nyc art scene

Reception Tonight, Jan 21, 6-8p:

”MIE: A Portrait by 35 Artists”

Curated by Nick Lawrence and Mie Iwatsuki

Freight + Volume, 530 W.24th St., NYC

Long a muse and subject of many contemporary masters in the art world, curator/model Mie Iwatsuki joins forces with gallerist/curator/artist Nick Lawrence, of Freight+Volume, to create a very special, intimate portrait show, aptly titled MIE: A Portrait By 35 Artists. Drawing on the ancient tradition of portraiture, but bringing the medium into a contemporary discourse, this show of multiple interpretations of one subject—MIE—promises to be rich and provocative in its variety, insightful and illuminating in its focus. MIE features 35 contemporary prominent and emerging artists, working in every medium—painting, drawing, video, sculpture and performance—who have achieved a unique voice in the realm of portraiture.

Artists:
Noah Becker, Paul Brainard, Maureen Cavanaugh, Thomas Eller, Robert Frank, Peter Garfield, Andrew Guenther, Anthony Haden-Guest, Daniel Heidkamp, Noritoshi Hirakawa, Elizabeth Huey, David Humphrey, Min Hyung, Alex Katz, Kurt Kauper, Kevin Kay, Jeremy Kost, Gil Kuno, Nick Lawrence, June Leaf, Hye Rim Lee, Paul D. Miller, Ikki Miyake, Tom Sanford, Kristen Schiele, Ryan Schneider, Rudy Shepherd, Damian Stamer, Eric White, Barnaby Whitfield, Nicole Wittenberg, Saya Woolfalk, Lin Yilin, O Zhang, Qi Zhilong

Opens Tonight, Dec 15, 6-9p:

 David Ellis
”True Value”

Joshua Liner Gallery, 548 W28th St., NYC


For True Value, Ellis will present several of his signature “Motion Paintings,” including Animal (2011), which chronicle the creation of large mural works in time-lapse digital video. Documenting the accrual of marks and strokes of pigment on walls, floors, and other surfaces, these closely edited videos are choreographed to lively soundtracks and are works of art in their own right. Many display Ellis’s distinctive waveform graphics, or “flow,” that course over and around images of urban life and abstract cityscapes, a vestige of the artist’s early days as a graffiti writer.

The artist’s kinetic sound sculpture True Value (Paint Fukette) (2011) —a large installation created in collaboration with Roberto Lange, built of discarded paint cans and buckets that beat a syncopated rhythm— will also be on view.

In addition, the exhibition will feature new paintings on panel and tobacco-stained paper. Preparing the paper himself, the artist uses the natural material for pigment as it resonates with his upbringing in Cameron, North Carolina, where the area is predominantly tobacco fields. Ellis will also include Mubarak, an example from his “Recollection” series of sculptural works using album covers. Mounted in dense stacks on wood, the covers are “recollected” by the artist into gradient color schemes or according to other criteria, often achieving an unpredictable new resonance with their original musical content.

Continues thru Dec 18:

Aliza Nisenbaum and Patricia Treib

“We Remembered, We Anticipated a Peacock, and We Find a Peony”

Golden Gallery, 120 Elizabeth, NYC

Wednesday - Sunday: 12 – 6pm

As their work has unfolded over time, so have their sympathies for one another. Through methods that alternately converge and diverge, both painters locate the act of abstraction in various external catalysts—specific points of attention and contemplation that enable a movement into spontaneous and undirected playfulness.

In We Remembered, We Anticipated a Peacock, and We Find a Peony, Nisenbaum and Treib display their works in tandem. They mirror one another: poised to reflect, deflect, and return a sense of recognition or estrangement to the viewer. Every new glimpse brings to mind the multiplicity of character. The fractured pieces allow for “a variety of selves to call upon.”