NY Arts Magazine » Matthew Marks Gallery

Ken Price at Matthew Marks Gallery

mauri — Fri, 09 May 2014 09:00:21 +0000

Courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery.

Ken Price: Large Sculptures
May 9 – June 28, 2014
Matthew Marks Gallery
522 W 22 Street
502 W 22 Street
New York City
matthewmarks.com

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NY Arts Picks: Chelsea Gallery Shows to See Alone

mauri — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:46:24 +0000

Chelsea gallery hopping is pretty fun most of the time, and often it’s a good idea to bring a friend along for company. Then there are some times when that other person is more of a distraction than an ally. Whether it’s because they have a different opinion of the work than you do, that they talk too much during the experience, or get they tired of walking around too easily; sometimes it is better just to go see art by yourself.

The following are a few exhibitions throughout the Chelsea gallery scene involving art that is better when viewed alone. Maybe the art is really understated and requires your undivided attention to really bring out its subtle beauty. Maybe the work is intentionally overwhelming and you can go there alone to really get lost in it. Whatever the case, here are a selection of shows you can go see right now by yourself and be thrilled. Actually, you may want to bring your dog. They are usually good, quiet company, and all the cool people are doing it these days.

Rudolf Stingel is currently on view at Gagosian Gallery.

Rudolf Stingel
March 4th – April 19th, 2014.
Gagosian Gallery
522 West 21st St.
New York City
gagosian.com

Kiki Smith is currently on view at Pace Gallery.

Kiki Smith: Wonder
Feb 28th – Mar 29th, 2014.
Pace Gallery
510 West 25th St.
New York City
pacegallery.com

Michel Majerus has work currently on view at Matthew Marks Gallery.

Michel Majerus
February 8 – April 19, 2014.
Matthew Marks Gallery
502, 522, and 526 W 22 St.
New York City
matthewmarks.com

The post NY Arts Picks: Chelsea Gallery Shows to See Alone appeared first on NY Arts Magazine.

Ellsworth Kelly at Ninety with Matthew Marks Gallery

mauri — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:33:06 +0000

It’s pretty rare to have the opportunity to see the work of a living legend. There are very few artists who ever achieve this status, standing head and shoulders above the rest of us. If the measure of influence is equated to height, Ellworth Kelly is way up there. Turning 90 this year, this art titan is ripe for some celebration and seems poised to receive it; his work is scheduled to be exhibited in a series of museum-quality shows to ring in his ninetieth year.

The first of these exhibitions has just opened in three of the Matthew Marks spaces in Chelsea. Kelly’s recent works on joined panel, canvas, and aluminum can be viewed at 522 and 502 West 22nd Street as well as in another Matthew Marks location at 523 West 24th.

In his signature style of bold layers of oil on lively spatially referential works, Kelly is now squeezing more out of low relief as he joins colored panels to white supports in a carefully considered series of compositions. The binding of panel onto panel highlights the light and shadow created by the physicality of the form and adds a nuanced layer to the way his paintings operate in space. Most readily available in his works of white on white, subtle shifts of shadow lines move ever so slightly, emphasizing the floating nature of the forms and adding a welcome levity to the work.

Black Form II, 2011. courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery

Always one to be precise, Kelly is calculated in the way he adds elements to his work in his later years, exhibiting a work for the first time here that features metallic paint. The painted forms alternate between serious feeling hard-edged abstractions to more whimsical shapes such as a chubby letter “c” in the work Black Form II. This construction of more reflective luster pigment on aluminum is essentially a circular form with a carved intrusion that cuts in from the right of the piece. The opening acts as a counterpoint to the heaviness of the black form, allowing for play between light and shadow to activate the hollow space that extends into the center of the work.

The gallery on West 24th street houses a lyrical series of Kelly’s works titled Curves on White (Four Panels). Joining brightly colored half circular panels onto white rectangular supports, the series is set into space so that the viewer can dance her eyes across the forms, completing a visual sentence in tracing scale and proportion shifts between the separate paintings.

Seemingly unbound by age, Kelly’s work continues to progress even in the twilight of his career. Having already cemented his status as a monumental figure of NY abstraction, it must feel great to have the freedom to breathe a bit, experimenting with new materials in a way that is distinctly his own. This show is a fitting launch to what promises to be a landmark year for one of our most celebrated abstractionists. Eight different museums are set to exhibit the artist’s work throughout 2013, and we think it would be foolish to skip even one.

By Matthew Hassell

Ellsworth Kelly At Ninety , May 11 – June 29, 2013

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