Compass New Directions at Black and White Gallery in Williamsburg

by Art Fag City on November 8, 2007 · 4 comments Reviews

YUKI NAKAMURA

Yuki Nakamura, Dream Suspended, 2006, porcelain, neon wire, AC drivers, dimensions variable Katsura Okada, Zest, 2007, 1,020 rice paper rolls and color SUMI ink, Photograph: B.

An artist recently told me he found the effort of visiting shows outside Chelsea generally yielded better results, but that the allure of looking at a lot of work at once usually won over. Having spent a good deal of time this week looking at over sized and ostentatious spaces housing like minded art in that neighborhood, this conversation held particular resonance for me. In particular, it reminded me that I should really discuss Compass: New Directions, an exhibition curated by Jill Conner currently on display at Black and White Gallery in Williamsburg simply because it provides some relief to the showier Chelsea scene.

Carol Boram-Hays
Carol Boram-Hays , Wall: Limbo, 2005, mixed media, 3 x12 feet, Ground: Lethe, 2007, mixed media, dimensions variable. Photograph: B.

If nothing else, the work of the nine artists showcased in Conner’s exhibition share an interest in formalism, frequently through repetition of motif and material. Yuki Nakamura employs numerous porcelain soccer balls that hang from color strings and are attached to a motorized pulley system on the ceiling to create a moving arrangement of forms. Katsura Okada displays yellow rice paper rolls in clusters that take on a beautiful amorphous shape on the wall, and the solid cement and rebar formations in the courtyard by Carol Boram-Hays suggest movement that is literalized by the sculptures within the gallery space.

Ann Ginburgh Hofkin, Crit Streed

Left: Ann Ginburgh Hofkin, Intersection, 2007, digital color print, 60 x 40 inches, Right: Crit Streeds, Speak to Me, 2003 – 2007, video installation. Photos copyright Black and White Gallery

None of the works mentioned seem interested in overly concept driven work, which is just fine by me because the sculptures function so well as objects. The only stumbling points in the show come from works that either rely to heavily on formalism and thereby verge on decorative, such as Ann Ginburgh Hofkin’s floral Intersection, and those that speak to conceptualism without adding anything to the discourse, as is the case with Crit Streeds’ Baldessari inspired video Speak To Me.

With that said, group exhibitions with only one or two weak points are rare, so certainly the show warrants a visit. Notably, Black and White Gallery also happens to be across the street from some trendy clothing shops, which for those of us who either can’t afford or don’t care to dress like the pod people at Comme des Garçons, will be a welcome change.

{ 4 comments }

Crit Streed November 14, 2007 at 5:01 pm

I want to thank you for visiting our exhibition COMPASS at Black &White Gallery and to respond to your comment regarding my installation speak to me. The thorough deconstruction of image and language made by early postmodern work does get a lot of stuff out of the way. It is useful and doesn’t have to be revisited. I work in a much more intuitive investigation that usually begins with what it going on around me. My plea was in part a frustration with the inadequacies at times to fully connect with another person. The posturing of the projector in front of the wall is likened to a conversation and the reciprocal event of what one brings to that encounter. My references made as a visual artist reflect my constant dialogue with my self about “how art speaks” but also with the anticipation that the viewers often approaches art with the expectation that it will “tell” them something. Some viewers approach the gallery wall with anticipation not unlike an encounter that leads to a conversation between two people. The projected video as a moving, audible images profoundly embedded in our culture offered an added dimension of human presence; i.e., the presence of the hand making the drawing. The urgency is repeated by that allure while the act and voice become a frustrating cadence rather than completing the expected. The repeating gesture of both art/drawing and signs and voicing of language presents both components of language and exigency but the imposed gaps dominate and left me with a sense of longing. The piece revealed to me the complexity of interaction…. of being heard…of connecting in a fully complete way with another human being. As in the movie Babble…logic is overridden by what transpires. Thanks for offering your blog for exchange. Crit Streed

Crit Streed November 14, 2007 at 1:01 pm

I want to thank you for visiting our exhibition COMPASS at Black &White Gallery and to respond to your comment regarding my installation speak to me. The thorough deconstruction of image and language made by early postmodern work does get a lot of stuff out of the way. It is useful and doesn’t have to be revisited. I work in a much more intuitive investigation that usually begins with what it going on around me. My plea was in part a frustration with the inadequacies at times to fully connect with another person. The posturing of the projector in front of the wall is likened to a conversation and the reciprocal event of what one brings to that encounter. My references made as a visual artist reflect my constant dialogue with my self about “how art speaks” but also with the anticipation that the viewers often approaches art with the expectation that it will “tell” them something. Some viewers approach the gallery wall with anticipation not unlike an encounter that leads to a conversation between two people. The projected video as a moving, audible images profoundly embedded in our culture offered an added dimension of human presence; i.e., the presence of the hand making the drawing. The urgency is repeated by that allure while the act and voice become a frustrating cadence rather than completing the expected. The repeating gesture of both art/drawing and signs and voicing of language presents both components of language and exigency but the imposed gaps dominate and left me with a sense of longing. The piece revealed to me the complexity of interaction…. of being heard…of connecting in a fully complete way with another human being. As in the movie Babble…logic is overridden by what transpires. Thanks for offering your blog for exchange. Crit Streed

Matt Lucas November 15, 2007 at 3:41 am

It’s like Black and White just realized they were in Williamsburg!

Matt Lucas November 14, 2007 at 11:41 pm

It’s like Black and White just realized they were in Williamsburg!

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: