Joseph La Piana at Robert Miller Attracts Crowds Bridge Doesn’t

by Art Fag City on March 28, 2008 · 10 comments Events

Joseph La Piana
Joseph La Piana, Image copyright Robert Miller.

Anyone else see the mob scene in Chelsea last night out front Robert Miller? I took a detour into the gallery on my way to Bridge, though based on what I saw, I can’t say I’m further ahead on figuring out what all the fuss was about. It would appear Joseph La Piana’s Kenetic State inspired all the hoo-haa — an artist who uses his breath to create the tube colored paint splats you see above. Frankly it’s hard to imagine a more limited interpretation of life, particularly because the representation of exhaling explores form at the expense of volume and texture. Jim Campbell’s Photo of My Mother, Portrait of My Father or Sabrina Raaf’s The Grower, for example, investigate similar terrain, but bring a level nuance, poetics, and beauty, La Piana never approaches.

bridge-install.jpg
Bridge Fair, Installation view

Meanwhile, Bridge fair was comparatively quite; understandably so, since they don’t have the blue chip draw of Robert Miller, but most of the work was just as bad if not worse. I suppose the experience you get from this kind of fair is similar to hunting through a dollar store; You never find what you’re looking for, but you’ll always get something else. In other words, reliably, there’s usually some piece of crap you never expected to like, and yet against all good judgment you do, and one or two reasonable galleries. In this case, Glow Lab and Hogar Collection stuck out as the clear winners, because there was enough good art in both booths to outweigh the inevitable weaker works. In particular I responded to Glow Lab, an appropriately hung salon style booth, the arrangement of the work itself mimicking the cities that inspire the galleries artists. Swoon, Tom Brauer, Mark Price and Heather Johnson all displayed strong print, collage, and mixed media works, though that list is only a small sampling of the artists they have on display.

glowlab.jpg
Glow Lab at Bridge

Despite all the bad work at Bridge, unlike Miami, my viewing experiences have not yet led to the kind of vitriol that left me silently murmuring hateful words about art. At least not yet. I haven’t seen a fraction of the fairs yet, so perhaps I’ll have to wait until Sunday before that happens. Speaking of Sunday, should any readers care to pay money to hear what you get for free on this site, I’ll be talking with a bunch of bloggers at Red Dot Sunday morning. Details below:

Bloggers Edward Winkleman, Paddy Johnson, Carol Diehl and Sharon Butler discuss blogging. Joanne Mattera will moderate.

Sunday, March 30th, 2008
11:00 a.m.
Red Dot Fair NYC
Park South Hotel
122 E. 28th St., btw. Park & Lex.
NYC.

General admission to the fair is $12.

{ 10 comments }

mao March 30, 2008 at 12:02 am

Thank God I did not go.

mao March 30, 2008 at 12:02 am

Thank God I did not go.

mao March 29, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Thank God I did not go.

Agnus April 11, 2008 at 10:25 pm

Not sure what exhibit quite frankly you saw but this exhibit is one of the best I have seen in a long time. As a art historian understanding the depth and breathe of this artist work exceeds boundaries that may seem apparent at first glance. I disagree with the review above in that the person quite honestly did not take the time to undertsand the artist process or intent. The writer’s description “uses his breath to create the tube colored paint splats” is really the limited interpretation. La Piana redefines life and gives us a fresh,original, and pure sense of having the viewer cohabitating with its envirnoment not just a mere onlooker.

Agnus April 11, 2008 at 10:25 pm

Not sure what exhibit quite frankly you saw but this exhibit is one of the best I have seen in a long time. As a art historian understanding the depth and breathe of this artist work exceeds boundaries that may seem apparent at first glance. I disagree with the review above in that the person quite honestly did not take the time to undertsand the artist process or intent. The writer’s description “uses his breath to create the tube colored paint splats” is really the limited interpretation. La Piana redefines life and gives us a fresh,original, and pure sense of having the viewer cohabitating with its envirnoment not just a mere onlooker.

Agnus April 11, 2008 at 10:25 pm

Not sure what exhibit quite frankly you saw but this exhibit is one of the best I have seen in a long time. As a art historian understanding the depth and breathe of this artist work exceeds boundaries that may seem apparent at first glance. I disagree with the review above in that the person quite honestly did not take the time to undertsand the artist process or intent. The writer’s description “uses his breath to create the tube colored paint splats” is really the limited interpretation. La Piana redefines life and gives us a fresh,original, and pure sense of having the viewer cohabitating with its envirnoment not just a mere onlooker.

Agnus April 11, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Not sure what exhibit quite frankly you saw but this exhibit is one of the best I have seen in a long time. As a art historian understanding the depth and breathe of this artist work exceeds boundaries that may seem apparent at first glance. I disagree with the review above in that the person quite honestly did not take the time to undertsand the artist process or intent. The writer’s description “uses his breath to create the tube colored paint splats” is really the limited interpretation. La Piana redefines life and gives us a fresh,original, and pure sense of having the viewer cohabitating with its envirnoment not just a mere onlooker.

Art Fag City April 12, 2008 at 5:26 am

But this exhibition didn’t “redefine life and give us fresh, original, and pure sense of have the view cohabitating with its environment. The work in the show gives us no sense of connectivity with the environment. One the works were entirely flat, two the palette was about as grotesque as the artist could make it, and three, no evidence of the process was given, but for the splats and a press release. That’s just not very interesting.

Art Fag City April 12, 2008 at 5:26 am

But this exhibition didn’t “redefine life and give us fresh, original, and pure sense of have the view cohabitating with its environment. The work in the show gives us no sense of connectivity with the environment. One the works were entirely flat, two the palette was about as grotesque as the artist could make it, and three, no evidence of the process was given, but for the splats and a press release. That’s just not very interesting.

Art Fag City April 12, 2008 at 12:26 am

But this exhibition didn’t “redefine life and give us fresh, original, and pure sense of have the view cohabitating with its environment. The work in the show gives us no sense of connectivity with the environment. One the works were entirely flat, two the palette was about as grotesque as the artist could make it, and three, no evidence of the process was given, but for the splats and a press release. That’s just not very interesting.

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