1) Maryanne Cassasanta, As You Were, $350
I admit it, I have an art crush on Maryanne. Her photos are objects:
monuments that pay respect to Modern masters’ work, as integrated into the
everyday. It reminds me of plastic shopping bags in Berlin: graphic, Modern
but relaxed of their formal austerity. Polka dots that look like deflated
balloons, diaphanous sheaths of Yayoi Kusama’s dotted world, neatly
contained. This is a portrait of the everyday Modern.
Maryanne’s work is intimate, inviting and protective. I’d like some tea, a
Moog record and this work, please. I am a nerd.
2) Derek Liddington, Collage Study, $700 framed
Ok, so here is another artist who is interested in Modernity. And collage,
which is close to my heart. Derek’s work is considered, careful and
wistful. He is using academic references to insert himself into the
fantasies of history. This work makes me feel protected, that despite all
of the conflicting arguments surrounding contemporary art, uncle dad
(Derek) is going to dance us through this mess.
3) Jennifer Sciarrino, Gnomon – Cone, Herring, Island, 1pm, $500 framed
A trend is forming in my picks: physical space within a conventionally
2-Dimensional medium (photography, duh.)
Through the simply gesture of two finishing nails within a shadow box,
Sciarrino’s work generally lingers in the 3-D world. This work is subtle,
like a souvenir to a place existing between the physical and
representational world. But Sciarrino’s work isn’t so dry and heady, more
familiar and considerate. The use of the shadow box as an integral
component in the work is what nails it.
See, puns, I told you I’m a nerd.
4) Lindsey Cope, Picture Of A Bag Inside The Bag, $100
So by now, it is safe to admit that conceptual work is my bag. And what
better way to illustrate this than a bag containing a photograph of the bag
itself. The work is Ouroboros for the chip and pop set. Cope’s work is
always charming, playful and critical of consumer culture. I buy it.
5) Matthew Williamson, whoa man, $25
Williamson’s work has sold out, half of it to yours truly!
Kitsch and the paradox of customized mass-produced/disposable ephemera are
mingled with virtual ephemera. This work could be read as too preoccupied
with trends (Tumblr references anyone?), but isn’t that the point?
Williamson is poking fun as how far commerce extends into our senses of
self: like a Tumblr loaded with endless referential points amounting to a
portrait, the party plate takes Williamson’s virtual imagery and inserts it
back into the physical world, to be used. Party on.
