And we're off! First opening night in Chelsea

September 8 marked the official beginning of gallery season---dealers back from the Hamptons, artists back from their residencies, and art lovers back from the beach all showed up for the openings. One fun show was Nick Cave's blond yeti-creatures at Jack Shainman Gallery. At Yancey Richardson Gallery Helen Van Meene turned her lens from children and adolescents to dogs and Amy Elkins showed portraits of slightly bloodied rugby players. Over at Yossi Milo Gallery Pieter Hugo opened the season with large, post- apocalyptic portraits of trash-pickers at the giant technology dumps in Ghana. Shen Wei's captivating landscapes at Julie Saul showed a wonderful contrast between the Israeli desert scenery and the sites of politically charged events.



© Shai Kremer Zaura 2008

EZRA STOLLER at YOSSI MILO

As some of you may know, there's not much more I love than a great architectural photograph. I even teach on the subject at the School of Visual Arts here in New York. This said, what a pleasure to experience Ezra Stoller's work in flesh and blood at Yossi Milo Gallery this past Thursday. Debating on a daily basis whose work is speaking to me more on that particular day---Ezra Stoller or Julius Shulman---Stoller definitely took my breath away with this excellently curated collection of black and white prints. With extreme rigor and precision, Stoller created crisp, abstract renderings of important modernist architecture. The resulting photos are a pleasure to meditate upon, and it is obvious why Stoller is considered one of the greatest of the century.

In addition to the transcendent experience the exhibition provided, I had the pleasure of meeting Erica Stoller, the head of ESTO, the prestigious architectural photography agency to which I contribute some of my own work. It was great to meet the woman who controls Ezra's all important legacy. For any lovers of architecture this is a must-see.















© Ezra Stoller TWA Terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport, Eero Saarinen, New York, NY
Gelatin Silver Print
1962

PRE-THANKSGIVING OPENINGS

You have to forgive me---I have fallen horrifically behind in my blog-writing. I've been a bit preoccupied trying to make money, see family, and sweating over my grant proposal for the Graham Foundation.

I checked out several openings on November 20th.

First of all:

JONAS WOOD at Anton Kern Gallery






This show was great. Big, colorful paintings of people, living rooms, animals, all matter of everyday, painted in a style which felt like David Hockney meets Barry McGee. There was an impressive turnout at the opening, including Roberta Smith and Jerry Saltz, among others. Fun stuff.


Also went to see Christopher Gielen's urban landscapes at Dan Cooney Fine Art.








At HASTED HUNT was the neo-fluorescent candy-coated photos of Julian Faulhaber. Photography---especially architectural photography---tends to often take itself a bit too seriously, and these pictures were slick technically but fun otherwise, the colors oversaturated and dizzyingly bright. I prefer more serious stuff, but lighter fare is sometimes necessary, right?


























Along these lines, upcoming at Yossi Milo is the also colorful, architectural work of Josef Schulz. I'm a big fan of Schulz's work. It is elegant, simple, well-executed, and exists at the exciting crossroads between photography and painting and new media. The pared down, abstracted forms bring to mind Serra's gigantic sculptures as well as color field painters like Ellsworth Kelly.