#wallspace gallery

© Elizabeth Fleming

Congratulations to my wife, Elizabeth Fleming, on her 2nd place award in the 15th Annual Members' Juried Exhibition at Photo Center NW. The Show was judged by Crista Dix of Wall Space Gallery. First Place went to Brian Buckley and Third place went to Kerry Mansfield.  The Northwest has been good to my Mrs over the past year, she recently had a show in Portland at NewSpace.

© Brian Buckley

BTR’s Art Uncovered 

Carl Corey is a photographer based in River Falls, Wisconsin. Lately, he's been traveling the country in his small Winnebago documenting  the quirks, contradictions, and moments quiet of beauty he finds in small town America. In his pictures we see roadside motels, dive bars, and suburban homes with bizarre lawn ornaments. There's a photo of an empty main street at night illuminated by Christmas lights and a painting of Richard Nixon bathed in demonic orange light. Carl is calling his project "Americaville" and last week I got a chance to chat with him about this ongoing work. We discussed his time walking across Wisconsin, religion in America, and how Mark Twain has influenced his photography. "Americaville" is on view at Wallspace Gallery in Santa Barbara, CA through March 31st.

The independent often has some of the most innovative and edgy contemporary works. This year it seemed a bit claustrophobic. Still, here are 3 that I found worth seeing.

Daniel Gordon at Wallspace makes still life photo work that would bring a smile to Matisse.

Page White has a stunning fabric, quilt like piece at Kaufmann Repetto.

And Finally, I was taken with the black enamel paintings of Gerald Ferguson at Canada.

Daniel Gordon's The Green Line

"Gordon’s Brooklyn workspace is reached by going up five flights of stairs through the dark, cat-laden apartment of a neighbor and up a narrow spiral staircase. In a style usually reserved for the homes of serial killers or very experimental taxidermists, his floor is littered with bits of people’s flesh—arms and eyelashes and stringy mats of hair mingle with lemon rinds and lobster claws. The body parts are so abundant you can’t help but step on them."

Seems like just yesterday that I left the Armory Show, but here we go again with another set of art fairs in New York around the second year of Frieze. I have the feeling that the patrons are already adjusting to the venue on Randall's Island, and it does seem more comfortable and less awkward than the Piers although the lighting seemed a bit harsh. As for the fair, most other fairs could learn from Frieze's choice of food options, which are several, varied and mostly reasonably priced. I was impressed with the work in the booths of 2 of the younger galleries, Ramiken Crucible and Wallspace, both New York venues. At Ramiken, the sculptures of Elaine Cameron-Weir combine a classical elegance with a decorative flair.

The abstract paintings of Borden Capalino, which he describes as thermal transfers, combIne a rawness with a symmetric sense of composure..

They have a similar feel o the recent work of Philip Taaffe currently at Luhring Augustine.

Wallspace has mounted a one person show of the photos of Daniel Gordon. These still life images have an artificial look that had me wondering, photoshop, multiple exposure or what?

In fact they are sculptures that he has made and then photographed. The result is that they confront and pay homage to the line of still life from Cezanne to Matisse.

Finally, I was so struck to discover the new work by Teresita Fernandez at Lehmann Maupin. I have followed her work and been an admirer since her formulative years in Miami. Yet these new pieces took me by surprise. They appear like Chinese landscape, vast and peopleless, but the makeup of gold chrome under the India ink images, invariably includes the reflection of the viewer. The result is a combination of the quiet and calm of Eastern images with the Romantic tradition of the sublime landscape.