Top art picks for tomorrow's JC Friday (June 5)

There are a ton of events going on for this first summer installment of JC Fridays, and I've weeded through the listings to bring you my top art picks (in no way comprehensive); notes on why I selected these shows follow each entry. It's probably not possible to see all of this amended list in one night (unless you have superhuman art-viewing powers), but keep in mind that a lot of these shows/pieces will be on view at their respective locations through the end of the month: don't despair if you miss something tomorrow.

Presented by relative location (from JC Friday's brochure):

5pm-6:30pm ART HOUSE PRODUCTIONS and COSI CAFÉ AND RESTAURANT present an Opening Reception for Hoboken artist Marni Fylling. Fylling combines her love of the natural world, art, and sometimes food, in colorful block prints. Curated by Emily Helck. 1 Exchange Place (directly across from the Light Rail stop), (201) 451-0535. Barrier-free. Map

Why: because Marni is a wonderful scientific illustrator and I've never seen any of her print-work; it will be interesting to see how the two mediums compare

6pm-8pm JERSEY CITY MUSEUM at THE MAJESTIC THEATRE CONDOMINIUMS invites you to an Opening Reception for “Fluid,” a painting installation by Marti Lawrence. The exhibition will be on view by appointment at The Majestic Theatre Condominiums through August 30, 2009. Refreshments will be served. The Majestic Theatre Condominiums, 222 Montgomery St (Grove/Barrow Sts), 201-413-0303 ext. 144. Barrier-free. Map

Why: because I want to know what this "painting installation" looks like--and hopefully see Marti's artist statement

7pm-11pm 58 GALLERY presents an Opening Reception for “United Saints of Oil,” new works by Dylan Egon, documenting the new religion of American pop culture in the traditional art of oil painting. Our new icons...true, or false. Live performance by Flaming Fire at 10 pm. DJ Street Justice all night. 58 Coles St (3rd/4th Sts), 917-349-1693. Map

Why: because 58 is probably where you'll see the most artists and JC arts aficionados in one place. Pop icons may not be your thing, but the process of cannonization can say some powerful things about the values of hip contemporary folk; maybe this show will be revealing.

7pm-10pm ATELIER PRODUCTION presents an Opening Reception for “at:muss:feer,” a multi-media exhibition. Paintings are acrylic on canvas and appear as “collisions of color,” bright & bold with no representations to religion, politics, or nudity. Wooden sculpture exults intriguing cuts & fits the space as if made specifically for it. Mixed-media works seemingly ask the viewer, without words, to consider recycling. After party hosted by Ox Restaurant. The Wells Fargo Building, 299 Pavonia Ave, Loft 2-9 (Coles/Monmouth Sts), 551-226-3632. Map

Why: because I honestly have no idea what that paragraph just said.

11am-10pm SAWADEE THAI CUISINE presents “The Final Frontier: Photographs by Edward Fausty,” April 10 – June 6, 2009. Come explore the artwork in Sawadee’s dining room and enjoy their exciting Thai menu. 137 Newark Ave (Grove/Barrow Sts), 201-433-0888. Barrier-free. Map

Why: because I've seen this already and, aside from presenting excellent group of photographs, Ed worked with Sawadee to change the lighting and layout specifically for these pieces (yes!). An example of what a restaurant show can become if artists and owners are willing to work together.

7pm-9pm FISH WITH BRAIDS GALLERY presents an Opening Reception for “Animal Pharm” by Lee Johnson. Animal Pharm: An exploration of pharmacotherapeutics and modern medicine as it impacts the environment, humanity, and society. Are all equal, or are some more equal than others? June 4th – June 18th, 2009 (Opening reception June 4th and 5th, 7-9pm both days). 521 Jersey Ave (Columbus Ave/Newark Ave), 201-451-4294. Map

Why: because this is a show topic I haven't seen very often and I want to hear more about the political and artistic inspirations for this body of work; I hope the conceptual element here is as instinctively engaging as the physical aesthetic of the pieces themselves.

5pm-8pm D.E.E.N. DESIGNER BOUTIQUE and 140 GALLERY present “Powerhouse Arts District Local Artist Displays.” Join us for a demonstration of the best local artist of the Powerhouse Arts District. You will enjoy amazing art, wine & cheese, and live music (local DJ). Stop by between 5-8 and you might get a chance to meet some artists. 140 Bay St (Provost/Warren Sts), 908-296-7679. Barrier-free. Map

Why: because I want to see who has the guts to call him/herself the "best local artist" in the PAD

7pm-11pm THE J.A. PROJECT GALLERY invites you to their Grand Opening event, located in the heart of downtown Jersey City. Complimentary wine all night. Music provided by DJ Unkle Chips. Launched with the idea to showcase artwork of superlative quality by up and coming artists. We are dedicated to introducing and promoting diverse artists looking to express their voice through various mediums of contemporary art. 341 Marin Blvd (Morgan St/Bay St), 973-981-5991. Map

Why: because this is a new gallery, they've launched a website, and I'm thrilled to learn more about them and see what they're about.

11am-8pm JERSEY CITY MUSEUM invites you to enjoy free museum admission with extended gallery hours. 6pm: A special evening featuring “Investigations of Place,” curated by Natalie McKeever and featuring short videos that use experimental imagery to explore how personal narratives are imprinted on landscapes. Short films shown on rotation, ambient music performed by Jeff Thompson and Matt Ortega in the atrium throughout the evening. Refreshments will be served. 350 Montgomery St (@ Monmouth St), 201-413-0303 ext.144. Barrier-free. Map

Why: because I'll be speaking to the curator for a feature article about the show later in the evening, and the concept could produce some different types of work. Not exactly sure what to expect.

6pm-7:30pm LILA STUDIO invites you to a Figurative Drawing Session. Please bring your own materials (bringing a drawing board is recommended). No photography allowed. Live music at The Barrow Mansion hosted by The Attic Ensemble will follow this event. The Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne St (Barrow St/Jersey Ave), thelilastudio@gmail.com. Map

Why: free figure drawing? Sounds great!

Art Markets (and Creative Grove): Democratising or Demeaning?

The brand new Creative Grove art market kicked off yesterday at the Grove Street PATH, and it got me wondering about the social standing of such pedestrian (literally) events within the artistic community.

From a "fine art" perspective (aside from selling your work on a street corner) an outdoor booth is about as low on the totem pole as you can get. People: normal, common-denominator people, stop by, talk about your pieces, and--heaven forbid--sometimes try to touch them. But why does this sort of public display strike so many artists as demeaning, rather than as an opportunity for community engagement? Is it the nature of fine art to want to ascend into some otherworldly cloud and escape the prying eyes of the "less-enlightened", does wanting to withdraw really just highlight the fears these artists have about how the general public will react to their work, or is it merely pragmatic (how much do they actually sell-really)?

Showing in a gallery, or even at an established fine art fair (outdoors or not), is not the same thing as popping up a table at a major-transit-hub art market that also sells baby t-shirts. It all comes down to audience, and it's in this sense that Creative Grove is extremely democratic. Who knows what it will become as it continues (hopefully) to grow, but for the moment it is really smack dab at the intersection of art and life--and I like that.

Perhaps it's a romantic notion, but I really believe--or want to believe--that someone off the street can walk up to a great work of art, recognize its communicative or aesthetic value, and be moved enough to take it home. And I don't think that's anything for an artist to be ashamed of. I'm really not talking commercial design, or even screen-printed t-shirts, though they are an important first step in getting people comfortable with the idea of fine art, but rather drawings or paintings that aren't as instinctively functional. Jersey City isn't quite there yet. I think we need more jewelry and decorative wall-hangings before we can fully jump into the swampy territory of fine art markets and develop the more limited audience they rely on to survive.

Ultimately I think this type of market can serve as a source of civic artistic empowerment, but what's your take?

Note: Creative Grove will continue to run every Friday with a rotating group of artists and craftspeople throughout the summer.

The Hudson Current is dead

The bells have tolled for the Current. In more disappointing news on the local print media front, I heard today that the Hudson Reporter newsgroup will no longer be publishing the arts/ entertainment weekly. According to the editor, the Hudson Reporter will instead become a bi-weekly publication with some cultural listings. It's nice to see that the Reporter will be coming out more frequently, but...Jersey City has just lost its only dedicated arts publication.

UPDATE: Sean Allocca (former Current writer/editor) will no longer be on staff, but may be contributing freelance to the new bi-weekly Reporter. All future cultural or arts submissions should go straight to the chain's editor: editor@hudsonreporter.com

As my personal rants about the lack of arts coverage in the press seem to be falling on deaf ears, I'm taking this one step further. From now on, I am declaring myself Jersey City art media guru. Call it what you will, but I'll be posting the reviews (go ahead and demonize me) and features I've been longing to see right here.

The Met’s New American Wing

The New Engelhard Court

Every renovation the Metropolitan Museum made in the last twenty years or so has made the art experience better and better (unlike another museum I could mention). The light brought into the Greek and Roman Galleries is so beautiful, and their collection looks so stunning, I literally get high walking around. The new 19th C. galleries are harmoniously proportioned, richly warm spaces that were cleverly carved out of the Polynesian Wing’s soaring ceiling, and the catacombs under the grand staircase are an absolute delight. And of course the Chinese, Japanese and Egyptian galleries are some of the best in the world.

The old Engelhard Court (from the Bridge and Tunnel Club website).

But I’m sorry to say I’m disappointed with the renovation of the American Wing, at least with the Engelhard Court. Without the greenery, the sunken areas and the different color pavements that used to break up the space, the new court feels too large, too public and too empty. It lost the warm ambiance of the older space (see below) and it’s now more of a dull open plaza than an inviting sculpture garden. The new space does allow more sculpture to be displayed but, not being a fan of this period of American art (which I think is provincial, pretentious and sometimes downright silly), I don’t see that as worth the trade-off.

South Wall with loggia designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany

East Wall with the Vanderbilt Mantelpiece

The five-story south wall housing the pillared loggia designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany for his own home is especially blank looking, and ridiculously out of scale with the art. (Fortunately the opposite wall, the facade of Martin E. Thompson’s Branch Bank of the United States, hasn’t changed.) Likewise, the east wall (coming in, on the right) is comically out of scale with what’s installed there - the Vanderbilt Mantelpiece and Tiffany’s Garden Landscape and Fountain -- but at the same time these works feel weirdly cramped in the space.

This disturbing, contradictory combination of simultaneously being too open and too cramped extends to the Cafe. It is no longer separated from the main space by a lattice fence, so it feels too much a part of the larger court; nevertheless it feels confined because of the low ceiling needed to accommodate the new mezzanine. This is made even more of a problem because the windows overlooking Central Park have been temporarily frosted to hide an ugly staging area for construction they’re doing on the second floor galleries (see photo of staging area below). They promise the view will return in 2011.

Which brings me to another complaint: there are no comfortable places to sit and rest at the Met anymore. A cement bench or busy cafe just won’t do it. Before the cafe was added a few years ago, they had comfortable chairs overlooking Central Park where people could sit quietly, read, maybe take a nap, and rest up. The Brooklyn Museum has lately created many comfortable areas to sit, and the Frick is unsurpassed in that way (as well as every other possible way). In spite of all the past great additions and renovations, I’m beginning to get the feeling that the Met just wants to move the crowds along, maybe feed them in an efficient manner, sell a few books and art chachkas, and move 'em out.


Finally, speaking of cramped spaces, I’m reluctant to spoil the surprise, but an unintended (I assume) surreal treat awaits you in the newly renovated period rooms. Take the new glass elevator in the northeast corner of the Court to the oldest period rooms on the top floor, and you'll see what I mean. You might find a portal into John Malkovitch’s mind there.

Getting off at floor number 2 1/2.

My Favorite Record Album Covers

A recent post by Jonathan Jones, a passionate and insightful blogger about art for The Guardian discusses the banning of the Manic Street Preachers’ new album cover painted by Jenny Saville because it is so shocking (see above). It is a very powerful image, and it got me thinking about how I used to savor a great album cover as much as the music. Anyway here are my top ten favorites:

Art Jargon

I came across a zany British website that generates art nonsense (which they charmingly call "art bollocks") to describe art and impress people. Check it out, it's a real hoot. Just refresh the page to generate more inanities; some are better than others.

It got me thinking of some recent art jargon I find particularly grating: "art practice." "performative," and "agent." Feel free to join in.

Well...maybe not.

Music taken from The Who, A Quick One, While He's Away.

A New Gallery Plus ?

Photo by Jule Pike, FIFI projects

What promises to be a good new gallery just opened in the Lower East Side: FIFI projects, 29 Essex Street.

Even though the gallery is small, their first show is a seven-person exhibition of really handsome large photographs. I particularly loved the largest work (75” x 40”), by Mathias Kessler (no relation), of an iceberg in Greenland shot at night using movie lighting. Barbara Kasten (she showed with John Weber -- I miss seeing her work) used to do a similar thing, but used mirrors and brightly colored gels.

Another space also just opened in the area -- 169 Bowery: Collective Hardware. At first I didn't know if it was a gallery or what it was. The entire, relatively raw, ground floor had an exhibition by Steve Olson, but the door was wide open and no one was sitting the show. I heard talk upstairs so I walked up a flight and there were some people sitting around what looked like a living room in a large loft with a hair salon in the front. I asked them if this was a gallery and they said they didn’t know anything about the place and just wandered in like me, but they pointed to a guy passing by that might know. I asked him and got a major Charles Chamot type schpeel.

It’s a collective all right -- the entire building. FIVE stories! And it indeed includes a gallery and a hair salon, but also a clothing design studio and show room, a recording studio, a special effects studio and probably a lot more than I could take in from the guy. Their website isn’t completed yet, but he promised it would be ready soon. It isn’t far from the New Museum; check it out when you’re in the area.

NYTimes on Claes Oldenburg

Check out Carol Kino's article today about Claes Oldenburg and the late Coosje van Bruggen, his recently deceased wife and collaborator. (Click on the title of this post for a link to it.) Now approaching 41 years of marriage myself I may be particularly empathetic, but I was quite moved.

This was the first article in a long time in the Sunday Arts & Leisure section that I found worth reading -- the articles on art, that is. I don't get it. The articles are much longer than the weekly ones, and they're usually by good writers and on interesting topics. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Why isn't Jersey City Art a big deal? (because the press doesn't make it one)

In every city I've lived in new museum shows and elaborate cultural events created buzz. Trustees, board members, politicians, and artistic pundits would all crawl out from their meeting rooms to support (if only for the price of admission) the latest event on the artistic calendar. The newspaper would be there, snapping grainy photographs of the elites in action, and though I didn't always agree with the deference given to social rank and financial power at these happenings, their media presence ensured the status of both the hosting institution and the art they advocated for.

The Jersey City Museum had it's annual Artrageous Ball two weeks ago, and the press hasn't even whispered. According to the museum, 200+ people attended the event (its biggest fundraiser of the year) including the mayor, other government officials, and high-ranking professionals with a soft spot for the creative. Regardless of how I feel about the tangled web of artist/museum/patron relations--this is news.

Events like this are more than just fundraisers providing money needed to keep cultural organizations up and running (the museum will put these proceeds towards operating expenses- not such a sexy sell), they are reminders that the arts are a powerful force deserving of community recognition and respect. When the Jersey City Museum's press releases never go any further than it's own website and a few message boards, that's a failure--not of the organization, but of the local media. In fact, it's an affront.

I know art is sometimes difficult to understand and that the Jersey City press as a whole is wobbling already, but the reason we as a community tend to undervalue the Museum and our own artistic production is due in part to a lack of media attention. The museum contributes to the health and vibrancy of this community, but we so rarely hear about it that it's easy to forget what it has done, what it's working towards, and what it stands for. But the fact remains that it is a museum, "a permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity...", in charge of representing the finest art Jersey City has to offer and exposing it so we--the public--can better understand our own existence here and now.

Museums can put on bad shows too (and it's important to recognize that), but the press has got to step up to the plate and say "art matters". It's not the quality of Jersey City art that is sub par; it's the media coverage that makes it so.

PS. I write art features for JCI and they actually run them; thanks for covering the art news the Jersey Journal and Hudson Reporter often don't. If you've got an idea for a story-drop me a line.