The Not In Miami Edition

While most art world players were sunning themselves in Miami this past week at the art fairs, crossing fingers that the art market will make a U-turn, it wasn't a bad time to be art gazing in NYC.


For those on a meditative, spiritual quest, Dan Flavin's Series and Progressions is an old school must-see at David Zwirner. Zwirner's galleries and the large garage space are absolutely glowing with gorgeous light from Flavin's signature tubes of color.

I also consider Richard Serra's gargantuan steel caverns to be spiritual in a cathedral-like way as I bravely walk through their maze-like installations. The ones in the latest exhibit at Gagosian Gallery just totally creeped me out! They seem simple in size: maybe once or twice around and I'd be out of the tilting steel walls before they collapsed on me. But no, it went around and around and around, making me feel a little vulnerable. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

I can't say I didn't like David Hockney's big luscious English countryside landscapes at Pace/Wildenstein. They're bold, have moments of pure Hockney genius, but there is something about his acrylic paint that literally falls flat for me. It could possibly be remedied with a gloss medium, maybe not, but it can be disappointing. Nevertheless Hockney is another must-see: since moving back to England we may see less of his work.


Sean Scully's new paintings at Galerie Lelong still hold up well for me. He's been making these paintings for years, always finding another subtle variation. Unlike Hockney he appears to add a thick coat of high-gloss varnish. To varnish or not to varnish, it's a very personal choice for each painter.

With thoughts of the family Thanksgiving table fresh in my mind, Nicole Eisenman jolted my memory back to earth, in her latest at Leo Koening: hilarious, some of her best paintings.

Andrew Edlin has some of the finest examples of Outsider Art, and he just reopened a beautiful new space on 10th Avenue, recently vacated by Belleweather. Lori Bookstein has also moved to Chelsea, opening right next door to Edlin. I enjoy her exhibits but rarely made it uptown to 57th Street. This is a welcome move for me. I unfortunately missed her opening exhibit with Sharon Horvath's paintings, but the current show of Varujan Boghosian's assemblages is quite good. Boghosian has a delicate hand, giving new life and mystery to found and scavenged objects. I'm headed back this week for another look.

Jaime Pitarch has the holiday spirit at Spencer Brownstone. As always more images on Flickr.