Ari Marcopoulos: Wherever You Go at Marlborough Gallery | June 5, 2012

Ari Marcopoulos is a photographer known for his gritty and personal images of the downtown  art scene during the 1980s, and later with skateboarding culture in the 90s.  Wherever You Go at the Marlborough Chelsea Gallery contains familiar sombre photographs but for this show, the images are pigment printed on rice paper and at a much larger size than he normally prints. The exhibition also features a short film from one of his personal experiences on a NYC subway. On view May 10 - June 16, 2012.

"God's Son" - picture of NBA player Tyson Chandler's tattoos

Photo Credits: Marlborough Gallery

Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace at Sean Kelly Gallery | June 5th, 2012

After reading articles online and art magazines everywhere, I finally had the chance to view Kehinde Wiley's paintings in person. Kehinde Wiley's newest body of work An Economy of Grace is now on view at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City. The main subject for this series consists of African-American women and to my surprise, Wiley collaborated with Riccardo Tisci (creative director at Givenchy) to design the dresses in the paintings. Surrounding the woman of course were bold-colorful floral patterns, a signature of Wiley's paintings. The photos below only give a glimpse of what was on view; in person the paintings were large several feet high and wide. On view till June 16th, 2012.

Photo Credits: Kehinde Wiley Studio

Doze Green: Luminosity in the Dark Rift at Jonathan LeVine Gallery | June 4, 2012

Gallery I in Jonathan LeVine Gallery held the solo exhibition of Doze Green: Luminosity in the Dark Rift. It is hard for me to describe Green's works but the way he describes it sounds fitting. In his words, “to develop a better understanding of the natural and supernatural. Giving voice to those that usually went unheard. I always retain a sense of my origins, but am not wholly reliant on the past. This sparked my interest in metaphysics and the subconscious. I felt compelled to seek the inner root of expression and that’s where I began to discover the harmony within sacred geometry. I am trying to visualize vibration, sound and light.” The exhibit runs til June 16th, go now for a supernatural journey. 

Kevin CYR: In Praise of Rust at Jonathan LeVine Gallery | June 4, 2012

KEVIN CYR: In Praise of Rust Gallery II Solo Exhibition at Jonathan LeVine Gallery May 19 - June 16, 2012 Initially drawn to this exhibit because of the Neckface van (shown above) and was hoping for more but overall had oil paintings of old vehicles from New York. I couldn't fully relate because I grew up in the Northwest but the paintings were still solid. The colorful background added lively feeling where a damaged and graffiti sprayed vehicle laid. 

Tom Sachs - Space Program Mars at Park Avenue Armory | June 2, 2012

Everything and more than what I expected. The Tom Sachs: Space Program MARS exhibition was created on a very large scale to fit inside a 55,000 square foot armory. Every part of the exhibit from the 23-foot-tall plywood Apollo Lunar Module to the Mission Control station was detailed from Tom Sach's vast imagination. The element of interaction was something I did not anticipate. Each piece was more than a replica and functioned close to its counterpart operating in a unique way. My favorite part of the exhibit comes after watching various short films you proceed to the indoctrination center where if you pass, you are added to the space crew as a new cadet. Now you have permission to physically explore the landing module's interior design.

Before viewing the exhibit I had the chance to attend a private Q&A with the artist Tom Sachs. He answered questions including the amount of preparation and work for this exhibition, to facts about his childhood. One of the things I was able to ask included his collaboration with Nike to create the NikeCraft, limited and price tag of $300+. The exhibit runs till June 17, 2012 and is worth checking out if you're in the New York area.

Photo Credits: Tom Sachs (Lost all my photos from this NY trip)

Shepard Fairey: Harmony and Discord at Pace Prints NYC | May 5 2012

Shepard Fairey's first exhibition with Pace Prints is on now till June 16 and premiers his first works in handmade paper as well as the largest screenprints he has done to date.

The exhibit is named "Harmony & Discord" referencing the global dichotomy of politics; what forces it creates on the grand scale and how that reflects on the actions and awareness of the individual. A lot of the works on view were a number of silkscreens done with collage and spraypaint, as well as handmade paper, embossment and relief prints, and large metal plates with screenprint. You can see a bit of Lichtenstein’s style throughout each piece confronting issues of the military industrial complex.

Photo Credits: Pace Prints