Chelsea Gallerista

CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A BIGGER VIEW A sweep around Columbus' temporary living room courtesy of the free Photosynth iPhone app There's nothing like visual juxtaposition to tickle the human psyche ... witness he of the giant soft hamburger, fan and wall sockets fame - Claes Oldenburg  (yes if you scroll down, that link does show a piece by Claes Oldenburg). The latest art stunt in New York City is Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi's Columbus on the Coffee Table , smack bang on a traffic island in Columbus Circle. OK, that's not the title of the work. It's actually called Discovering Columbus , playing on the fact that the man - actually a scoundrel and a butcher - discovered America. I like my title better. I must be the zillionth person to pose like this in front of the statue  The entrance was free, and ticket holders who booked online patiently waited to climb size flights of scaffolded stairs to get to the mock "living room." Naturally, the...

Replicas of "Horse and Rider" - the full sized bronze original is at The Texas Tech University in Lubbock.   I am utterly beside myself ... I'm now the proud owner of not one, but two Tom Otterness sculptures, entitled "Horse and Rider." Now before commuters familiar with the Brooklyn artist's quirky little figurines strewn around Manhattan's subway stations accuse me of grand theft with a hacksaw (um, make that a chainsaw), these are cast resin  replicas. The read deal (and other objects of my profound desire) are being exhibited Feb 23 at the artist's outlet of choice,  Marlborough Gallery , and will probably set you back at least $7K, last I looked. I came face to nose with the real deal at the Armory Show, NYC, 2011 The "Horse and Rider" full-size bronze currently graces the campus of the Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The subject itself is a  loose interpretation of the Texas Tech Uni's mascot, ‘The Masked Ride...

Back in February I blogged about the amazing seed-beaded Munny dolls by Jan Huling . Popping by Lyons Weir Gallery recently I spotted her latest effort - a violin. It struck me that this would make the most wonderful prize for a student violin competition - it's Stradivarius on steroids! To remind you of Janet's original bead-breaking work, here's also a new item in her catalog - a beaded Kewpie doll. I'm just waiting for her to do a beaded Smartcar, then for someone to actually drive it ... or perhaps a beaded bicycle? Read my original post about Jan Huling

"She learned shipbuilding techniques," says Gallery Director and artist Lauren Bakoin, of  the Louise Kruger and her enigmatic art. ( View in YouTube if this video is truncated at the right).  If you live in a tiny studio in Manhattan, you can't possibly entertain the idea of hoarding sculpture of any significant size - even tabletop pieces have to be carefully curated between your fruit bowl, magazine stash and cellphone charger. But on this occasion, I came close to dropping serious rent money on a Louise Kruger original.  Being a yoga teacher myself, I was drawn into Lori Bookstein Fine Art by this sculpture in the window depicting Pincha Mayurasana , or Forearm Stand: Actually, it's somewhere between a forearm stand - the head should be off the ground - and a headstand - the hands should be cupped behind the head. Who cares? It's a fantastically dynamic piece, and I've been coveting it ever since. The decision to own it was mitiga...

Anyone who has wandered into a Kid Robot store will know the  Munny  (pronounced Muni) doll.  It's a blank, white vinyl character you can decorate yourself with pens and crayons. If there was a word like "androgynous" with an expanded meaning to encompass "indeterminate creature" then it would describe the Munny. It's vaguely human, vaguely animal,  vaguely neither. Jan Huling, a former advertising creative, decided to bead the heck out of the minimalist Munny, making it decidedly maximalist.  The result is a stunning twist on this famous, faceless anime icon. I stumbled across it in Lyons Wier Gallery, an inviting, accessible corner space on 7th Ave which rubs shoulders with the more pedestrian Jamba Juices,  Pinkberrys and falafel joints, quite distant from the main westside Chelsea Gallery district. "We're on the cusp, I enjoy the location and being away from the Gallery scene," said Michael Lyons, one of the new breed of gallery owner I...