Alright art geeks, so I know you're all trying to figure out what you could possibly do tonight, but if you haven't heard, there five million openings in Chelsea tonight to start off the season. I've never been one to plot out my gallery going, so you won't be getting a carefully put together itinerary of how to fit 100 plus galleries into your viewing schedule, though I do have a few picks for the madness that will begin in a few short hours.
1. Not Gagosian. The largest gallery in the city won't be hosting an opening tonight, which means you can expect to look at those Serra steel cubes for another month. Joy.
Eric Benson, Elsewhere
Roebling Hall (Chelsea)
Chelsea
606 West 26th Street
Benson's press release compares his paintings to Edward Hopper, which seems a bit much to me if your only point is that they are sober works. The labor intensive work is put together by slicing dried acrylic paint into shapes that are then collaged onto the canvas. Collage saw a resurgence in popularity last year, David Thorpe's show at 303 being the pinnacle of this absurdity, but it's not like there aren't people who do it well, so maybe there is still space for this trend to continue.
Everest Hall, Axis Mundi
Bellwether Gallery
Chelsea
134 Tenth Avenue, between 18th and 19th Streets
This guy is a Yale grad who makes flat brushy paintings. From what I've seen thus far the work looks a little under developed, but this doesn't seem to hinder the success of Yale grads, so I'd still pick him as someone to watch.
Correction: Everest Hall is a Yale Grad, not a Columbia grad.
Sarah Oppenheimer, 554-5251
PPOW
Chelsea
555 West 25th Street
Folded plywood that links together like Lego. Apparently one of her tubes intersects the gallery and through the periphery walls, creating some sort of “private” space. Don't get your hopes up though; I doubt you'll actually get any of that tonight.
27th street at 11th
This is probably the hottest spot in Chelsea right now, and the galleries on this street will all have opening receptions tonight. Derek Eller, Foxy Production, Clementine, Wallspace, Schroeder Romero Gallery, and Winkleman/Plus Ultra, Oliver Kamm Gallery, John Connelly Presents, ATM Gallery, etc. Visit them all.
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