September Preview Week: Lower East Side Openings

by The AFC Staff on September 5, 2012 Preview

Amanda Ross-Ho, "Time Waits for No One", 2011. Courtesy Andy Art Magazine.

Openings in the Lower East Side begin tonight. Bring your umbrella.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Domestic Objects
Bridge Gallery, 98 Orchard Street. September 5 — October 18, 2012. Opening 6-8 PM.

Galleries have figured out we’re sick of summer group shows, so September brings us a slew of solo shows, plus this anomalous group show put together at Bridge Gallery. The exhibition is about private spaces, belonging, family and all that jazz. Sounds boring. We’re hoping the show exceeds the value of its press release thanks to the participation of bloggers Greg Allen and John Powers. Susanna Starr, and Jer and Diane Thorp showcase their work as well.

Matthew Miller
Pocket Utopia, 191 Henry Street. September 5 – October 14, 2012. Opening 6 – 9 PM.

We like Pocket Utopia and assume this show will generate fodder for discussion because the gallery is respected. Still, we have to express some early reservations about these drawings of men with enormous foreheads. This work treads dangerously close to virtuoso alien art, and that’s not something we typically care for.

Props for Memory: Joseph Beuys, Paul P., and Amanda Ross-Ho
Invisible-Exports, 14A Orchard Street, September 5 – October 21, 2012. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

Invisible-Exports piqued our interest by taking a risk with an odd trio of artists. Amanda Ross-Ho’s loud statements (remember Pregnant Again and Again?) couldn’t be more different from Paul P.’s quiet canvases. It’s all in the name of exploring the failures time and memory, though, which is a good enough premise for a show. Plus, it includes Joseph Beuys’ Economic Values, which is kind of like an East German Kwik-E-Mart.

Jen Mazza: The Words
Stephan Stoyanav, 29 Orchard Street. September 5 – October 14, 2012. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

If you buy into the idea that certain MFA graduate classes have more weight than others, than Jen Mazza is an artist to watch. A 2000-2001 graduate of what has been dubbed “The Rutgers Sweet Spot”, a class that included Matthew Day Jackson, Andrew Guenther, and even AFC’s Paddy Johnson, Mazza’s small-scale oil paintings of books may place her in similar ranks.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Still from "Delic" by Kathleen Daniel, an artist featured at Ramiken Crucible's Aboveground Animation screening.

Aboveground Animation
Ramiken Crucible, 389 Grand Street. Screening begins at 8 PM.

Many now know Ramiken Crucible as that place with live tigers behind the liquor store. Well, the excitement doesn’t stop there! Watching this sick trailer for  Aboveground Animation made our day after long hours of slogging through press releases. Not only is Aboveground an E.S.P. TV alum, but the trailer features what looks like a part two of “demon pizza doctor”, so that’s good. We also recommend checking out the archives.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Anya Kielar: WOMEN
Rachel Uffner Gallery, 47 Orchard Street. September 9 – October 21, 2012. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

We’re really on the fence with the lead image for this show. It’s a dyed portrait on fabric that evokes some of the crappier aesthetic moments of the eighties. On the other hand, it may also conjure up some of the more interesting moments from avant-garde set design. We’ll check out the show this Sunday and hit you up with a report next week.

Alex Olson: Palmist and Editor
Lisa Cooley, 107 Norfolk Street. September 9 – October 21, 2012. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

There’s something comforting about Alex Olson’s particular brand of abstraction, and that’s caught on with a lot of people: Olson’s work has been making the rounds at art fairs, and she was featured in the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. 2012. Also, her paintings are fun, serving up squiggles, grids, and tidy drips, all of which makes them more than just a soothing thing you’d see in a waiting room.

Emily Noelle Lambert: Heart Heat
Lu Magnus, 55 Hester Street. September 5 – October 21, 2012. Opening September 9, 6 – 8 PM.

Emily Noelle Lambert combines her vividly colored sculpture and painting to make an interactive and immersive environment for viewers. Walking through Lu Magnus, surrounded by rainbow colored art objects sounds pretty good to us, so its made our listings.

Alix Pearlstein: The Drawing Lesson
On Stellar Rays, 133 Orchard Street. September 9 – 21, 2012. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

We’re not surprised that a show of two new videos by Alix Pearlstein, one of the most talked-about contemporary video artists, made NY Mag’s preview. Pearlstein creates psychologically-charged group dynamics through sparsely-environed videos of minimal dance and gestures. You have to see them to understand; these are not online, so this may be your only chance.

Dike Blair, Lois Dodd, Tom Fairs, Arlene Shechet, Travess Smalley, and Barry Stone: Walled Garden
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, 54 Ludlow Street. September 9 – October 21. Opening 6 – 8 PM.

What does “walled garden” the Internet reference and “walled garden” the Biblical reference have in common? Both terms suggest a closed-off space, which could be just about anything from a prison to a sanctuary. They also provide the core concept of this show dealing with the digital landscape, an idea that reminds us of one of our favorite shows from 2011, Notes on a New Nature, at 319 Scholes.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Brendan Cass: 7 North
KANSAS, 59 Franklin Street. September 13 – October 27, 2012.

Brendan Cass has swapped his trademark neon impressions of European landscapes for moodier chromatic paintings of highways and railroads in Cornwall Bridge, CT. Reflecting on loss and spirituality, it sounds like Cass has gone on a personal “journey” this summer.  We’re going to find out.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Andra Ursuta
Ramiken Crucible, 389 Grand Street, September – October 31, 2012.

You may remember last year’s jerry-built catapult at Ramiken Crucible, seemingly having failed to launch a mannequin through the gallery roof. Andra Ursuta’s knack for dark slapstick and deadpan sculpture assure us that her solo show will be anything but boring, which says more for Ramiken than most of what’s on ArtCat right now.

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