Twitter Reviews – May-June 2010

Made a quickie trip to Bergamot on the way to the @GettyMuseum last week. Just now getting around to reviews.
3:56 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Tim Bavington @MMooreGallery (****) Sweet. Love diagonals but kinda wish the canvases were actually parallelograms. #artLA
3:57 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Tim Bavington @MMooreGallery Fuzzy album covers have that Uta Barth-like velvety cozy feeling of familiarity. #artLA
3:58 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Ed Moses @ Greenfield Sacks/Frank Lloyd (**) Luv ya, Ed, but the screaming heads are sooo tacky. Didn’t we just see these? #artLA
4:01 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Audra Weaser @ Ruth Bachofner (***) Moss, willows & water ripples just appear from mere paint layering and sanding. Cool & breezy. #artLA
4:10 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Robert Zakanitch @ Samuel Freeman (***) Florals & arabesques w/ Mexican folk art vibe. Festive like crepe paper flowers & bark paintings.
6:12 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Andrew Sendor @ Richard Heller (****) Odd juxtaposition of disparate eras & the prevalent display pedestals make me feel like I’m leering.
8:10 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Mike Kelley & Michael Smith: Voyage of Growth & Discovery (***) Videos descend into the circus of YouTube world but sculptures rock. #artLA
9:07 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Mike Kelley & Michael Smith, A Voyage of Growth and Discovery http://twitpic.com/1rfj4s
9:14 PM May 26th via Twitpic

Mike Kelley’s VW minivan with a stuffed animal throne inside. #artLA http://twitpic.com/1rfktb
9:20 PM May 26th via Twitpic

Mike Kelley, detail of a rocket-shaped jungle gym with a string of plush characters. http://twitpic.com/1rfm02
9:25 PM May 26th via Twitpic

Kelley/Smith: The videos just don’t have the emotive impact that jungle gyms, stuffed animals and afghans do. #artLA
9:33 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Kelley/Smith: There’s a difference between rekindling childhood emotions and adults mimicking infantile behavior. #artLA
9:35 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

BTW trying to play down not having a real venue w/ PR doublespeak about making the private public just doesn’t fly–hey, it’s a studio party.
9:42 PM May 26th via TweetDeck

Set Theory: Roland Reiss @torranceArt (*****) Masterful miniatures + brand new florals + some friends. Tight show. Good job Max. #artLA
7:35 PM Jun 5th via TweetDeck

Natural Artifice @ Torrance Art Musuem

Natural Artifice: David French and Seth Kaufman at Torrance Art Museum

David French, Untitled, 2009, Styrofoam, Fiberglass, auto paint, 22 x 20 x 10 inches

David French, Where Are We Going, 2009, Styrofoam, Fiberglass, auto paint, 43 x 14 x 12 inches

David French, Eden, 2009, Styrofoam, Fiberglass, urethane, auto paint, 23 x 28 x 9 inches

David French, I Believe, 2009, Styrofoam, Fiberglass, auto paint, 68 x 9 x 13 inches

David French, Caligo, 2008, Styrofoam, Fiberglass, auto paint, 22 x 15 x 16 inches

Artist, David French (in black), shakes hands with Eric Smail at the opening reception for Natural Artifice at the Torrance Art Museum. Tim Doyle observes with arms crossed.

Seth Kaufman's sculpture in Natural Artifice at the Torrance Art Museum

Seth Kaufman's sculpture in Natural Artifice at the Torrance Art Museum

Seth Kaufman's sculpture in Natural Artifice at the Torrance Art Museum

Seth Kaufman's sculpture in Natural Artifice at the Torrance Art Museum

Torrance Art Museum
3320 Civic Center Drive
Torrance, CA 90503

September 19 – November 7, 2009

Twitter Review:
Natural Artifice @torranceArt (****) I love Seth Kaufman’s & David French’s sculptures–I’m just not convinced they belong together. #artLA
2:06 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Twitter Reviews – October 2009

Blum & Poe’s new space is BIG. Upstairs in still a bit raw. Show is a mixed bag. #artLA
7:35 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Blum & Poe: Didn’t care for much of the art except I liked Takashi Murakami & Mark Grotjahn in a small room together. #artLA
7:39 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Blum & Poe: My favorite work in the show was Dave Muller’s long narrow acrylic on paper paintings of record album edges. #artLA
7:42 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Second Nature @hammer_museum (**) Too bad this will be the nucleus of the Hammer’s sculpture collection. #artLA
5:53 PM Oct 9th from TweetDeck

Guess it’s fitting since “an overwhelming number of the artists in Second Nature are students of UCLA sculpture professor Charles Ray”
5:54 PM Oct 9th from TweetDeck

http://twitpic.com/kwjat – Only piece I found interesting was Paul Sietsema’s miniature Rococo Room & only photo I got before the guard intervened.
5:56 PM Oct 9th from TwitPic

Jennifer Vanderpool: A Pocketful of Posies @ One Colorado (**) Disappointed. Too trashy, not enough eye candy. Doesn’t envelope the space.
7:54 PM Oct 9th from txt

Wayne Thiebaud: Sweets & Treets @nortonsimon (***) Love the pink walls. Too bad there’s no paintings–only prints.
8:13 PM Oct 9th from txt

Wayne Thiebaud: 70 Years of Painting @ PMCA (****) Wow, what lush paint! Food, cityscapes, figures. Love women in swimsuits from 1966.
8:50 PM Oct 9th from txt

Charles Burchfield: Heat Waves in a Swamp @hammer_museum (***) Moody, eerie, gloomy, foreboding. Nature w/ invented embellishments that convey sound, movement or emotion.
7:31 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: A few really outstanding early pieces like The Insect Chorus from 1917 in this jam-packed show.
7:34 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: I actually found the most interesting work was at the beginning of his point of crisis rather than the late “great” work.
7:38 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: One small room contains two similar reworked paintings from 1943–Two Ravines and The Coming of Spring.
7:40 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: Both have two streams joining; one in dark shade, the other sunny; one frozen, the other flowing.
7:43 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: The two routes depicted at a point where signs of both winter and spring coexist seem to reflect his dilemma.
7:56 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Tools @ACCD (****) Part art, part artifacts, highlights the thingness of tools & man’s ingenuity reaching beyond the limits of his body.
12:56 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen @torranceArt (**) Typical Annual–No theme. No thought either–just 13 of Max’s friends that he finds “interesting”.
2:03 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen: Reading curator’s essay: 3 maybes, 3 seems, 4 perhaps, 1 not sure, 1 not certain, 7 ? marks. Keeping it “real” or “easy” Max?
2:04 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Natural Artifice @torranceArt (****) I love Seth Kaufman’s & David French’s sculptures–I’m just not convinced they belong together. #artLA
2:06 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Installations Inside/Out @ Armory (****) Even though not all strictly site specific installation, still a great show celebrating 20 years.
3:39 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Armory: Don’t miss Pae White’s tapestries of swirling smoke & crinkled mylar & Sarah Perry’s dark room w/ glowing clouds & floating feathers.
3:40 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

William Powhida: No One Gets Out Alive @ Charlie James (*****) Absolutely love the way he uses the crossed out word to convey humor.
7:58 PM Oct 24th from txt

David Allan Peters @ Ruth Bachofner (***) Maximal layering. Prefer wht/blk/metallic monochromes w/ 1 or 2 carvings better than overall cut pieces.
1:27 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

April Street @ Ruth Bachofner (**) There’s some potential in the paintings w/ the b&w checked circles and swags. The others just look unfinished.
1:29 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

Alejandro Diaz @ Happy Lion (**) I was drawn in by the Marfa sign, but ultimately felt the show was too smarty pants/trite jokes for me.
1:43 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen @ Torrance Art Museum

Baker's Dozen at the Torrance Art Museum, installation view

Baker's Dozen at the Torrance Art Museum, installation view

Baker's Dozen at the Torrance Art Museum, installation view

Matthew Picton

Jared Pankin

Jared Pankin

Mark Dutcher

Tia Pulitzer

Chuck Moffit

Chuck Moffit

Keith Walsh

Eric Yahnker

Allison Schulnik

Allison Schulnik

Ann Diener

Aragna Ker

Curator, Max Presneill at Baker's Dozen opening reception

Torrance Art Museum
3320 Civic Center Drive
Torrance, CA 90503

September 19 – November 7, 2009

Twitter Review:
Baker’s Dozen @torranceArt (**) Typical Annual–No theme. No thought either–just 13 of Max’s friends that he finds “interesting”.
2:03 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen: Reading curator’s essay: 3 maybes, 3 seems, 4 perhaps, 1 not sure, 1 not certain, 7 ? marks. Keeping it “real” or “easy” Max?
2:04 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Twitter Reviews – March 2009

Mineo Mizuno: Coexistence @ Samuel Freeman (***) Like moss covered ovoids in theory, but in reality fall short. Wish they were greener.
4:27 PM Mar 3rd from web

Mizuno @ Freeman: Misting contraptions distract. Matte-glazed works weak, but love the small, shiny river rock shaped ceramics.
4:32 PM Mar 3rd from web

David Hockney: Drawing in a Printing Machine @ LA Louver (**) Is this what phoning it in for an affordable price point looks like?
1:21 PM Mar 5th from web

Elias Sime: Eye of the Needle Eye of the Heart @ SMMoA (***) Wowed by obsessive craftsmanship of the stitching, but too much of the same.
1:37 PM Mar 5th from web

Julie Blackmon: Domestic Vacations @ Fahey/Klein (*****) Wonderfully humorous fictional photos of family life.
1:03 PM Mar 6th from txt

Jeremy Kidd: Fictional Realities @ Fahey/Klein (****) Dizzying (in a good way) urban photoscapes including LACMA under construction.
1:07 PM Mar 6th from txt

Carlos & Jason Sanchez @ dnj (***) Photos of some pretty depressing topics. Kind of a mood killer.
1:15 PM Mar 6th from txt

Angel Delgado: Continuous Limit @ Couturier (***) Liked the “objects in soap” series and sheep in metal cases. Didn’t care for drawings.
1:30 PM Mar 6th from txt

Angel Delgado @ Couturier: Objects are more metaphorical. Drawings are too literal.
1:31 PM Mar 6th from txt

Jutta Koether: Sovereign Women in Painting @ Susanne Vielmetter (*) Ridiculously awful.
2:09 PM Mar 6th from txt

Arsen Roje: Body Parts @ Peres Projects (***) Jenny Savillesque paintings of fingers, thumbs and hands.
2:22 PM Mar 6th from txt

Dave Muller: iamthewalrus @ Blum & Poe (****) “Beatles Within Beatles” is my favorite piece in the show.
2:32 PM Mar 6th from txt

Melissa Manfull: Tesseracts @ Taylor de Cordoba (****) Gridded towers and arches as organic stalactites and stalagmites.
2:51 PM Mar 6th from txt

Penelope Gottlieb @ Kim Light (*****) Suburban real estate dreams with shopping carts & fake fireplace thrown in to break the reverie.
3:03 PM Mar 6th from txt

Brad Eberhard: As Different as Twins @ Cottage Home (****) Washes, paint layering, colors, all great. “Snake Stack” my fav.
3:53 PM Mar 13th from txt

Katherine Gray @ Acuna-Hansen (***) Forest glass installations remind me of the coin toss at carnivals. Clear bubbles in back room best of show.
4:02 PM Mar 13th from txt

Vorcan: Painting Live Music @ L2kontemporary. (*) High school Day-Glo paintings made worse by 3-D gimmick.
4:11 PM Mar 13th from txt

Rebekah Bogard: Flesh & Bone @ Sam Lee (****) Pink and fecund. Cute but sexy, naughty.
4:21 PM Mar 13th from txt

David Kramer: Guilty Pleasure @ Jancar (***) Drawings with text. I laughed at “Burn This.”
4:46 PM Mar 13th from txt

“Burn This” says: Nice being an artist. Even if you are lucky enough to get famous your neighbor still doesn’t know who the f*ck you are.
4:51 PM Mar 13th from txt

Catya Plate @ Jancar/McCorkle (***) Does amusing things with clothes pins. Liked the colored pencil tarot card drawings best.
4:54 PM Mar 13th from txt

Illegiblusion @ Sabina Lee (***) Most delicate use of line. Grids for Mary Ijichi, and loops & dots for Kimiko Miyoshi.
5:04 PM Mar 13th from txt

Walter Robinson: Transport @ Charlie James (*****) Auto name plates, fun color, metallic sparkle meets Rothko and resin.
5:21 PM Mar 13th from txt

Kit Hinrichs: The Storyteller’s Art @ ACCD (***) Impressive body of graphic design. A bit stuck in the ’80s. Some stuff hung too high.
6:20 PM Mar 13th from txt

Jalopy @ Side Street Projects (***) Baron Margo’s race car and motorcycle look like something from the Rocketeer by way of the Great Race.
6:52 PM Mar 13th from txt

Eye in the Sky: JPL’s Mars Orbiter @ PMCA (***) Second time wearing 3-D glasses today. “Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater” is amazing.
7:38 PM Mar 13th from txt

Data + Art @ PMCA (****) Best mix of data and art is David Bowen’s “Photographic Drawing Device,” solar-powered mini-robots drawing circles.
7:49 PM Mar 13th from txt

Roger Kuntz @ LAM (***) Though best know for his Freeway and Sign series, I prefer the Crystal Cove series, especially “Sea Porch,” 1960.
7:03 PM Mar 14th from txt

Kuntz created multiple paintings of same subject, starting with realistic rendering & achieving greater abstraction in each subsequent version.
7:10 PM Mar 14th from txt

The Bathroom series was Kuntz’s undoing. Especially when he added red to his favored blue and grey palette.
7:17 PM Mar 14th from txt

Kuntz gets brighter and funner in his subsequent Ocean Interior and Blimp series, bringing in luminous teals and greens.
7:28 PM Mar 14th from txt

I think Kuntz didn’t become as well known, not because the Bathroom series was out of step, but because it wasn’t as compelling.
7:47 PM Mar 14th from txt

Christine Nguyen: Dark Matter of Fact @ Angels Gate (**) Too much sketchbook experimenting. Only photo mural finds some resolutions.
3:10 PM Mar 20th from txt

Kurt Franz: Desublimated Landscapes @ Angels Gate (***) Diebenkorn but in 3-D. Nice to see construction materials used for more than scattertrash.
3:21 PM Mar 20th from txt

Amy Thornberry: Sheaths, Veils, Sediment @ Torrance Art Museum (**) Oh no–scattertrash!
4:26 PM Mar 20th from txt

Marie Thibeault: Broken Symmetries @ Torrance Art Museum (***) Paintings are dynamic, fragmented, chaotic and yes, scattered, but definitely not trashy.
4:30 PM Mar 20th from txt

Kim Abeles: Location Studies @ TAM (****) Who knew homeless sleep where the trees aren’t? Always liked her smog work.
4:34 PM Mar 20th from txt

Iva Gueorguieva @ Angles (***) So-so. Liked large B&W with collage best (The Pageantry of Power: The General).
12:50 PM Mar 27th from txt

Dimitri Kozyrev: Lost Edge @ Mark Moore (****) Love the way he uses masked areas of different paint texture & real/abstract as collage elements.
1:21 PM Mar 27th from txt

Steven Hull @ Rosamund Felsen (***) Felt like I was in a Psychedelic/Surrealist/Modernist haunted house in Disneyland with a bad hangover.
1:32 PM Mar 27th from txt

Nobuhito Nashigawara: Identities @ Mark Moore (***) Yoshimoto Nara meets Nathan Mabry.
1:36 PM Mar 27th from txt

John Miller: The Natural Order @ Patrick Painter (**) Gold-leaf pirate booty assemblages juxtaposed with ’80s decor. Kind of a snore.
1:51 PM Mar 27th from txt

Rock Paper Scissor @ Robert Berman (**) Why do rock musicians think they can get away with anything? Scissors should win. (Save 1 Pettibon)
2:07 PM Mar 27th from txt

Michael Beck: The Object as Still Life @ Lora Schlesinger (****) Each a single antique object against a wall. Multiple light sources make for cool shadows.
2:29 PM Mar 27th from txt

Alexandra Hedison: Ithaka @ Frank Pictures (***) Not about trees? Too bad–would have been better without the pseudo-theory text on the walls.
5:58 PM Mar 27th from txt

Donald Sultan: Recent Works on Paper @ Greenfield Sacks (**) Much better in reproduction than in person.
6:03 PM Mar 27th from txt

Amy Ross & Carole Silverstein: The aim of waking is to dream @ Overtones (***) Sugar pills and hallucinogens.
6:09 PM Mar 27th from txt