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Revolution Kid (Fox Girl) By Yinka Shonibare MBE Shown By James Cohan Gallery

10/11/2012

Yinka Shonibare MBE is a London-born artist who moved to Lagos, Nigeria at a young age. His work runs the artistic gamut--painting, sculpture, photography, film and performance art. The work usually has an eye to the legacy of colonialism and how the colonial past meshes with the globalizing present.

This piece, Revolution Kid (Fox Girl), was shown at Expo Chicago 2012 by James Cohan Gallery.

Always clever and always seeking Shonibare's work is, like so many posted here, unmistakable. It has it's own, look feel and aesthetic philosophy. After seeing just a few pieces of the artist's work you will be able to spot his pieces from across a crowded room.

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John Berggruen Gallery Showed Wayne Thiebaud's "Candy Apple"

10/5/2012

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John Berggruen Gallery exhibitions often show up on Mapanare. At Expo Chicago 2012 one of the pieces they showed was Wayne Theibaud's Candy Apple, a watercolor.

Berggruen can be relied upon to show an eclectic mix of art from the later years of the last century. But they also work with young artists. Their exhibitions are sometimes historical and sometimes forward looking. Any gallery that has been around over 40 years catches my eye. It is a tough business and only smart folks are around that long.

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Wilfredo Lam's "Idolo" Shown By Galerie Gmurzynska At Expo Chicago 2012

10/5/2012

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Wilfedo Lam is an artist every single person on earth should know. Galerie Gmurzynska was one of the galleries showing his work at Expo Chicago 2012.
This piece, Idolo, is oil and graphite on canvas and is a little darker in tone (and in fact) than many of Lam's other works. It was painted in 1954.

With an eye to Cubism, Surrealism, COBRA and other schools of the past century Lam brought something new and he tossed it right into the mix. The Cuban painter brought African and the Carribbean--in both form and color. But it has seemed to me, since I first became aware of the artist, that this is too simple an explanation of what he brought to the artistic table. It was something personal outside of the definitions we all seek to apply to artists. It was HIS art. It was HIS personal style, his psyche that made his work great. It wasn't simply that he was from Cuba and was friends with Picasso and Breton. You can, of course, say this about any artist but it is a rarity when anyone does.

See his work whenever you can. I suspect most of us cannot afford to own it!

Photos by Boyd C. Ogle II

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Stefan Kürten And Sylvia Plimach Mangold Shown By Alexander And Bonin Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

10/5/2012

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Works by Stefan Kürten and Sylvia Plimach Mangold were among those shown by Alexander and Bonin Gallery (NYC).

The photo to the left represents the work of Kürten in much the same way a finger painting might represent the Sistine Chapel.

The piece was simpy ALIVE with colors with subtle differences. Usually you look at a painting and think "Oil on canvas"...or whatever. This is one of those where you look and think "How did he do that?"

It isn't anything too tricky. It is oil and pigmented gesso on linen. His work just leaps out at you. There should have been a video of this. I apologize that there isn't.

All is not lost! You can find out more about the artist at the Alexander and Bonin Gallery website. They are located in NYC and represent a plethora of amazing artists. I keep using words like "amazing" and "wonderful." I need a thesaurus because there has to be a better set of words for artists like Kürten.

Photos by Boyd C. Ogle II

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Stephan Balkenhol Shown By Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki At Expo Chicago 2012

10/5/2012

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Stephan Balkenhol's work was shown at Expo Chicago by Galerie Forsblom out of Helsinki. He is a German artist who works out of Germany and France. His work is pictured in the blurry photo of Man With Cigarette as well as a video below. They are painted wood carvings in this case but he is an artist who generally uses a single wood block when starting his work. You can still see the chips and chunks from where the artist carved the piece before painting.

They seem sort of alive.

The artist studied sculpture at Hamburg'Hochschule für Bildende Künste. I confess to not knowing what that translates to. I also confess to being too lazy to go to "Google translate" to find out. Suffice it to say he worked with minimalist artist Ulrich Rückriem while there. He later taught at the school himself and has taught at other schools as well.

The Galerie Forsblom website has more on the specifics of the theory behind Balkenhol but for many the aesthetic beauty of the pieces may be enough. The Galerie is in Finland (it has to be because that is also where Helsinki is). They recently moved (2011) to a new space designed by Gluckman Mayner Architects out of New York. They hold around ten exhibitions a year in the two spaces in the gallery. These range from international artists to up and coming Finnish talents.

I was going to edit this to be "right side up" but it actually gives a better idea of the piece like this...!

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Max Estrella Gallery, Madrid Showed Works By Nico Munuera, Markus Linnenbrink, Daniel Canogar And More

10/5/2012

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by Nico Munuera

Max Estrella Gallery (Madrid) had a number of interesting artists. Nico Munuera, Markus Linnenbrink and Daniel Canogar all had striking pieces. The first two have work pictured here (I forgot the names and I inexplicably didn't write them down).

Canogar's sculpture made of wire and using light to animate it was a great piece. Unfortunately photos and videos of it did not come out well enough to use. To find out more about the artists and the gallery I suggest heading to maxestrella.com.

by Markus Linnenbrink

The pieces below are by Cuban artiste Gina Pellón. I confess to not being 100 percent sure that these were shown by Max Estrella Gallery. At every show there are probably three or four points where my note taking fails me (or my handwriting).

Pellón currently lives in France and is 85 years old. She has, in the course of her career, beeo associated with the Surrealists, with COBRA but her work is hard to assign to any single "school." If her work looks familiar it is in a slew of public collections. You can see more of her work at Cernuda Arte (who are always a good place to look for info on Cuban painters).

Photos by Boyd C. Ogle II

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Locks Gallery Showing Works By Thomas Chimes And Louise Nevelson At Expo Chicago 2012

10/4/2012

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Locks Gallery, in Philadelphia, has been around for over 40 years. They work with contemporary artists—most of whom are well established but certainly not all. They do have some up and coming artists.

They also have an active program of exhibitions working with well known artists or their estates. I love when galleries do these sorts of exhibitions. There is something special about a gallery exhibition rather than a museum exhibition. What is that? I have no idea but there IS something.

They work with area artists, such as Thomas Chimes whose work is below, and also release impressive catalogs of their exhibits.

Two of the artists at their booth at Expo Chicago 2012 were Chimes and Louise Nevelson.

Pieces by Nevelson (above) seemed to be everywhere at the satellite fairs during Art Basel Miami. Her distinctive, black, wooden sculptures are difficult to miss once you become familiar. There were actually a few people imitating Nevelson’s work which boggles the mind. Why duplicate pieces like hers?

Nevelson was Russian but came to the USA at a young age in the early 1900s. She studied at The Art Students League of New York and, unsurprisingly, painted with Hans Hoffman. She was an assistant to Diego Rivera as well. She passed away in 1988 and has been the subject of two retrospectives at the Whitney and a traveling exhibition as well.

Faustroll Helmet 1984 and Rachilde 1986 by Thomas Chimes

photos by Boyd C. Ogle II

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Gallerie Paule Anglim And Tony Oursler At Expo Chicago 2012

10/4/2012

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Hierarchical Pastel

Tony Oursler’s Smirk couldn’t help but catch the eye. It is peculiar. Peculiar is good. I always wonder how artists and galleries sell this sort of projection art—especially at a show, in a city, where the buying types are a tad conservative from everything I have been told (sotto voce and off the record). There was a smaller projection piece that was delicate and lovely but just wouldn’t have translated to a photo or video.

Oursler combines sculpture with projection and even performance. His work has a sense of the history of the moving image and of the human psyche (especially the “abnormal psyche”). The work Hierarchical Pastel was at Expo Chicago (although I didn't recognize it from the photo). Find out more at the artist website.

Gallerie Paul Anglim, in San Francisco displayed Oursler’s work. Find out more about the gallery and their impressive history and current artists at www.gallerypauleanglim.com.

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John Scott's Dark Commander Shown By Nicholas Metivier Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

10/4/2012

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Dark Commander

Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto showed work by (among others) John Scott. Scott has been making notable art since the 1980s and he received the Governor General’s Award for Visual Art in 2002. His work is often mixed media. It is likewise often doom laden and ominous. Check out Dark Commander to the left.

His sculptures often use found objects as their basis (Apocalypse Trans Am, for instance). Once you see a few of his pieces you will likely always be able to spot his work. It has a vibe that is all its own (to use some hippie terminology). As to the gallery, Nicholas Metivier founded it in 2004 and they focus on Canadian, American and European artists. They focus on no specific genre and they work with artists at various stages in their careers.

For more info head HERE.

Photo by Boyd C. Ogle II

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Carl Hammer Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

10/3/2012

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Carl Hammer Gallery, located in Chicago, showed numerous pieces of interest at Expo Chicago 2012. Pieces ranged from the vaguely demented posterish work by Leon Golub (left)to 3D work by Craig Norton. Norton's work calls to mind urban street art. There is an interesting blog post on how people assume he is black (as if that matters). You can read it HERE.

Mark Dennis' Safari, pictured below (the skulls) is a new work from the artist (oil on canvas). Dennis' work takes on an almost "collage" quality juxtaposing things that don't seen to GO together. But, of course, they do.

Martin Ramirez was also featured. For of his works are pictured together. Likewise they had work by Mary Lou Zelazny which is great. But we somehow neglected to take a photo. This is also the only gallery where I neglected to write down the names of the works. No, I was not drunk. You can find out more about the Carl Hammer Gallery HERE.

Safari by Mark Dennis

Photos by Boyd C. Ogle II

works by Martin Ramirez

works by Craig Norton

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Revolution Kid (Fox Girl) By Yinka Shonibare MBE Shown By James Cohan Gallery

John Berggruen Gallery Showed Wayne Thiebaud's "Candy Apple"

Wilfredo Lam's "Idolo" Shown By Galerie Gmurzynska At Expo Chicago 2012

Stefan Kürten And Sylvia Plimach Mangold Shown By Alexander And Bonin Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

Stephan Balkenhol Shown By Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki At Expo Chicago 2012

Max Estrella Gallery, Madrid Showed Works By Nico Munuera, Markus Linnenbrink, Daniel Canogar And More

Locks Gallery Showing Works By Thomas Chimes And Louise Nevelson At Expo Chicago 2012

Gallerie Paule Anglim And Tony Oursler At Expo Chicago 2012

John Scott's Dark Commander Shown By Nicholas Metivier Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

Carl Hammer Gallery At Expo Chicago 2012

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