I’m going to be on non-direct flights to New Orleans, which pretty much puts me out of commission on the blog for the day. In the meantime, I wrote a review on Lansing Drieden’s Rivington Arms show (now down) for the L Magazine I forgot to link to a while ago, so do read that. Comment moderation will be slow.
A giant, dark gray ball made of thick construction paper sits on a short pedestal just in front of the Rivington Arms' brick archway. It's not the most impressive sculpture I've ever seen — it is, after all, just a wad of paper — but it does match the other collaged, abstract black-and-white paintings by artist collective Lansing Dreiden. Earthy and exposed, like most works in this exhibition, the ball is understated, even underdeveloped, to a fault.
Typically displayed in sets of three, the paintings and sculptures tend to look like burnt landforms, window lattices or road signs of some kind. Given that much of the work repurposes old pieces, I suppose these kinds of references to direction, seeing and broken-down forms make sense. But the result isn't that interesting. The paintings and collages aren't visually complex, with some verging on boilerplate black-and-white geometric and organic abstract forms: among the weakest works in the show (for the aforementioned reason) are the one-sheet triptych watercolors in the front room.
To read the full review click here.
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