FRONTIERS
TOBY CHRISTIAN
b. 1983
Plinth (I) (2008) MDF, plaster, paint
Block (Blue) (2007) Mixed media
Diana With Fawn (2005) Grade II listed sculpture, cleaning materials
Penis (II) (2010) Marble
more on Toby Christian at tobychristian.com
May 2010
3 posts
NEXT
NEXT is Chicago’s contemporary fair held concurrent with Art Chicago. Lots of good work on view, and a Curators’ Forum, which hosted a good array of talking heads: curators Hamza Walker from the Renaissance Society, Joao Ribas from MIT’s List Center, Bill Arning from Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Franklin Sirmans from LACMA, Bisi Silva from Center for Contemporary Art Lagos, Irene Hoffman from Contemporary Baltimore, the Hyde Park Art Center’s Kate Lorenz and Allison Peters, among many others; and artists Jason Lazarus, Theaster Gates, Curtis Mann, Scott Reeder. The addition of the panels lent useful context to the divergent curatorial practices, as well as commercial vs. DIY ethics, on display at the fair.
Highlights
Daniel Glasser & Magdalena Kunz
Pello Irazu at Moisés Pérez de Albéniz Andueza, Pamplona. I don’t know why every time I respond to these photos with colorful redactions.
Montgomery Perry Smith at Harold Arts, Chicago
Jessica Labatte at Harold Arts
Zoe Crosher at DCKT Contemporary, NY
Jamie Pitarch at Spencer Brownstone, NY
Theaster Gates at Kavi Gupta, Chicago…KILLING IT.
James Clark at ADA, Richmond representing the Mid-Atlantic
Cordy Ryman, my favorite in show at Pulse 2009, at Kavi Gupta and DCKT
Very chilling work from Noelle Mason at Thomas Robertello; her work was recently on view in Baltimore in Maryland Art Place’s Losing Yourself in the 21st Century (hi).
Panel time: (from left) Irene Hoffman, Contemporary Baltimore; Susanne Ghez and Hamza Walker, Renaissance Society; Paul Ha, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; and Bill Arning, Contemporary Art Museum, Houston.
Justine Reyes at Humble Arts Foundation, NY
Tyler Cufley at Baer Ridgway, SF
Unknown at Swimming Pool Project Space, Chicago
Brent Houston at Swimming Pool Project Space
Christopher Gatton at LVL3, Chicago
Paul Kenneth at LVL3
Club Nutz, Scott Reeder & Elysia Bowery-Reeder’s pop-up art fair nightclub
(not sure who this is…sorry)
Kirsten Kay Thoen at Humble Arts Foundation
Michael Radziewicz at UIC (University of Illinois-Chicago)’s STAY GOLD MFA showcase (big ups to Latham Zearfoss, Daniel Baird, Nick Harvey, and Maria Jonnson also)
Michael Siranni at UIC
David Kagan’s video The Redacted Bunny (2008-10). Pretty funny sendup of Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Karen Finlay, and Ryan Trecartin, among others.
SAIC 2010
I traveled to Chicago last weekend on the occasion of Art Chicago/NEXT and the Version media festival (as well as squeeze in face time with loved ones, being a Chicago ex-pat myself). On Friday evening, the School of the Art Institute hosted its 2010 MFA thesis exhibition, a sprawling cross-section of media, ideas, and techniques. I was pleased to see equal parts conceptual substance, visual spectacle, and risk taking. As much shit-talking as I’ve done on SAIC (being a former Columbia College student, it was obligatory), I must say their MFAs brought it pretty hard, with a lot less fluff and dreck to wade through than one can expect at any student show.
Highlights (in no particular order)
1. Brian Maller
Figure 1 (2010). Acrylic,spray paint, digital collage on canvas over panel
Pink Nude (2010). Acrylic, digital collage on canvas over panel.
detail from Pink Nude
I enjoyed the paintings Maller exhibited, and you KNOW how I am about painting. I responded to the textures, and particularly to the digital information, which imparted an architectural element, however flat and simulated, to the paintings. Elsewhere, gestures, blobs, streaks, and spattering recall something or someone from painting’s vast history, while the use of computer printed graphics bookends the trajectory towards the current “digital painting” trend via Photoshop and MS Paint, its crude reduction embraced by certain .Net artists. The titles refer to figurative painting (Pink Nude, Figure 2), though the end results are anything but.
2. Dave Murray
85% Of The Art I Made Turned Into A Diamond (2010) 0.29 carat diamond made from the cremated remains of 24 attempted projects, vitrine.
detail from 85% Of The Art I Made Turned Into A Diamond
Plant Ghost (2009). Inkjet print
Artists with a sense of humor always get me. The diamond in the vitrine, while thoroughly smart-assed, is pretty thoughtful, considering that “in this economy” being an artist fresh out of school is probably the worst choice. Why NOT literally compress your (failed) efforts into something with unchallengeable monetary worth?
Never Odd or Even (2010) Wood, steel, found objects, concrete, drywall
detail from Never Odd or Even
Ah, an actual installation—a consideration of objects and space—as opposed to a bunch of miscellany slapped together, hoping some meaning will stick (it’s a mistake many young artists make). I really enjoyed this piece, and many others on Jonquil’s site.
4. Szu-Han Ho
Pretty dramatic stuff here. The use of blinds reminded me of something I saw at the recent PS1 show Between Spaces. While I was photographing, an older woman grabbed one of these in her hand. I shrieked in horror—some people!
5. Joe Grimm
Definitely appreciated the structuralist aspect of this.
Cinnamon Scent Machine (2010) Dewalt orbital sander, basketball, cinnamon sticks, steel, rope, extension cord (click the link to see it in motion)
A fake potato with a magnet, dragging itself in an elliptical motion, making a mark as it goes. GENIUS.
Creepy kinetics are back!
Other folks to look out for: Manuel Sanchez, Caleb Charland, Jessica Hyatt, Timothy Bergstrom, Winslow Smith, Jason Conny, Michael Vallera, Danny Greene, Stevie Howell.
