Nostalgia @ Neal Davis
"Nostalgia," an exhibition featuring work by MIROSLAV CUKOVIC, SERGIOThis was my first time in Neal Davis Gallery and to be honest it is much better than I had expected but I didn't expect much. I had heard mixed reviews about the Royal Oak gallery and I can still see that the gallery caters on the decorative side (I spotted a handful of designers who thought that the show was just smashing) but this show demonstrated curatorial focus, always a plus in my book. I have heard Bunting's name around town but I have to be honest that I don't know much about her than that she used to have a gallery...so if anyone has details of her involvement in the city, please share.
DE GIUSTI, IRINA NAKHOVA, RENATA PALUBINSKAS, and MEL ROSAS.
Presented and curated by Barbara Bunting. "Since my days
as a gallery director,I've been concerned with the continuing
issue of exiled and emigre artists.
Nostalgia is a brief exploration of some contemporary Detroit
and former Detroit artists whom have illuminated that
subject for me." -Barbara Bunting
Sergio DeGiusti's works stole the show for me. I am very familiar with DeGiusti's bronze and figurative wrapped pieces, so I was happily surprised to see these abstracted bandaged relics. A simplification of past religious trilogies and suggestive cross icons showed through the purified, creamy hydrostone layers. The works spoke volumes without giving away too much content and I found them much more stunning than busy figurative reliefs. These works could stand on their own and I kept wanting to see them in the context of in a chelsea gallery where they would be appreciated on a different level.
Mel Rosas
Irina Nakhova - Images for a Bear (above) and The Bear (below) parachute silk, fan, electronics.
Renata Palubinskas - This is a toughy. This isn't my art taste, but to each their own. All I can notice is the frames....why do artists put art in big, over-powering frames?
Miroslav Cukovic also had a sound installation in the back room but it was difficult to hear during the opening....and I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it in detail to see what it was about...but I can tell you the title is "Talvin Boj Sing na Misaru."
posted by art blogs are fun at 9:54 PM
2 Comments:
I don't think that I have ever been able to appreciate "sound art" in a gallery setting. Trying to listen to something over the gallery noises or on a pair of headphones just isn't very fun. And if the piece is long at all (over 20 seconds) people just listen to a snippet and move on. Maybe sound artists should try uploading their work to their myspace profile?
I think that sound based work is a very difficult thing to experience in a gallery when people show up for not the art alone, but mainly the reception. Most openings are not suitable for almost any kind of work, unless it is an all encompassing film or performance piece that requires full, undivided attention.
In this particular sound situation, since the actual show supercedes the reception, it would be very fitting to visit the entire show on another occasion in order to experience the work. Thats for any show, in any gallery. Most exceptional pieces have very little to do with "fun" but rather an unforeseen experience that not only captivates the audience through mystery, wonderment, etc. but also demands the viewer to be patient and spend time with the work.
I recently saw a Franz West piece at the Hirshorn that was composed of chairs arranged in the gallery space, encouraging viewers to sit. After I sat down, I realized two things, I had the opportunity to people watch, and the view out of the window was magnificent. After spending time with this piece, I began to feel the amount of power I possessed by being able to participate in the undermining of the preciousness within the art world. It gave me a different viewing perspective within that space, which was a nice change to the entire museum's collection. This appreciation happens when one begins to give it a chance.
If a viewer were to go through the trouble of engaging themselves in a gallery setting, the least they could do is spend an appropriate, lengthy amount of time exploring the work. Just my opinion. Most of us have been in the situation of "running out of time" in a museum because of other engagements, so we rush through to see the work and say that we saw it, but the question is what did we really see? Did we just confirm that the work existed, or did we see and begin to perceive the work. Did we ask thoughtful questions?
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