Gray Magazine by Maggie Kerr

GRAY

7 9 12

Artist

Sherman Sam:Feature, Inc.

15 16

Galleries

Nicelle Beuchene

Minus Space

Amy Park and Paul Villinsk

A Conversation with Amy Park

19 21

Museums Dia Beacon

PS1 MoMA

23 27

NYC Experience

Photo by: Ainsley Nunez

CREDITS

Publisher: Maggie Kerr Design: Ainsley Nunez Stacey Chapman Editor-in-Chief: Riccardo Zagorodnev Assistant Editor: Claire Berenblum Museum Exhibition Editor: Tanzen Lilly Artist-Studio Visit Editor: Sevgi Aka Gallery Exhibition Editor: Caroline Moody NYC Experience Editor: Gina Wynbrandt 6

FEATURE INC. 131 ALLEN STREET NY NY 10002 212.6757772 FEATUREINC.COM TYLER VLAHOVICH 15 FEB-18 MAR 2012

Tyler Vlahovich: Wooden Command 3, 2011; acrylic paint, house paint, graphite on wood; 69.5 x 41 x 3.5”

ARTISTS Sherman Sam:Feature, Inc. Anonymous Tantra Paintings

Connected: Ben Berlow, Mel Bernstine, Leonie Guyer, Bobbie Oliver, Sherman Sam Upfront Rick Siggins

Sam concluded by sharing a personal memory from his youth, when he showed a drawing to someone who responded by saying, “When I looked at your drawings I thought I would cry” – a comment he found deeply moving and took as the highest praise. Penelope Rothfield

“….just what the studio is, and--what happens there—is increasingly difficult to grasp.” From The Studio Reader

Sherman Sam has internalized his studio. And so our “studio visit” took place at the Soho gallery, Feature, Inc. where one of Sam’s drawings is exhibited. We sat on the gallery floor surrounded by the exhibition of small tantric drawings while he talked to our group about his work and what it does. Although he began his career doing paintings of biomorphic shapes, Sam evolved into a maker of drawings usually done while traveling. Sam’s live/work conditions thus are completely “contemporary” (global), while his practice itself is the most ancient of artistic traditions. Unlike many contemporary drawings, Sam’s work is unmediated by photography or film, but emerges from his own wandering thoughts. The aim is, by “making a space for something,”to enable viewers to escape our speedy culture’s temporality to achieve a state of being present. The graphite drawing included in the exhibition is small, abstract, linear-- a kind of connect-the-dots of fundamental geometric shapes punctuated by small dark nodes and smudges. The lines --some made with a light touch, others dark and forceful-- are made with small alterations of pressure on the pencil. They form a multi-layered, deep, loose architectural structure that morphs into a kind of net. This archeological space suggests slow time, time out of mind. It reflects the temporality of Sam’s drawing practice: this painting took five years to finish. Like Myron Stout (1908-1987), an artist who also worked on drawings for a long time “with a monkish devotion” (Kimmelman nyt), Sam takes his time. But unlike Stout, a perfectionist who buffed graphite shapes until they hovered over an immaculate white background, Sherman Sam has made a deep and loose net of connections that hold the viewer in their presence.

Sherman Sam, SS-003-JWB, 2005-10

Sherman Sam. Photo by: Maggie Kerr

Amy Park and Paul Villinsk

Amy Park and Paul Villinski’s studio was our first stop on the New York City trip. Amy and Paul create and live in a beautiful loft in Long Island City. Amy is a painter and works primarily with watercolors on paper. Her section of the studio is the small foyer where she has a table set up just big enough for her large landscapes. She usually works with more architectural paintings, but she has been doing landscapes for her upcoming Los Angeles show in May. Seeing a working artist experimenting in unfamiliar territory was exciting and reminded me to never back away from challenging new opportunities. Paul is a sculptor and works with three assistants. He does these large commissioned butterfly installations to pay for the things that he wants to do in his art practice. He let us see a project he has been working on for years that finally got the funding it needed for completion. It was incredibly helpful seeing such a creative person that also has a business mind. He describes himself as having a “Warholian” business model, where he does commissions that allow him to fund the work he is passionate about. I have noticed that junior year is a time when a lot of students second guess the path they have chosen. I certainly had these feelings grow over the semester with the real world and the unpredictable life as an artist creeping closer. It was extremely helpful and inspiring to see two very different artists working near each other in a beautiful studio space. The class seemed to respond in the same way. These artists seemed to be down to earth, hard working, and well spoken, so when Paul told us that the road was long and hard and we should have some type of plan set up, I really listened. That is exactly what I needed to hear and who I needed to hear it from. This studio visit gave me the inspiration to continue on my path as an artist and was the kick in the ass I needed to be smart about it. JJ King

A Conversation with Amy Park How would you describe your style?

I’d say that I am a watercolor painter focusing on themes related to architecture and our built environment that tend to be related to ideas found in abstraction: repetition, color, form, composition. Photo by: Maggie Kerr

How has your practice changed over time?

It has not changed much. There are some things that are very important to my practice: a space to work, quiet, and being alone. The size of the space does not matter. It is nice to have more, but some of my best work has come from my table in a small room. The main reason I am moving to a new studio soon is that I am too distracted having so many people around: my partner Paul’s assistants, and sweet Lark, my son is a lovely distraction.

Who & what art do you most identify with?

This is a tough question for me. I love abstraction and when I look for outside inspiration I go to my favorites: Paul Klee, Bridget Riley, Helen Frankenthaller, Agnes Martin, Sarah Morris. I rarely look at representational art, even though my work would fit into that category.

Dream project?

A show at the Lever House in NYC, about the Lever House.

Best piece of advice you’ve been handed?

Take the risk and move to Chicago…which turned into take the risk and move to NYC. Michelle O’Young

Photo by: Maggie Kerr

Photos by: Caroline Moody

GALLERIES

Ned Coclough at NicelleBeuchene

Minimal in construction and lyrical in arrangement, Ned Coclough’s sculptures reference post-minimal and conceptual art, drawing from Sol Lewitt’s white grids and Eva Hess’ fascination with string. The sculptures, on display at the Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in an exhibition entitled Winter Arrangement are constructed from materials pure in nature: wood, plaster, stone and brass. Coclough also brings into play many plaster casts of found objects, such as seashells and ceramic bowls, urging viewers to carefully consider the mundane or the everyday. His work evokes great spatial tension through a contrast of both carefully balanced and spontaneously placed elements. Thus a sense of play emerges, as thin metal rods carefully balance against chunky wooden slabs, seemingly defying all physical possibilities and all sense of gravity. Coclough also displays an interest in circular forms, shown through a repeated use of round straw baskets, wooden semicircles, and metal rings. Coclough employs a vocabulary rich in formal concerns. He also demonstrates careful consideration in the placement of the sculptures throughout the gallery. The sculptures are placed close to the gallery walls, allowing for viewers to stand at the center of the works in the gallery, and to observe the dialogue that exists between the works. Coclough is a sculptor in the sense that a poet is a writer. His sharp yet disciplined vocabulary is developed through carefully arranged compositions in space, just as the words in a poem are spaced on blank page. Coclough, an emerging New York artist, shows promise in his first solo show. Previous group exhibitions include shows at Zieher Smith and Sarah Meltzer Gallery in New York. Olivia Coran

Minus Space

When I entered Minus Space for the first time not much appeared to be going on. It was a small space with mysterious works leaning up against the naked walls. However, once Matthew Deleget began discussing how Minus Space came to be, I was immediately intrigued. Minus Space was created by artists Matthew Deleget and his wife Rossana Martinez. They as though people did not know how to talk about the work they were making at the time. Matthew and Rossana were being referred to as Minimalists and they felt this label was inaccurate because Minimalism has a specific context. Together they came up with the term “Reductive Abstract” to define their work. This term is explained on their website as “generally characterized by its use of plainspoken materials, monochromatic or limited color, geometry and pattern, repetition and seriality, precise craftsmanship, and intellectual rigor.” Minus Space was first started as an online website. To their surprise they connected with many artists that had similar feelings and began considering themselves reductive artists. After realizing that there was a hunger for this dialogue and this type of work, they decided to open up a space to exhibit these types of artists.

I have never tried to define my own work or practice, but when Matthew was explaining Reductive Art I immediately felt that my practice and my work fit into its definition. I found Minus Space to be completely comfortable and inviting. Reductive artist Carrie Pollack joined us to talk about her solo show “Witness.” We got to see Carrie in the process of putting everything together. She explained that she was currently working with Matthew to stretch these printed canvases in the space. I found the dynamic between the two of them very interesting and I loved how the work was being realized in the space. I also found it interesting that the work was being created and hung through a dialogue between the artist and the director that was organic and easy. I left Minus Space feeling inspired and as though I had found a space for interesting conversations in a comfortable environment. Jessica Pappadio

Photo by: Ainsley Nunez

Photos by: Olivia Coran

MUSEUMS

Dia Beacon Fred Sandback

Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn

Fact and Illusion; Vacancy and Volume; these four terms playing with one another come to mind after viewing Sandback’s planar string sculptures. Their poeticism lie in the humble materials used to create each: yarn and air. Each form breaks up the space it inhabits, asking the viewer to respect the sculpture’s boundaries, yet each sculpture inhabits its space without interruption since their implied volume is only an illusion. Positive and Negative; another simultaneous play on opposites that comes to mind when encountering the artist’s sculptures within the pedestrian walkway of the Dia Beacon museum. The environment that each sculpture inhabits not only informs its determined shape, but also breathes life to its being. Volume is always coexistent with the idea of occupation because through a sculpture’s engagement with its surroundings, space is redefined. The white cube, such as a gallery or museum, is the ideal viewing space for his quiet sculptures, although the audience is left wondering how these forms would interact within an uncontrolled environment, such as deep within the Redwood forest of Muir Woods, or in the heart of New York City’s Times Square. Could their illusion of volume still resonate? Would their occupation still question the space each inhabits? Or does the shape of each form create volume by mimicking a gallery or museum’s rigid planar interior? Nonetheless, the sculptures live harmoniously within their environment, occupying not only the mind’s idea of volume, but within the museum’s by defining its boundaries through line, like a simple stick figure drawn on a white piece of paper. Maggie Kerr 20

Photo by: Caroline Moody

22 Photo by: Ainsley Nunez

PS1 MoMA

George Kuchar Exhibit

“George Kuchar: Pagan Rhapsodies” came to PS1 a few months after the artist’s death. Kuchar had been making short, bizarre and campy films since the 1960’s. I was unfamiliar with Kuchar’s work before the exhibition, but I was immediately drawn to it. Some of the other art that we viewed on this trip required a certain comprehension of contemporary theory and art history to really appreciate and understand. Kuchar’s pieces require no such contextualization to enjoy his absurd and entertaining work. Working mostly in video, but featuring other media such as comics and watercolors, Kuchar’s pieces are just fun to be around. PS1 had small theatres to watch some of his films, but the bulk of his work was viewed by sitting at various monitors with a headset, for an intimate viewing of Kuchar’s multi-faceted visions. The exhibition offered a good dose of levity in contrast to the on-going September 11th show also at PS1. Usually intentionally, Kuchar continually made me and fellow patrons laugh out loud. From sci-fi horrors to beautiful Amazonian women, Kuchar compiles a variety of strange, yet enticing topics into his projects. “Hold Me While I’m Naked”, one of his most famous films, is a collage of several stories, a film about film making, romance, a lonely man who lives with his mom. No matter the subject, his videos are always fascinating in their process: cut outs, glass overlays, unrelated interludes, weird angles and lighting, cheap props, and other low-budget film techniques are what make Kuchar’s work so interesting. Gina Wynbrandt

NYC EXPERIENCE Over the fall semester the three of us decided to spend part of our break in New York City for the 2012 winter study trip. Besides the fact that Jessica lives in the heart of it all, and so kindly offered JJ and Ainsley a place to stay, it’s New York and we knew it would be a wonderful and refreshing experience for all of us. JJ and Ainsley arrived on the 3rd of January and completely took over Jessica’s home and life. Within a matter of days clothes were getting mixed up, bags somehow always ended up in the middle of the room, and we began to know each other’s morning routines all too well. We quickly became aware of our shared love of food. New York has so many good foods to offer and we took full advantage. Throughout these thirteen days we ate gourmet mac and cheese, Jessica’s Mom’s home cooked meals, and of course an absurd amount of pizza just to name a few highlights. While food nourished our bodies, art nourished our minds. The three of us had similar reactions and opinions on the places we visited and the people we talked to. We ran all around New York and these visits gave us a broad view of the art world there. Something about this city is so revitalizing. There is so much to see, New York has little surprises around every corner just waiting for us to find them. We felt especially inspired after talking to Amy and Paul Villinski in their Long Island City loft and seeing Minus Space in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Although at times seeing so much of New York left us anxious and overwhelmed, it mostly left us inspired with our stomachs and -our minds full. Jessica Pappadio Ainsley Nunez JJ King

Photos by: Ainsley Nunez

Having grown up in the greater Chicagoland area, it’s hard not to feel loyal towards my city, and my thoughts about New York City always seem to be more sour than those about Chicago. Well, that was then, and now I’m more confused. Before this trip I could never see myself living in NYC, friends and family members would always ask “have you ever considered moving to New York?” and my answers was always a resounding “no”. But this being my first time in New York City and the agenda of my trip being art focused, I guess I’m not surprised it was enough to completely change my opinions about the city. Our first studio visit to the studio of Paul Villinski and Amy Park was really inspiring, especially after hearing that the very space that the artists make work in today was previously the space of the new wave band Talking Heads. I really thought that was something else, that the same space where one of the most influential bands of the late 20th century once created and existed is now the space in which not one, but two relevant and influential artists live and make. And this continued on throughout the trip, everywhere I went I felt like I was right where something historical and prolific had happened, and when I looked around I felt as though something amazing was still happening. I met with my cousin one night in Soho for drinks, a meeting that was much overdue, as we hadn’t seen each other in over 10 years due to drama within the family. It turns out we have a lot in common, she studied fashion design at both technical and fine arts schools. When she was done with school, she found herself realizing that there was nothing for her in Chicago, that jobs and opportunity existed in New York City in a way that they don’t in Chicago. But, the more I talked to her the more I could sense that she was giving up a lot to be living in such a city. She took me to Brooklyn to see her apartment, and

just as she warned me, it was a closet, shared between 4 people. For $800 dollars a month she lived with strangers in a room that was about a fourth the size of my bedroom in Chicago. Yet, although her living situation wasn’t perfect, she explained that she’s lucky enough to have a job in the fashion industry, working for a 3D Textiles company in Chelsea that caters to clients of great admiration such as Phillip Lim and Michael Kors. It’s not the job she ultimately desires, which is of course to have her own fashion line, but it’s a job that is in the industry that she is passionate about and allows her to network in the field. It’s hard to think about leaving my beloved Chicago, and giving up my cheap, mansion-sized, apartment seems like something I would hate, but in the end it seems like there’s really no better place to be a part of the art community, to be right in the center of everything. And, as I stood in Villinski and Park’s studio I thought about the city again, and realized, THIS must be the place. Stacey Chapman

Photo by: Maggie Kerr

Photo by: Ainsley Nunez

Get Your Grub On, New York

If gluttony is your only goal in life, then look no further than John Brown’s Smoke House in Long Island City, Queens. A lack in distracting accouterments, aka trendy décor, helps highlight the pork and brisket that will make many trek outside of the comforts of Manhattan’s dining landscape to feast on southern style barbeque, which NYC is apparently severely lacking in choice. The burnt ends were deliriously wonderful: dry-rubbed with coffee, paprika, and brown sugar, the brisket is thrown back into the smoker to render a gristle that melts in the mouth. Although squeeze bottles of hot and sweet bbq sauce are strewn across the tables, they aren’t needed to add extra flavor. Rounding out a platter, one can choose smoky baked beans slow cooked with pork, and garlicky greens with the addition of more pork, or a tangy coleslaw for a bit of “health” to round out a meal. Other highlights of the eatery include a burger the size of a concrete block that I’m sure you could also build houses with, and a creamy mac n’ cheese that will satisfy any vegetarian. Just don’t wear Green Bay Packers gear to this joint, you’re in Giants land now. Head back into the city to beat the body’s natural inclination for a siesta. Enter: Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side (LES) neighbourhood of Manhattan. Specializing in yeast raised doughnuts, Martha Stewart, Bon Appetite, and Vogue magazines are all fans of the bakery’s oversized organic raspberry or blackberry filled, square shaped doughnuts, or the cake batter confections in flavours such as crème brûlée, and carrot cake. Meyer lemon, Valhrona chocolate, and pistachio studded stars are also on the menu, which is changed monthly to keep locals and tourists alike lined up in this tiny space. Hungry? Book your flight now, because the city that never sleeps has the fuel to keep it, and you, alive. Maggie Kerr

Photo: Richard Perry | The New York Times Photo: Scissors & Spice

Photo by: Ainsley Nunez

YARG