From the category archives:

Reviews

We Went to Chicago: West of the Loop Edition

by Robin Dluzen and Pedro Velez on April 25, 2013
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Is “Psychosexual” at Andrew Rafacz gallery a portrait of the collector-psychologist-curator? Is Oliver Henry’s coffee creamer drawing charming? And can a pair of socks ever be a metaphor for the Gaza-Israel conflict? Critics Robin Dluzen and Pedro Vélez discuss.

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Cleopatra’s Karaoke: Three Steps to Art

by Whitney Kimball on April 23, 2013
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For their portion of the Shanghai Biennale, Cleopatra’s has teamed up with artist Chris Rice in commissioning over 50 mostly-emerging Brooklyn artists to make karaoke videos. The series , CKTV, is now on view at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. If that sounds like the kind of fun, toss-off premise you find in summer shows, it is fun– but by no means arbitrary.

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We Went to Baltimore: Jumbo Mumbo, Part Two

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Michael Farley on April 17, 2013
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Last week in part one, we raved about Baltimore. In part two, we discuss an overhung student show at Current Space, room for improvement at Creative Alliance, and a puzzler at Gallery CA. We also find Baltimore’s own version of the Jogging, and a palatial penthouse gallery, Penthouse.

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We Went to Baltimore: You Should Too (Part One)

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Michael Farley on April 12, 2013
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The New York art world may run on cash and glitz, but emerging artists usually don’t. So we’ve been looking around lately to see what it’s like where the money never was to begin with. This week, we went to Baltimore, where the people are still weird, the space is still cheap, the work is still exciting. Let me tell you, the grass is a whole lot greener. May New York never figure that out.

In part one, we visit NUDASHANK’s Conor Backman show, Gallery Four’s Lisa Dillin exhibition, and Sophia Jacob’s Harrison Tyler gallery take-over with writer, artist, curator, and hands-down, best-ever Baltimore tour guide, Michael Farley.

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We Went to the Lower East Side: Paddy Learns to Vine

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Corinna Kirsch on April 3, 2013
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In the second part of our visit out to the Lower East Side we visit Callicoon, Toomer Labzda, Essex Street, Klaus Von Nichtssagend, and DCKT. Sara Ludy at Klaus comes out on top.

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We Went to the Lower East Side: John, Julien, Judith, and Lucas

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Corinna Kirsch on April 2, 2013
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In every “We Went To” post, we leave out a handful of shows that don’t leave much for the imagination or discussion. By now, we figure that ignoring them doesn’t help anyone. This week’s skippables: James Fuentes, Blackston, and Participant, Inc. Those we included: Simon Preston Gallery, Invisible Exports, and Joe Sheftel.

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Jacob Kassay at Art : Concept: Reflection or Deflection?

by Eva Heisler on March 29, 2013
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First, let me confess: I’ve never seen a painting by Jacob Kassay.

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We Went to Chelsea: Blue Chip Edition, Part Two

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Corinna Kirsch on March 28, 2013
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We visit Gianni Colombo at Greene Naftali Gallery (LOVE), Will Ryman at Paul Kasmin Gallery (meh) and Brandon Lattu at Leo Koenig (THE INTERNET).

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We Went to Chelsea: Blue Chip Edition, Part One

by Paddy Johnson Whitney Kimball and Corinna Kirsch on March 27, 2013
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Mitchell-Innes & Nash smells like hamster shavings, the quality of paintings made out of paint brushes at Paul Kasmin is debatable, and Zach Feuer’s Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg ain’t for kids.

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Intellect and Instinct: Painting the Void and Exhibit, A at the MCA

by Robin Dluzen on March 15, 2013
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The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has been on a roll recently. Rashid Johnson’s show “Message to Our Folks” was positively received this summer, as was their blockbuster “Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity.” The MCA is still riding this wave of these successes with two massive exhibitions that are in many ways at opposite ends of the spectrum: the cool authoritarian aesthetic of Goshka Macuga’s “Exhibit, A” on one side, and the gritty, material anarchy of “Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void, 1949-1962” on the other.

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