January 2005 Archives

THE FOUNTAINHEAD

“Impressionism has depth but is also pretty. I definitely turn my back on it.” With those words, artist Samm Cohen stirs up more questions than she answers.

By Lauren Cerand

Samm Cohen has a friendly and open manner and sitting across from her, one can’t help but think of the same pixie-ish appeal of Scarlett Johansson or Fairuza Balk. Her large, luminous blue-green eyes are a striking contrast to the shock of cropped blond hair that bursts into view when she pulls off her ski cap and sits down to talk with Trigger at DT/UT, a local café.

by Dennis Spafford

Gonzalo Papantonakis recent exhibition in New York, "See Music", was a successful attempt to incorporate music into a visual medium. From laminated music standards to crudely hand written lyrics directly on the canvas, all of the pieces in this show adhere to Papantonakis’s goal of “seeing” music.

The Art of Alchemy and Iconography by Liberation Iannillo

America loves its icons. We fawn over our ill-fated silver-screen bombshells and we incredulously stare at our art deco skyscrapers, so it should be of no surprise that our culture isn’t lacking incredible imagery to offer the rest of the world for consumption. Icons fascinate us not only for their intended meaning but for the many interpretations and ideals that get projected onto them. To most Americans our office buildings have come to symbolize success, that after years of education and working your way up the corporate ladder, you have finally ‘made it’ or so the myth goes. But to some in other countries, those same buildings are 110 stories of pure evil and represent everything that is wrong with Western culture.

Peter Hujar: Night
Matthew Marks Gallery
January 15th - March 5th, 2005

By Dennis Spafford

On tall, plain, crisp, white walls in Chelsea, hang the photographic memoirs of Peter Hujar. These forty-three images, many of which are being shown for the first time, offer all of us a more intimate view of who Peter Hujar was and what he saw through the lense of his camera. In contrast to the space in which these pictures are being exhibited, Hujar's pictures are far from innocent and new. The images he captures all portray an overwhelming sadness, doused with urban and social decay, that leave an almost tangible feeling of despair. Also in this exhibition we are introduced to Hujar's experiments with perception and how that influenced his objectivity, but also the viewers as well.

By Jessica Cogan

In the 1960's, New York City commissioned artist Peter Max to trick out a fleet of city buses. His bold, psychedelic designs proved magical for at least one ten-year old waiting for the #10 cross town - that boy became legendary graffiti artist Zephyr. As he puts it, "When one of those tripped out buses pulled up at the curb, it was something so magical. Words don't convey the experience...and riding those buses had a huge impact on me."