Saturday, April 30, 2005

Take a Walk on the SoHo Side

Take a trip to SoHo this spring (remember SoHo?) to see some Art. There are still a few galleries holding out in the former Arts district, in between the boutiques and chic restaurants. A particularly strong showing on Wooster Street features several known masters of minimalism, a Bauhaus master and a pair of outstanding “outsider” artists. While you're there, stroll down Canal Street to take in the bizarre bazaar before it too morphs into a high-rent district faster than you can say "Williamsburg".

The Drawing Center
35 Wooster Street, New York, NY
3x Abstraction: New Methods of Drawing
by Hilma af Klint, Emma Kunz, and Agnes Martin
March 19 – May 21, 2005
Agnes Martin’s drawings have never looked so good as they are presented here alongside two of the strangest and most esoteric off-shoots of theosophical speculation since Kandinsky and Rudolf Steiner. I’m speaking of Hilma af Klint and Emma Kunz; both of whom have rarely been seen in New York. The important publication “The Spiritual in Art Abstract Painting 1896 – 1985” accompanying an exhibit at LACMOA featured a chapter “The Case of Hilma af Klint” but as to Emma Kunz, it is my first encounter with her inspired graph paper drawings. Many well known painters (Alfred Jensen, for one) have followed similar paths yet here is a true original; a pioneer of abstract art as ground breaking as many more touted male painters.
Down the street, Wooster that is, is an exhibit of more familiar pioneer abstract artists paired together to great effect: Josef Albers / Donald Judd @ Brooke Alexander Gallery. Judd liked the “real space and real color” of sculpture yet the Albers “Homage to the Square” paintings hold their own in this exhibit.

Structure & Color
Josef Albers / Donald Judd
@ Brooke Alexander Gallery
59 Wooster Street, New York, NY 10012
Until May 21, 2005

See more Hilma Af Klint images here.

1 comment:

neene said...

and for the next couple of days, Evelyn Hofer at Peter Blum on Wooster, is worth the visit