Robert Ryman, Untitled (1960), via Art Observed

Walking through the doors of Dia: Chelsea, one is immediately struck by a lack of lighting, with the halls and open floor plans of the building lit only by dull sunbeams streaming down from the open skylight and onto the works of painter and conceptualist Robert Ryman.  The show is a notable fusion of history in both the immediate and the general for the artist, a point that makes considerable sense giving his subject matter, presented here in a span of works focusing primarily on his career in the 1960’s through the 1980’s. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal profiles artist Robert Ryman and his family, including his three sons, all of whom are artists, as he prepares to open his retrospective exhibition at Dia:Chelsea.  “I don’t think a family of artists like this exists anywhere else in history,” says Arne Glimcher. (more…)

Carl Andre in His Time (Installation View), via Art Observed

Taking the minimalist exercises of Carl Andre as its starting point, Mnuchin Gallery has opened an exhibition taking the structural interests and shared visions of the New York school of minimalism during the 1960’s and 70’s as its core focus.  Titled Carl Andre in his Time, the exhibition presents pieces by Donald Judd, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Sol LeWitt and more, each locked into conversation with Andre’s work.

John Chamberlain, Honest 508 (1973-74), via Art Observed

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A collection of Robert Ryman works from the recently shuttered Swiss exhibition space Hallen für Neue Kunst will travel to Dia Beacon late this year, The New York Times reports.  “There’s a very healthy conversation that’s going on right now in New York about painting,” says Dia Director Jessica Morgan said, “but Ryman often doesn’t seem to be a part of those conversations about experimental approaches to painting, where he’s played a big role. And it was very important for me to try to reinsert him into that discussion.” (more…)

Elmgreen & Dragset, The Stag, 2012, courtesy Victoria Miro

Elmgreen & Dragset’s Harvest is a unique twin exhibition divided into two coexisting halves, presented on the upstairs and downstairs of the Victoria Miro gallery in London.

The lower half of the gallery presents a banal, almost “mock tranquillity”, exhibiting sheets of paint that have been carefully peeled from notorious art galleries from all over the world and are named retroactively. The works both pay homage to the galleries’ ability to facilitate the work, yet simultaneously mock the uniformity and pedantic nature of art culture. The installation on this floor plays on the irony of a modern art exhibition space: consistent, precise, conforming; yet the works that lie within are anything but.

To reinforce the subliminal jest upon which Elmgreen & Dragset have built their career, the upstairs of the installation is completely paradoxical to the work from which it ascends. What can only be described as a barn awaits the unaware viewer, the immediate submergence of hay forcing him to interact with the installation.

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Dan Flavin, in honor of Harold Joachim in pink, yellow, blue and green fluorescent light 8′ high and wide (1977)

The Morgan Library & Museum is currently exhibiting Dan Flavin: Drawing, a retrospective of the Dan Flavin’s works on paper, from pencil to charcoal to watercolor. Primarily comprised of pieces made by the artist himself and a group from his personal collection, this body of work demonstrates Flavin’s abilities as a draftsman, as well as an installation artist. More than one hundred of Flavin’s own pieces are on view, starting with his abstract expressionist watercolors from the 1950s and ending with pictures of sailboats made with conté crayon in the late 80s and early 90s. Also included in this collection are a series of plans that the artist made in preparation of his renowned fluorescent light installations.

Dan Flavin, untitled (in honor of Harold Joachim) 3 (1977)

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Robert Ryman at PaceWildenstein Gallery at 32 E 57 Street in New York.  Installation View.  All images via PaceWildenstein Gallery unless otherwise noted

Currently on view at PaceWildenstein Gallery is “Robert Ryman: Large-small, thick-thin, light reflecting, light absorbing” – the exhibition of thirty new paintings of the renowned minimalist American artists. Executed in Ryman’s signature monochromatic palette the paintings on display measure ten to thirty square inches and represent a wide gamut of experimentation in materials, including wood, MDF board, aluminum, and stretched cotton. The works appear strong and indestructible, although painted on the paper-thin material Tyvek. In addition to traditional graphite and ink, Ryman employs such painterly materials as acrylic varnish, enamel and epoxy. To hang the paintings to the walls, the artist will use regular staples, which are a traditional integral part of his aesthetics.

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Robert Ryman at Pace Wildenstein. Installation View

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Header Row, Carl Andre via Andrea Rosen Gallery

Andrea Rosen Gallery presents works by Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, and Robert Ryman.  The works are featured in the Gallery 2- a space initiated in 1999 with the purpose of acquiring freedom to “infuse the gallery with one-time projects.”  It is safe to say that the works by the 60s and 70s masters are selected in a manner which make for a cohesive and solid show.  The exhibit is presented simultaneously with the show of John Currin’s works in the gallery’s main space and will be over August 21, 2009.

Related Links:
Andrea Rosen Gallery 2 Info [Andrea Rosen Gallery]
Dan Flavin bio [Tate]
A Minimal Future? [The MIT Press]
Artists by Movement: Minimalism [Artcyclopedia]

Untitled (to Ksenija), Dan Flavin via Andrea Rosen Gallery

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