. A practice divided between […]

Four Artists at the Williamsburg Art and Historical CenterJoel Simpson Having just closed an immense, exhilarating, exhausting show of "surrealist,fantastic and visionary art," that inspired almost as much denunciation asdelight (and that included costume ball, an over-the-top "fashionshow," and a film series), the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center isgiving itself a well-deserved breather. Its current […]

Breaking Wind Over Breaking News Aaron Zimmerman Mr."The Legendary" Joe Garden and Chad Nackers of TheOnion gave a hilarious presentation oN some of the mostpoignant political headlines the Onion has featuredin recent months. The Onion has agreat way of putting our nation’s leaders in stories thatreveal their petty, inane, and ludicrous personalitytraits. My favorite recent […]

Desiring Science, Part II Kirk Hughey Technologicalprogress is like an ax in the hands of a pathological criminal. …….AlbertEinstein "Itis for the painters to find something new" ……NielsBohr Conquest,control and domination have been an underlying theme that has propelledEurasian civilization from its inception in the Athenian polis. These motiveswere concerted against a nature perceived as […]

Still Smouldering Harriet Zinnes The Fire Under the Ashes: fromPicasso to Basquiat focuseson Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), Gaston Chaissac (1910-1964), Jean Dubuffet(1901-1985), and Joaquin Torres-Garcia (1874-1949). The works were shownearlier in the year at the gallery’s booth at the Basel Art Fair, and theirfigures and forms have been largely drawn from tribal art, “art brut,” streetart […]

November PICKS Chris Chambers It was a blast attending the inaugural for Fusion Arts Museum on Stanton Street on the Lower East Side last month. Inaugural is almost a misnomer, because the place has been there since the early eighties, “back in the day. ” But now it’s going to be open to the public […]

Thoughtful investigations Kirse Junge-Stevnsborg  The title Obstacles and Disguises covers an ambiguous political and thoughtful scenario unfolded in video and sculptural installations, a new show by Swedish artist Charlotte Gyllenhammer. Her latest work (‘Observers’ a portrait of the kidnapping and release of the wealthy John Paul Getty III’s son) was shown at Moderna Museet in […]

A Celebration of Regurgitated Domestica Jason Benjamin It took a shrug and a touch of cheerful humility to get inside the doors to Jessica Stockholder’s Table Top Sculpture show at Gorney Bravin & Lee. How many sunny Sundays have I spent stepping over similar disposable plastic clusters at a sidewalk sale while tossing a sympathetic […]