Art

NURTUREart still has works available from last week’s benefit. Go here to see them and buy online!

I’ve seen 3 good shows with graphite drawings in Chelsea the last week. Here is a short post with images and links before I head off to Savannah for the week. Go see them all!

Eric Beltz, Keep the Hammer Busy
Graphite on paper
11 × 9 inches

Eric Beitz at Morgan Lehman Gallery. Good old American weirdness. A 2-person show with him and Sarah Peters would be interesting.

Rob Matthews, The Artist’s Grandfather (Ray), 2008
graphite on paper
7 inches diameter on 9×9 inches paper

Rob Matthews at Daniel Cooney Fine Art. Sweet small graphite drawings of family members holding objects that are important to them. He was also in The Blogger Show.

Paolo Arao, Daniel, 2008
graphite on paper
5.75 × 4.375 inches

Paolo Arao at Jeff Bailey Gallery. A show with a sexy mix of big and intimate themes. His Study for a Devotional Object was probably my favorite work in the show, but it needs to be seen in person so I chose another image I liked for this post.

Andrew Piedilato, Tick Ordering a Cappuccino, 2008
Intaglio with hand additions in watercolor, ink, and/or graphite on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper
Image Size: 19 ¾ x 15 ¾ inches
Paper Size: 25 × 20 ¼ inches
Edition of 19 signed and numbered works

For those of you who have read about Andy’s paintings via James or me but are not sure how to fit nearly 12 × 12 feet canvases into your apartment, you have a new opportunity! He recently created his first print with artist Randy Wray’s Element Editions. Not only is it more apartment-sized, you can have one for only $450!

Check out Art Fag City’s latest masthead artist, Neil Rough. Good stuff.

Mary Heilmann
The First Vent, 1972
acrylic with bronze powder on canvas
20” × 32”

I love Elizabeth Peyton and Mary Heilmann as much as anyone, but don’t those seem rather un-new-ish choices for big shows at an institution called The New Museum? Perhaps some arrangement could be made to send those to MoMA in place of their upcoming Miró and Van Gogh shows?

Meanwhile, a 20-year survey of the work of Lyle Ashton Harris is only going to appear in Scottsdale, AZ, and Buffalo, NY. Is there really no room at any New York area institution for such an exhibition?

And why does Lyle’s website just have a flash slide show and no other information on the artist?

[photo by James Wagner

artwork by Tom Sanford

If you find yourself in Seattle in early September, don’t miss William Powhida’s opening at Platform, our favorite gallery in that city. I hear there will be music, record swapping, and more. To get prepared, check out Bad At Sports’s interview with him on their podcast. He starts about 8 or 9 minutes in. You can hear his side of the story on Zach Feuer getting his NYC gallery (Schroeder Romero) kicked out of the NADA Art Fair because of an artwork by William in which he put a hex on Zach.