Mark Swanson’s ‘88,’ 2006-8, 36 x 24 x 7 1/2 inches, courtesy of
Bellwether Gallery. Below: Jean Michel Othoniel’s ‘The Twin Lovers,’
2008, mirrored pink glass and metal on painted metal base, 118 x 75 x
51.25 inches, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
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By Rafael Risemberg
Friday, March 14, 2008
All of the artists whose exhibits are described below are gay or lesbian.
Jean-Michel Othoniel
A huge phallus greets visitors who enter the upscale Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Gallery. Made of Jean-Michel Othoniel’s signature outsized glass beads (inspired by his mother’s jewelry), they are twin necklaces that rise dramatically and elegantly to near the top of the ceiling. The piece is a perfect conflation of the masculine and feminine, as often manifest in gay men. The gallery’s main space is taken up by a large covered wagon (feminized with glass beads and studded with butt plugs), as well as three giant glass bead lassos. They are this French artist’s whimsical take on America, as gleaned from movie Westerns. The emotional tone takes a turn for the poignant with a back room installation titled “Black Hearts—Red Tears.” Meant as an elegy for post-Katrina New Orleans, this glass curtain evokes the beads from Mardi Gras in happier times. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Tues.–Sat., until March 29, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 530 W. 22nd St. near 10th Ave., sikkemajenkinsco.com, 212-929-2262.
Marc Swanson
Animal energy crackles in Marc Swanson’s latest sculpture and video show in Chelsea. Growing up in the woods of New Hampshire, the artist learned to hunt with his ex-Marine father, and that is reflected most directly in his authentic deer antlers, studded with crystals. No less visceral are three wall hangings made of T-shirts and underwear that are coated in latex and stretched out to resemble animal hides. Here the act of hunting morphs into man-on-man cruising, with the works a potent fusion of the artist’s rural past and metro present. Finally, a four-minute video that Swanson made in collaboration with film editor/musician Neil Gust combines men with psychedelic graphics and an abstracted, club-evoking soundtrack to explore homoerotic desire. The exhibit’s title—“The Saint at Large”—must be a nod to ’80s gay disco The Saint (The Saint at Large throws its annual leather-themed vernal equinox dance party The Black Party on March 29 at Roseland Ballroom). 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Tues. - Sat., until April 5, Bellwether Gallery, 134 10th Ave. near 18th St., bellwethergallery.com, 212-929-5959.
Jim Hodges
Light and dark, in and out, smooth and sharp are all deftly examined in Jim Hodges’ two unconventional walk-in installations. The first piece consists of 10 white panels gilded with gold leaf and arranged in a semi-circle, with the opening bathed in natural light. These gold “paintings” are alternately figurative (clouds, forests, rays of light) and abstract (squares and spikes). Being inside the arc is a glittery experience, but it doesn’t end there: Walk around the structure to catch the designs poking through the back of the canvas, a little muted but no less radiant. The other installation is situated in a specially built smaller room. Walk into the wooden “Dark Gate” and encounter hard, sharp spikes making a circular formation, large enough for a reckless head to fit through. Walk around this piece as well, and the spikes’ shadows radiating out are transcendent. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Tues.–Sat., until April 9, CRG Gallery, 535 W. 22nd St. (2nd floor)., crggallery.com, 212-229-2766.
“WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution”
“WACK!”—arriving in Queens from its Los Angeles debut—shows feminist artworks from 1965-1980. Needless to say, several of the artists are lesbian. Louise Fishman’s 27 works on paper, titled “Angry Bertha,” “Angry Phyllis,” etc., full of her characteristic abstract expressionist strokes, take up almost an entire wall. A Joan Snyder acrylic painting sports flock (a fuzzy pink material) at the navel of her abstracted female figure. “An Oral Herstory of Lesbianism,” by Arienne Ravin, consists of 50 slides of a women’s performance art piece from 1979. Tee Corinne’s “Cunt Coloring Book” is a set of explicit illustrations from 1975 (unfortunately, the book is closed, so we see only samples). Most compelling to me are Barbara Hammer’s six video works that include “Superdyke” (1975), in which 10 women carrying Amazon shields race through town rescuing ladies in distress. Noon–6 p.m., Thur.–Mon., until May 12, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center: 22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave., Long Island City, ps1.org, 718-784-2084.
Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., leads gay & lesbian art gallery tours through New York Gallery Tours: nygallerytours.com, 212-946-1548. The next GLBT gallery tours start 1 p.m. on Sat., April 12 & May 10, at 526 W. 26th St. near 10th Ave.
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