Piano in the Rain, a solo exhibition by painter Dana Schutz, opened at Friedrich Petzel Gallery on May 2^nd.  Schutz’s signature blend of cubist figures, brightly colored scenery, and chaotic compositions is a stylistic combination reminiscent of the artwork produced by the German Expressionist groups of the early 20^th Century.  Similar to the way that many of these groups found inspiration in the streets of Dresden and other large European cities, Schutz’s work also reflects troubles related to urban life; Heroin in the Wind shows a woman struggling with drug addiction while Small Apartment confronts the frustrating physical realities of city habitation. And as the title of the show suggests, each of these 13 paintings feature worlds fraught with troubles and instability and characters whose problems seem both common and insurmountable.

(more…)

–>
Joyce Pensato, 2012 Batman (2012). All images via Friedrich Petzel Gallery

The Friedrich Petzel Gallery presents Batman Returns by New York-based artist Joyce Pensato, a blend of old and new work based around the Batman motif that Pensato has been working with since the mid 1970s. Drawing, painting, and photography are her chosen mediums in this exploration of pop culture past, with clowns, Homer Simpson, Groucho Marx, Mickey Mouse, and her own creation, “The Juicer,” on display in dripping hues of black, white, and gray to create a transmutation of this distinct cartoon culture. The trajectory of Pensato’s use of color is also evident; she has only recently began to incorporate color into her otherwise black-and-white world and this will be the first time this addition is on display.

–>
Joyce Pensato, Installation View (2012)

(more…)

Installation view of “The Audio Show,” on at Friedrich Petzel Gallery in New York. Via Time Out New York.

New York’s Friedrich Petzel Gallery is hosting “The Audio Show” for two more days. The gallery’s rooms are empty save a speaker mounted in each corner.  These play seven hours of audio, comprised of submissions from Marilyn Minter, John Miller, Jesse Bransford, and more, interspersed with a single reconstructed episode of Walter Benjamin’s 1930s radio play, “Aufklärng für Kinder (Enlightenment for Children).” The schedule of audio is the same every day, but for the last hour of the afternoon, in which patron’s requested clips from the exhibition are replayed.

Related links:
Friedrich Petzel Gallery – “The Audio Show”
“Audio Show at Friedrich Petzel Gallery – Art review – [Time Out New York]

more images and story after the jump…
(more…)

Matthew Brannon opened his first solo museum show at the Whitney Museum Altria on Park Avenue and 42nd Street. At the intersection of this transportation hub, a predominantly suited populace come in and out of Grand Central en route to power lunches, the racquet club, and the confined dreams of cubicle days. Just a sheet of plate glass away from the bustle, Brannon’s prints sit neatly. They are evenly spaced on wooden trestles inside a calm and sparse interior.
His work references the neat tableau of the white collar worker. Brannon’s muse is the dark circled, fake tanned, coked up, business class, success story that we urbanites are all in touch with in our global capitalist system. His imagery pulls together the signifiers of our contemporary life “on the road”, or more aptly, on the plane, in the cab, at the bar, in the hotel. (more…)