Ralph Eugene Meatyard at DC Moore

#48 ID, 1968-72. Gelatin silver print, 6 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.

 

As a child I spent a lot of time in the woods.  I went through a phase where I was afraid to be alone there.  My father told us kids stories of a little old woman who lived in an isolated cabin.  She was a witch.  If you found the cabin, it meant you were lost and you would never return.  It was his version of a bedtime story.  For a bunch of kids growing up in a cabin located a quarter mile off the main road, surrounded by miles of uninterrupted woods, the story rang a chord of truth and warning in my mind that could not be disputed.   I would walk into the woods and sense the presence of a dark and mysterious figure just in the periphery of my vision.  I would turn my head quickly to find an irregularly shaped stump-not the old witch.  With shot nerves I would run back to the house as quickly as I could.  It wasn’t as fast as it could have been.  I was never a runner.

Untitled, 1961. Gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.

Years later, the cabin still stands, the woods, although smaller, still remain, and now that I have Meatyard’s photographs in my mind, my old fears of figures haunting the woods have been remembered and re-imagined with vigor.   

 

Ralph Eugene Meatyard, “Occasion for Diriment” (1962), Gelatin silver print, 7.25 x 7.25 in (Guy Davenport Collection, Harry Ransom Center © The Estate of Ralph Eugene Meatyard; all images courtesy of the Blanton Museum of Art)

Meatyard’s images investigate focus and lack thereof.  It appears he has found the impossible line between blurry enough to not see clearly and focused enough to know that what you are looking at is terrifying.  There are children in the woods wearing masks of elderly faces, children in the woods climbing through sharp brush.  There are images depicting the limbs of child and limbs of tree in a strange, petrified parallel.  There are dark places with only enough light to see the outline of a small figure that couldn’t quite be human.  There are haunting images of common, mundane sheds, old barns, outhouses from another era, standing in places people no longer go.   As disturbing as Meatyard’s images of his kids and wife (and their various masks and doll parts) are, they are hauntingly beautiful.  The show closes December 23.  This is not one to miss!

More to read at Hyperallergic: http://hyperallergic.com/184926/the-suburban-dad-who-took-the-1960s-eeriest-photos/

 

More at: http://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/2015-11-19_ralph-eugene-meatyard

4 NOW Gilles Giuntini Anahita Mekanik Edmond Praybe Carolyn Sheehan clockwise from left: Carolyn Sheehan, Untitled, 2014, mixed media on paper, 48 x 32 inches Gilles Giuntini, The Modesty of Claret Petacci, 2014, mixed materials, 34 x 38 x 24 inches Anahita Mekanik, Deliverance, 2013, mixed media, 60 x 18 x 18 inches Edmond Praybe, Evening Light, 2015, oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches December 1 - 19 Opening Reception: Saturday, December 5, 3 - 5pm First Street Gallery caps off the year with 4 Now, an exciting new exhibition that celebrates the unique and dynamic visions of four of its newest artists, Gilles Giuntini, Anahita Mekanik, Edmond Praybe, and Carolyn Sheehan. Gilles Giuntini fabricates complex intimate narratives that reference both historical and personal events. These carefully crafted pieces are at once seductive but beyond reach. The viewer is drawn in, but kept at a distance. This physical tension is at the core of each piece. Through irony and humor Giuntini weaves disparate scenarios into something familiar...a world of paradox and hypocrisy.    Anahita Mekanik is a story-teller who speaks through the random objects that find their way into her life. The more damaged, old and ordinary these are, the more potent are the memory and message they carry. By giving a new soul to these abandoned treasures, she participates in the universal ritual of transformation.   Edmond Praybe makes paintings that attempt to reevaluate perceptions of the environment he inhabits while celebrating the union of observation, invention, and memory. The works are literal explorations - made on-site or at least partially so - as well as artist explorations, dealing with a variety of attitudes concerning color, structure, scale, and narrative. Edmond searches for broadly identifiable themes and feelings in the image, while also depicting a specific sense of time and place in each piece.   Carolyn Sheehan creates art works that are best described by color and images. She combines creativity and imagination with emotions in every piece with the sole purpose of not only creating an aesthetic that impacts the feelings but causes pleasure as well. Every piece is worked like a sculpture: three dimensional and take shape in a style in which the icon is always the focal point.       For more info go to:http://www.firststreetgallery.org/exhibitions/2015-2016-season-archive/4-now-press-release/    Gallery Hours: 11 am - 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday 526 West 26th Street, Suite 209, New York, New York 10001 646-336-8053 · 646-336-8054 (fax)

Zavaglia at Lyons Wier Gallery

Verso detail: Martina 2015, Hand embroidery: One ply cotton, silk, and wool thread on Belgian linen with acrylic paint background
14.5 x 30.5 in / 36.8 x 77.5 cm

Martina 2015, Hand embroidery: One ply cotton, silk, and wool thread on Belgian linen with acrylic paint background
13.5 x 10 in / 34.3 x 25.4 cm
14.5 x 11 in / 36.8 x 27.9 cm (framed size)

“About Face” is an incredible portrait show.  Zavaglia has made small, intimate portraits of very ordinary looking faces intensely extraordinary by hand embroidering.  There are some paintings and some large paintings that are no less extraordinary as the paint is mimicking the threadwork.  Both examples are just stunning.  Even the “plain” painted backgrounds to these portraits are interesting and filled with thoughtful texture and intensely neutral colors.  The faces themselves take on a bas relief feel as they are built up with actual texture and layers upon layers of threads.  Don’t just look at the meticulously rendered front of these pieces.  On display is a 360 degree view of one and the back is just as psychologically disturbingly beautiful as the front is a mastery of the unexpected beauty of mundane.   I have a fascination with art featuring the mundane and everyday rendered in a way that reveals beauty. 

“About Face” is up through December 12^th at Lyons Weir on West 24^th street.    

http://www.lyonswiergallery.com/zavaglia.html

 

Eric Aho

Eric Aho, Wilderness Studio, End of Winter, 2015, oil on linen, 50 x 60 inches

The work of Eric Aho was first introduced to me recently.  His show, Wilderness Studio, is up at DC Moore until November 4^th.  This is also another painting show that is simply not to be missed.  These large, gestural pieces are rich in intelligent color choices and satisfying mark making.  I was really impressed with not only the intensity of the work, but for the allowance of resting space for the eye.  My favorite two pieces happened to be of cabins in the woods in winter.  (Surprise, surprise!!!!)  The super rich blaze red orange paint sharing the canvas with large, flat, complimentary aqua blue made for such an exciting, vibrating image.  I also loved the dark flat shape of the structure, indicating multiple planes of wall with only slight changes in outline angle.  Don’t take my word for it… go to DC Moore on 22^nd street in Chelsea and see!!!

More at: http://www.dcmooregallery.com/

Elizabeth O'Reilly at George Billis

Elizabeth O'Reilly, Window Reflections, oil on panel, 2015, 13 x 10 inches

Elizabeth O’Reilly’s work is flat up close.  The “economy of paint” makes for thin washes of observed color and shapes laid on slick.  The paint is transparent oil, heavily diluted, and dry on the surface.  The integrity of color, definitive use of shape, and impeccable drawing makes these images transform at a short distance to lush, colorful, deep spaces.  The interesting play of light, reflective surfaces, juxtaposed to deep open windows, and brilliant use of white as color make this collection of intimate paintings one of the best shows to see as a painter right now.  The show closes November 14 so if you are a painter get in there fast!

See more: http://www.georgebillis.com/elizabeth-oreilly.html

My personal favorite: 

Elizabeth O'Reilly, Black House, Blairstown, oil on panel, 2014, 7.5 x 11.75 inches