It's a New Year?

I made an attempt to compile an end-of-year "Best Of" list and, well... I think it may be partly because the best exhibits for me this year were from nature herself. I got to see the ocean smashing into the craggy northern California coast, daily summer cloud parades in Maine, a brilliant fall in Vermont, and sunsets on the Hudson, viewed from a hotel window in Manhattan. I was royally treated throughout the year, and best of all the admission was free.

But there were a few memorable contenders anyway. The James Ensor exhibit at MoMA was a rare gem to see this year. Alice Neel at David Zwirner back in May was also a rare showing. This past month at Zwirner the Dan Flavin light show was another memorable treat. The portion in the garage annex is still up during the current Primary Atmospheres exhibit, a very cool show of color and light works by California artists from the 60s and 70s.

The bawdy Van Dongen retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Art definitely makes my list as does Georgia O'Keefe: Abstraction, closing soon at the Whitney. The Robert Frank photo exhibit at the Met was a great inspiration to me, and up on the roof Roxy Paine's Maelstrom was a stunning beauty.

I had a double take at this early Philip Pearlstein painting now on view at Betty Cuningham: I thought it was a Lucien Freud. A bright spot in Chelsea right now has to be the Albert Kresch landscapes at Lohin Geduld, with their thick layers of Rouaultian pleasure.

The 8th annual Postcards from the Edge fundraiser preview was a smash this past Friday night. It was my 5th year participating in this great cause: I hope they made lots of money!