Why are so many galleries closed on Mondays? It’s dismally grey and rainy in Manhattan, and I was so hoping to find some mid-day inspiration from the galleries on W 22nd Street. I guess in lieu of an actual walking tour (and in favor of staying dry), I will have to settle for a virtual one. Honestly, web browsing doesn’t do this work justice, but we do what we can...
First stop, CRG Gallery with their new Tomory Dodge show. The canvases are huge and the textures are incredible. I could spend a very long time searching these paintings for all the nuanced ways Dodge layers and applies his oil paints. There is a little section of A Slight Disappearance that I especially love where the paint peaks and folds off the canvas like little pennant flags. You just can’t help but get excited by the vivid colors, bold strokes and subtle details throughout this show. Next stop, Dario Robleto’s solo show at D’amelio Terras. This show is full of really cool sculptures and mixed media pieces, which Robleto made largely out of vinyl records. He’s exploring his idea that your unique musical history, i.e. the music you were exposed to throughout your life and even before you were born, consciously and/or subconsciously influences your identity. There’s loads of underlying meaning in these pieces, and it’s almost as interesting to read the laundry lists of materials he used as it is to observe and explore the art itself. My favorite is, The Minor Chords Are Ours (detail), which included “vintage mason jars, vintage wooden spools, stretched audio tape, minor chords, linseed oil, willow.” He says, “The minor chords from a family’s 60-year record collection were isolated to audio tape, stretched into thread, and spooled.” Amazing.
Lunch is nearly over, but I just have to make a quick stop at DC Moore Gallery for Robert Kushner’s Wildflower Convocation. (Yes, it is STILL raining.) On display are big, bright canvases with gorgeous blues, plus there is a wall covered in hundreds of drawings of flowers, leaves and plants. I am happy to just soak it all in and daydream of an upcoming spring afternoon on the High Line.
Ingredients:
Venues: CRG; D'amelio Terra; DC Moore
Artists: Tomory Dodge; Dario Robleto; Robert Kushner
Streets: W 22nd; 10th & 11th Aves
Eats: (starving artist)
Map:
