General Idea, 1968 General Idea Shaped Ziggurat Painting #1 (1986), via Mitchell-Innes and Nash

Formed in Toronto in 1969 by AA Bronson, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal, the artist collective General Idea built its body of work on a strikingly diverse array of themes, constantly revisiting both the field of contemporary art production and the identity politics of the era that ultimately underscores so much of the artist’s act of world-making, critique and expression.  No subject was safe from their intuitive and enigmatic lens, from the myth of the artist, the role of mass media, and the relationship between the body and identity, to questions of gender and sexual representation, and perhaps most famously, the HIV/AIDS activism of the 1980’s, a mode of critique that the group were pioneers of during an era of intense repression and governmental silence.  Working in a broad range of practices, from paintings to performances, published editions to video, sculpture to installation, the group was almost constantly in a state of reinvention, speaking to the diversity and power of their collective vision.  (more…)

Amanda Ross-Ho, Untitled Timepiece (Coca-Cola) (2017), via Art Observed

In some regards, size has always mattered to Amanda Ross-Ho. It’s hard to even recall a show of hers in which she hasn’t taken a common object and enlarged it to an uncommon size. In her 2012 show at MOCA’s Pacific Design Center, Teeny Tiny Woman, Ross-Ho even went so far as to create an oversize photo enlarger, underscoring her impressive sense of both scale and formal wit. With several years of practice under her belt since then, however, Ross-Ho’s simple enlargements have seemed to evolve quite considerably, perhaps best exemplified by My Pen is Huge, Ross-Ho’s new exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, which sees her adding to own work’s discourse by including life size objects alongside her oversized sculptures. (more…)

Catherine Opie, Faifo (2008). All Photos courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash.

Catherine Opie’s current exhibition, the photographer’s first since joining the roster at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, is on view now at the gallery’s Chelsea location in New York City. Shot from 2007-2009, High School Football, consists of large-scale portraits and landscape shots of playing fields. Through the American ritual of football, the identities of young athletes are displayed intimately, both individually and as teams.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Sunday Morning, 1989. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

The Pop-art of Roy Lichtenstein has garnered a great deal of attention this fall, with three monographic shows currently taking place in New York City. Reflections represents one third of this trio, presented at Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery. As the title suggests, the twelve paintings featured are connected through themes of mirrors, reflection, and doubling. Also included are a number of preparatory drawings, which provide important insight into the development of these stylized, vivid depictions of fragmented figures and forms.

Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Nurse, 1988. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

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Left: Self-Portrait Smoking Pot (In the style of Joe Bradley), Chris Martin (2009-2010) Right: Portrait of Joe Bradley, Chris Martin (2009)

Currently on show at Mitchell-Innes & Nash is a two person show featuring Joe Bradley and Chris Martin. The austere, often bare canvases by Bradley offer a dramatic contrast to the characteristically large, boisterous works exhibited by Chris Martin and so presented side-by-side, like a lecture in Art History, contrasting these sensibilities offers the viewer an opportunity explore the wide spectrum of today’s approach to the painting practice and, in turn, raises the question of movements in Contemporary art. The exhibition marks a continuation of an ongoing dialogue between the two artists from an interview published in ‘The Journal’ in Fall 2009 in which the two discuss an artists freedom to create without really knowing what it is they’re doing.

Untitled, Joe Bradley (2010)

More text, images and related links after the jump…
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