There are about 500 billion openings tonight so it's going to be hard to choose what to do. This post focuses on text based work simply as a means of covering a subject adequately, but do look to ArtCal for a comprehensive list of exhibitions this week.
The NY Art Book Fair
548 West 22nd street
Benefit Preview: Thursday November 16th (6-9 pm)
November 17-19th
Image copyright Printed Matter
Who doesn't love art books? I plan to see the shit out of the NY Art Book Fair this weekend and it's not just because I like books – their whole program looks great. For example, Artist and curator Matthew Higgs, will be moderating a panel titled: Can We Trust an Organization Over 30? Normally, I wouldn't be overly interested in a discussion with a title like this, but last spring he put together an excellent show at Murray Guy, so now I want to see everything he does. I wrote a listing for this exhibition last spring on Flavorpill, which I'm republishing here for background.
Matthew Higgs’ latest show, What Goes Around Comes Around, continues the artist’s virtuoso application of curatorial practice to the presentation of unique title pages culled from books, photographs of books, and, most recently, catalogue covers. Often playful, his selections are determined through a myriad of criteria, including their use of wordplay, font, and cover condition. Young Mexicans and Artists Say the Silliest Things are among the more lighthearted titles chosen, their wry humor exceeding the expectations of a good find. A testament to the growing importance of language within artmaking today, Higgs demonstrates that one can make first-rate artworks out of secondhand books. (PJ)
Also, Brian Kennon will have a booth – the artist behind 2nd Cannons, a publishing house I was introduced to last spring via myspace. Kennon has put together some of my favorite publications to date, such as Black and White reproductions of The Abstract Expressionists, and Hello Victims: Ad Reinhardt. I'm particularly interested in the latter, which brings together Ad Reinhardt paintings and Zombie Movies – mostly because I've been fantazising about what a Christain Jankowski- Kennon collaboration might look like, (Jankowski currently has an exhibition titled Us and Them at The Kitchen which focuses on horror movies.)
Image copyright 2nd Cannons
Additionally, the fair will host a number of performances including one by Clifford Owens. Apparently the piece is inspired by Benjamin Patterson, a black Fluxus artist. Fluxus art, which is an impossible movement to describe, so please accept the gross generalization “art that is about the artistic experience, (which is often life itself)”, is a movement I find about as enjoyable to experience as calculating my taxes. However, I did go to school with Owens, so I can say with some authority that his work is usually very good.
Related: Eye on Europe at MoMA
2nd Cannons upcoming publication: Leisure: An Art Journal, Issue #0, A Questionaire. The book will feature contributions from artists such as AA Bronson, Lawrence Weiner, and yours truly!
Winkleman/Plus Ultra Gallery and Schroeder Romero Gallery
637 West 27th Street
New York, NY
7-8 pm
Image copyright Lisa Hunter
The launch party for Lisa Hunter's new book The Intrepid Art Collector will be hosted tonight at Winkleman/Plus Ultra Gallery and Schroeder Romero Gallery. I suspect I'll be relying on trades to acquire any art I actually like for the rest of my life, but for those who have more than zero dollars to work with, this should be of some interest. In fact, even as someone who doesn't collect, the practice is still worth investigating a little – it’s good to understand the as many aspects of the field you’re in a possible. So come to the launch, meet the author, and have her sign your very own book.
Related: Schroeder Romero Gallery, Lordan Bunch
Winkleman/Plus Ultra Gallery, Rosemarie Fiore
Invisible NYC
East Village / Lower East Side
148 Orchard Street, between Stanton and Rivington
Opening tonight: 7-9
Image copyright Invisible NYC
First the disclaimer: I have never been to this gallery or seen this artists work in person. In as much as one can tell from a press release and jpeg though, this show looks like it will be really good. Lunar is a Croatian graffiti artist who has created work for community walls throughout his country, and for major companies like Coca-Cola, Nissan, and Sony Playstation. If you are a nerd, and planning to go the Brooklyn Museum's Graffiti Women panel discussion this coming Saturday, the Invisible NYC exhibition could be a great primer.
Comments on this entry are closed.