Monthly Archives: July 2012

Claire Fontaine in ‘Dogma’ at Metro Pictures

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Claire Fontaine, installation view, 'Dogma' at Metro Pictures.

Claire Fontaine, installation view, ‘Dogma’ at Metro Pictures.

‘Kultur ist ein Palast der aus Hundescheisse gebaut ist.’  Spelling out the phrase ‘Culture is a palace built from dog shit,’ in German gives the idea more gravitas.  Putting it in blue neon, more consumer appeal.  Both are relevant to artist collective Claire Fontaine’s use of this quote by Bertold Brecht via Theodore Adorno criticizing mass culture’s commercialization.  How the art world’s own extreme commercialization in recent years changes the equation is the question begged by this piece.  (‘Dogma,’ a show more or less about dogs and people runs at Metro Pictures through Aug 10th).

Juergen Drescher in ‘Systemic’ at Carolina Nitsch

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Juergen Drescher, Speech Bubble XII, 2011.

Juergen Drescher, Speech Bubble XII, 2011.

It’s not clever words or phrasing but a pretty, undulating shimmer that make German artist Juergen Drescher’s six-foot wide speech bubble attractive.  Silver-plated laminated polystyrene reflects the gallery’s light and the viewer, drawing us into conversation that must surely be intended to charm or impress. (The group show ‘Systemic’ is at Carolina Nitsch through August 11th.)

Allen Ruppersberg in ‘Context Message’ at Zach Feuer Gallery

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Allen Ruppersberg, 'What Should I Do?,' 1988, silkscreen on steel.

Allen Ruppersberg, ‘What Should I Do?,’ 1988, silkscreen on steel.

Allen Ruppersberg’s ‘What Should I Do?’ from 1988 poses a simple but often relevant question.  It relates to his ‘70s autobiographical project ‘The Novel that Writes Itself’ for which he sold the parts of individual characters to people he knew.  By the 80s, he hadn’t resolved the novel and in its place, began accumulating a series of short, unrelated texts like this one.   Though only a few words, it assumes a lot: that the speaker has an audience, agency and options.  With almost no means, this silkscreen on steel portrays a life in flux. (At Zach Feuer through August 3rd).

Hiroshi Sunairi at The Queens Museum of Art

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Hiroshi Sunairi, Elephant, 2010, pruned tree branches and mulch from Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Cunningham Park, Queens, twine.

Hiroshi Sunairi, Elephant, 2010, pruned tree branches and mulch from Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Cunningham Park, Queens, twine.

“Only Queens Museum would have a pile of decomposing tree trunks and branches out front instead of a piece of contemporary sculpture,” I thought outside the QMA the other day.  Signage quickly proved, however, that the pile is a sculpture titled ‘Elephant’ by NYU professor Hiroshi Sunairi, one of whose major projects has been worldwide distribution of seeds from trees that survived the Hiroshima bombing.  These trimmings come from Flushing Meadows/Corona Park trees, however, and take the rough shape of a reclining elephant (the trunks are its legs).  They not only take on the form of an animal known for its good memory, they create a new, mini ecosystem which, it’s hoped, will house new trees of its own.  Click here for an installation video, drawings, photos and more as the piece has evolved in the last two years.