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| Bride of Stein with Le Bonheur de Vivre |
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| Woman with the Hat |
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| Pleasing Papa |
Janice Pena Art Blog
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hilary Harkness
Janice Pena Art Blog
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Adam Ogilvie: Your Blinded Hand
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I have never heard of Adam Ogilvie but I love his work which, reminds me of graphic design work nonetheless. I feel a little Milton Glaser inspiration coming on. Adam's pop psychedelic and 60's inspired art makes me feel cheerful and fuzzy wuzzy deep down inside and hopefully you'll feel the same way too. His work is a "feel good" kinda thing. When I'm feeling erratic and/or psychotic instead of taking my meds all I do is just stare at Adam's work and I start to feel cool, calm and collected :-) His works could possibly put the whole pharmaceutical industry "out of business ASAP." Chillax (chill out and relax) and see Your Blinded Hand at Josee Bienvenu thru June 25th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Martin Kippenberger: I Had A Vision
I can't figure out why I have such a negative reaction towards Martin Kippenberger's sculptures and installation work; I first became acquainted with Martin's work when I had happened to visit MoMA and saw his "The Problem Perspective" show back in 2009. I wasn't impressed then and nor am I impressed now. I don't understand his work; I get REALLY pissed off when crap (or at least what I perceive to be crap) gets thrown together and then the heavens from up above add some luck (in the guise of an art dealer seeing the artists show) and voila an artist is made. This scenario may not have happened to Martin Kippenberger (word for word) but I just don't get the mannequin in the wheelchair and I just don't get the other crap? I know one shouldn't speak ill about the dead but maybe (some of his work should also be laid to rest.) His paintings are great but I don't care for the installtions. See it or don't see I Had A Vision at Luhring Augustine thru June 18th. S.O.S. When you see it shoot me an email with a brief synopsis on your take of the show and/or it's meaning behind it. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Friday, May 27, 2011
Ali Smith:Merge
Personally I am not a big fan of abstract art, but I do like and appreciate Ali Smith's show Merge. I like her work and for some strange reason I feel Francis Bacon essence whenever I view Ali's paintings. The chaotic shapes that form her paintings form something that I can't make sense of it, but none the less I like it. See it at Freight and Volume now thru June 18th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Dasha Shishkin: Desaparecido (Disappeared)
de·sa·pa·re·ci·do
Spanish, Portuguese .one who has disappeared: used, especially in Latin America, in referring to a person who has been secretly imprisoned or killed during a government's program of political suppression.
Dasha Shishkin's current show Desaparecido at Zach Feuer Gallery is an amped up infusion of neon colors with thought provoking subject matter. Most of the subjects in Dasha's paintings indeed seem to be vanishing right before our eyes. These moderate sized paintings with candy coated colors kept my eyes dancing with dizziness; just the way I like it. I am assuming the reason why Dasha chose the word "desaparecido" for her exhibition is because most of the characters in her paintings appear to be disappearing, so to speak. See Desaparecido at Zach Feuer thru June 11th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Sean McCarthy: Maladapted
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| artwork by Sean McCarthy |
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| artwork by Sean McCarthy |
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| artwork by Sean McCarthy |
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| artwork by Sean McCarthy |
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| artwork by Sean McCarthy |
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| (lt) artist Sean McCarthy and Melissa Brown (ctr) |
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| artist Sean McCarthy |
While attending Lehman College (2006-2010) my major in school was art history therefore, it made sense that sometimes I hung out in the art/art history department; oftentimes I would see an interesting man with a Garfunkel type hairline, round glasses a full beard and a "preppy" wardrobe. While I never matriculated into one of Sean McCarthy's classes I wish I had. I love Maladapted and all of its' odd creepiness; Sean's bizarre creatures and monsters brings back the memories of The Monstrum by artist Seung Ae Lee. Sean's Maladapted has successfully managed to serve us all a full plate of creepiness (in a good way.) Sean's odd make believe creatures makes me wonder and think "do these animals really exist?" Sean's creatures are benign versions of H.R. Giger's Alien(s) franchise; imaginary cross species and biological experiments gone haywire; hadrosaurus anyone? Maladapted at Fredericks & Freiser thru June 11th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Mary Henderson: Bathers
The amazing genre of painting called "photorealism" is brought to you by Mary Henderson at Lyons Wier Gallery now until June 11th. Photorealism always manages to blow my mind; I still can't get use to the fact that an artist can actually create a painting by copying a photo and giving the illusion that it's an actual photo. Bathers is a testament to Henderson's talent and capabilities at fooling the viewers eye into believing that it's an actual over-sized photo. This show is definitely worth the time and effort to visit the city and the show. See the Bathers at Lyons Wier Gallery thru June 11th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Kara Walker: Dust Jackets For The Niggerati
Kara Walker's art has been a constant reminder to us (Americans) about the horrendous tragedies and injustices that African-Americans and minorities have suffered, throughout the centuries. The all-too harsh realities of lynchings, rapes, murders and maltreatment, were everyday occurrences that African-Americans and minorities experienced; it's a scary thing to know that right now in some parts of African the same exact harsh realities are going on there but whites are not inflicting this brand of hate but Africans (rebels) are producing this incendiary carnage and demonic wreakage on their own people. Kara's graphic depictions of children, adolescents and adults forced to perform anal, oral and vaginal sex on their "massa's" has always been too hard for me to digest and swallow. To think that such savagery, humiliation and violation was, can and is inflicted on human beings by human beings; makes me sad to realize that most humans are just thoughtless animals with larger brains than cavemen that walk up right. It's tough but see Dust Jackets For The Niggerati at Sikkema Jenkins & Co thru June 4th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Songsik Min: Two Faces
About two weeks ago when I walked into Doosan Gallery to visit the gallery's latest show I couldn't help but remember Sarah Frost's last show titled Arsenal; a show I happened to review on this blog. Songsik Min's current show Two Faces reminded me of every school boys fantasy come true (besides pictures of naked girls/women or in some cases of naked boys/men.) While most boys fantasize about guns, comics, video games and girls; I can't help but feel a little deja vu; I've relived this fantasy before, with Sarah Frost's Arsenal show. So while this show isn't exactly layed out and constructed the way Sarah's show was, the topic of guns (has run past its' expiration date) I didn't get that BANG sensation at Two Faces; he's talented but there wasn't enough oomph that propelled me into wanting to experience and see more art from this artist, much less finish seeing the whole show; I really just wanted to run out of there. View the show to kill time but don't expect a happy ending. Two Faces at Doosan thru June 4th. - Madame J.
Janice Pena Art Blog
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
When Starlight Meets the Sky (Group Exhibition)
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| Mary Arneson |
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| Roberto Fernandez Dorticos |
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| Gloria Perkins |
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| Karen Ponelli |
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| Barbar Muir |
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| Mark Holt |
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| Carmen Sotuela |
Janice Pena Art Blog
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