There's no arguing that NYC is a center of the international artworld while being a mere Jitney ride away from the East End. In a nod to our city sibling, Hamptons Art Hub is launching our new NYC Gallery Watch to provide a closer look at what's poised to open in the New York City gallery scene.
For our first installment, we've selected two solo shows and a group show of new works by Chinese artists. All shows are opening within the upcoming week. Each reaches into the international arena of art.
Following is this edition's picks of new shows opening in NYC:
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“FARBERESQUE: FROM PENSIVE TO PROVACTIVE”
Survey of Four Decades of Work by Photographer Robert Farber Project 3W57 Presented by Cavalier Gallery January 30 – February 26, 2014 Opening: January 30 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Photographer Robert Farber is poised for some extra attention. “Farberesque: From Pensive to Provocative” aims to present selections from over four decades of work featuring various series that go beyond the nudes Farber is known for. A new book is in the works. A documentary for PBS is in development with a planned air date in September.
“Farberesque: From Pensive to Provocative” will feature newly-released prints of Farber’s classic fashion images, selections from his Americana landscape series, vintage SX70 Polaroids and images of New York City.Works on view will showcase Farber’s romantic and impressionism style. His unique composition choices force views to consider the subject matter in a different way, according to the gallery. Ultimately, the artist hopes his images will reveal the heart and soul of America or the excitement, nostalgia, grit and elegance of New York City.
Farber’s style has influenced generations of photographers. An award-winning photographer, Farber’s work has been exhibited internationally. Most recently, his work was the subject of solo shows presented by Canon at Art Miami and CONTEXT 2013. Farber has published around 10 art books to date.
Project 3W57, presented by Cavalier Gallery, is located at 3 W 57th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019. The gallery is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 212.570.4696. www.cavaliergalleries.com.
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"Walking the dog" by Robert Farber, 1991.
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“OUTSIDE THE LINES: NEW ART FROM CHINA”
RH Contemporary Art – Chelsea January 31 – April 12, 2014 OPENING: January 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. ARTIST-LED EXHIBITION TOUR: February 1 at 2 p.m. Includes exhibiting artists Gao Weigang, Li Hui, Pan Jian and Yan BingAttention seems to continue to turn to China and its contemporary art scene. “Outside the Lines: New Art from China” explores the cultural and philosophical concerns of 12 contemporary Chinese artists working in light, sculpture, ink painting, animation, woodblock prints, photography, performance and installation.
The exhibition’s goal is to shed light on the dialogue taking place between the diverse mediums, practices and iconography through a selection of artists who push boundaries beyond contemporary Chinese Political Pop and Cynical Realism and combine inspiration from Eastern and Western traditions.
Expanding the exhibition even further, the gallery plans to produce six new original documentaries on the artists in the exhibition. Four of the exhibiting artists will be on hand to lead an exhibition tour on Saturday (Feb. 1) so visitors can receive first-hand accounts of the art, process and relationships between art forms from some of the artists themselves. RH Contemporary Art Journal, Volume 2, will present critical essays and artist profiles from the exhibition in late February.
Exhibiting artists are Gao Weigang, the Gao Brothers, Hu Qinwu, Li Hui, Meng Zhigang, Ni Youyu, Pan Jian, Qiu Anxiong, Qiu Deshu, Yan Bing, Yang Yongliang and Zheng Chongbin. All the artists are from Beijing or Shanghai. Works on view are either newly-commissioned bodies of work or artworks that have never been exhibited in New York. More information on the artists and their mediums can be found at the gallery’s website.
The artists were selected after the gallery’s international curation team conducted multiple in-depth studio visits and relationships were cultivated with the artists and understanding achieved of the artist’s cultural perspectives and medium choices and application, according to the gallery.
RH Contemporary Art is located at 437 West 16th Street, New York , NY 10011. www.rhcontemporaryart.com.
The gallery is a division of RH (Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc). The high-end design furnishing company is dedicated in bringing international artists and their work to a global audience.
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"V" by Li Hui, 2009. Stainless steel, mirror, laser, fog machine. 590 3/16 x 196 5/16 x 275 3/16 inches. Courtesy RH Contemporary Art.
Edition of 3 Image courtesy of the artist
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“JULIJE KNIFER”
Mitchell-Innes & Nash - Chelsea February 6 – March 15, 2014“Julije Knifer” presents the first solo show of the Yugoslavian artist in the United States. The exhibition presents paintings and works on paper from the early 1960’s through the 2000's. A retrospective of Knifer’s work will be held later this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia, according to the gallery.
Julije Knifer (1924-2004) was a Croatian painter who grew from the Russian school of Suprematist painters but applied proto-conceptual practices to abstract painting. He was a founding member of the avant-garde group Gorgona (1959-1966) from Zagrreb, which is considered a predecessor of the Conceptual art movement.
Knifer’s oeuvre explores a single form: “the meander”, a geometric maze-like form composed of only horizontal and vertical lines and almost exclusively portrayed in black and white. Knifer’s repetition of a single motif across his entire career addresses the artistic problem of depicting time and reflects Knifer’s realization that his drawings and images were part of a series of “…connected similar acts,” according to the gallery.
In the exhibition on view, the severe geometric abstraction of Knifer’s earliest works reflect the influence of Russian Supremacist and Constructivist movements and even specifically Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), whose work was an important influence in Knifer’s early education, according the gallery.
The show also includes graphite works on paper and paintings from the 1990’s, which demonstrate Knifer’s consistent reductionism, pushing “the meander” to the edge of the canvas to create nearly monochrome black or white surfaces.
“Julije Knifer” is curated by Zarko Vijatovic and organized with the Frank Elbaz Gallery (Paris).
Knifer represented Croatia in the 2001 Venice Biennale and exhibited extensively internationally including the Centre Pompidou (Paris), MAMCO (Geneva), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney). Knifer’s work is part of private and museum collections around the world including MoMA.
Mitchell-Innes & Nash Chelsea is located at 534 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 (between 10th and 11th Avenues). www.miandn.com.
"MS 09" by Julije Knifer, 1962. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Mitchell-Innes & Nash.
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BASIC FACTS: NYC Gallery Watch is published monthly by HamptonsArtHub.com.
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