Lisa Kereszi and Rachel Perry Welty at Yancey Richardson
Lisa Kereszi photographs empty, abandoned, or dilapidated sites which were formerly locations for fun, escapism, hedonistic pleasure. They can be seen as a metaphor for the larger economic downturn, but the works also attend to a formal beauty. Although their subjects are dilapidated, the photos themselves construct formally careful, beautiful compositions, call attention to colors and textures.
Nicole Eisenman at Leo Koenig Gallery - Woodcuts, Etchings, Lithographs and Monotypes
Eisenman showed dozens of prints in varying printmaking techniques. The most interesting and painterly were her Monotypes, a process that involves painting on plexiglass with printmaking inks, pulling a print from it, then using the remaining ink left on the plexiglass as a "ghost image" to begin a new version.
At the New York art fairs this March, I saw some great Monotypes by the painter Cecily Brown. More information on monotypes at MoMA.
My favorite subjects are rusted and peeling, but Kereszi has a different take on the subject of things that have been abandoned. In this shot she positions herself at an angle to point out the traditional beauty in the unbeautiful subject. The colors in the wall in this shot are warm and inviting, the composition such that I could easily believe that the dart board (Is that what it is?) is a piece of art on someone's living room wall. The website Tiffany sends us to has 6 images in this vein. It reminds me of a thread that runs through science fiction of a world that has been desolated but there is one individual—frequently a child—who sees beauty in it. Here it's Kereszi.
ReplyDelete"Shade in my grandmother's bedroom" looks like a Rothko and would continue to look that way if you just wandered past it in a gallery. You probably wouldn't see the roll at the top of the window shade or the fringed drapery pull. I tend to like works that reward closer viewing. The "aha" response can cut two ways, though. On one hand it can bring you closer to the artist ("Heh, heh, we both get it") but it can also be a manipulation that's off-putting. My response to Kereszi is positive.
Barbara
I like the off-centered composition and the decision to leave in both the black piece of furniture in the bottom right corner and the scratch on the wall in the final photograph, because it gives the sense that we just stumbled upon this scene at any given moment of our lives without alteration. But the careful way Kereszi captures the line of shadow directly down the middle of the dartboard is the main aspect of the work, I think, that makes this "stumbled upon scene" something artful and intelligent. The line down the middle, although a nature shadow, was deliberate and adds a sense of wonder and historical content.
ReplyDeleteEisenman's work is incredibly mysterious. At every moment that I think I understand what exactly is being depicted in any given area of the piece, it transforms and becomes something completely new (are the two darkened figures on the right fighting or embracing? Or is that farther figure so darkened and abstracted that it is meant to be a metaphorical embrace connected with his drinking? Is the bartender wearing a mask? Is that a dog's head at the table behind him? Does the man in the foreground have an exposed rib cage? What is his role? Are those trees, columns; is the top to be read as clouds, implied atmosphere? This list goes on.) I agree with Barbara's comment on works that reward closer viewing, and I think this is a perfect example.
I don't know exactly what it is about the final work that makes me dislike it. For some reason I find the shaky brushstrokes and exposed white of the background unsettling. I think a title would lend a lot to this piece for me.
Shelby
(Matt McGill)
ReplyDeleteLisa Kerezi and Rachel Perry use a lot of open space which draws the eye into the center of the piece. The pole’s shadow creates an illusion of a wall that cuts through the dartboard in the background. This wall appears to separate the darkness and lightness of the room, each inching over into the other’s territory. The pink tint of the room gives the feeling of a glow that emanates from the focal point of the dart board. The dark shadow in the right corner offers balance to the piece so the piece feels equally weighted and the eye is given the opportunity to explore the whole space.
Nichole Eisenman’s piece is filled with shadows that add a sense of mystery to the characters. The audience may get an eerie feel, as if the characters portrayed are actually “ghosts” in the “ghost image”. The character in the front left of the piece looks as if his skeleton is showing through and everyone in the piece appears to be experiencing an interaction with another character excepts for the one strategically placed in the center of all the excitement. The character in the center appears somber and intentionally withdrawn giving the piece a greater feeling of eeriness. The trees glow with lights and a fence surrounds the space reminding me of a possibility of limbo, where some are meeting their lost loves who have waited for them or looking back on what they have left behind.
Cecily Brown’s piece displays abstraction with a variety of color and fluidity in its texture. There is a sense of depth perception because of the red, orange and blue in it. It looks as if the blue is in background and the orange is popping out at you. There is also a diversity of composition in shades of black and white. The painting has a lot of rich opaque colors in the oranges and transparencies in the blues.
I love how the paintings, of both Kerenzi and Eisenman look like skeletons, bot are actually very abstract pieces. They also both have a great use of empty space and spaces with crowds; in the Kerenszi the circle at the top seems to be very busy, while the rest of the painting seems virtually empty, and the Eisenman has a very busy bottom of the pieces- a section that actually looks like many ghosts in a crowd- and then an empty top part- a space which actually looks like an open, vacant, ribcage. The "voices" of both paintings seem both confifent, as making these upper body references to the ribcage, as well as references which seems to male birth, with the circle in the Kerensz and the upper part of the Eisenman seeming like not only an empty ribcage but possibly a fractured brain, and the voids below these articles seeming to have large possiblity to bring forth something from within the body, from ghosts to red blood. However, the "voices" of these paintings also seem to be meek and enslaved...as though there is a big part of the story of the scene which the painters are not telling in the painting, as expressed through singular color use and singular sexual reference. -Allison Lewis (allisonlewis0899@yahoo.com)
ReplyDeleteThe painting that strikes my interests the most would have to be Beatrice Milhazes "Sinfonia Nordestina". In this painting i find that there is a lot to take in and appreciate. One thing I love is how there is two sides to the painting, one that's calmer than the other. The left side of the painting (unlike the other side) has very few to no strait lines in its design, its more circles. To me the use of circles on both sides bring out the full picture, but the left remains more at rest if you will because the flow is also in the circles themselves and you'll find that a circle has a continues rythem; However on the right side of the painting the more use of strain and boxy like lines kinda have an end to it. The lines aren't at a constant flow. So the right has me more excited than the left. A short but powerful burst of energy.
ReplyDeleteI believe the colors are another very important aspect to the overall painting and that's because it brings the emotion to the picture. You don't need to look very closely to see that there's just about every color you could think of in it so it brings out a heavy punch of almost overwhelming use of it. I find its just right. Its rather impressive the contrast I see in this painting, some how using every color and no real life imaging Milhazes brought something non living to life. It makes me feel alive. Deborah Sousa
Although I do enjoy looking at Lisa Kereszi's pieces, I am naturally drawn more towards the painted works. While works like "the party's over" has more obvious allusions while utilizing great composition, "Dartboard and stripper pole at swinger's club" doesn't hold any particular significance for me other than the aesthetic. "Three windows under pool" commands more mystery. What is the subject here besides the lighting? In that particular photo, the forms and colors are enough for me. But there is the added mystery of asking "what is really going on here?".
ReplyDeleteNicole Eisenman's and Cecily Brown's works offer an interesting comparison. Collectively, Eisenman's works evokes flights of fancy and humorous beauty. Brown's works seem to be more of the heavy stuff - distressed and toiled over, they provide a different type of mystery. Without knowing what the "subject" is, both artists works transmit emotionality through their colors and technique.
-Max
I believe Lisa Kereszi is a good representation of a modern artist in terms of method and medium. Using photographs to capture and symbolize metaphors is a great way to convey mood and atmosphere. My personal favorite from her collection was Three windows under pool, Sunrise Resort, Connecticut, 2008. Viewing that photograph there were some level of connections that can be made as well as feeling a certain mood that manifests from oneself. The lighting to the textured walls just gives this level of UNF in my perspective. The reason why I may be more drawn to this photograph is probably due to the fact it reminds me of certain parts of New York.
ReplyDeleteNicole Eisenman and Cecily Brown seemed like artists who enjoy experimenting. Eisenman had more of a representational style while Brown was more abstract. Both artists had great use of colors, Eisenman’s work was easily readable as a whole while Brown’s paintings made you stop and visualize from pigment to pigment in order to grasp the essence of the work.
Overall all three artists were great and had a great level on conviction in their work.
~Tsultrim Tenzin