Washington DC's Conner Contemporary Art is currently displaying acclaimed artist Koen Vanmechelen's "Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (DC)." This is the Belgian artist's first show in the U.S., and it definitely shows off his unique ideas and skills.

While the modern art era has broadened the definitions and blurred the limits and lines of "art," lessening the shock value of seemingly-outrageous or bizarre creations, Vanmechelen's exhibition is a one-of-a-kind approach to conceptual art that triggers many reactions.

Precisely his point, the artist, whose Washington DC exhibition is part of an ongoing "Cosmopolitan Chicken Project," has been systematically crossing every chicken breed to create a "world-mongrel chicken" (as he calls it). Vanmechelen's wacky initiative raises important questions about genetic engineering, globalization, and individuality (among other things).

His exhibition at Conner Contemporary Art includes taxidermy, video, photography, drawings, and paintings (whose tempera paint is made from eggs laid by the artist's own bred chickens).

To read the full article about "Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (DC)" on Artdaily click here.

To read more about Conner Contemporary Art, click here.

A new gallery has opened in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. The appropriately (and humorously) named "Central Booking" is dedicated to print and book art. The gallery's founder, Maddy Rosenberg, is a long time book artist and independent curator. Central Booking is currently displaying works by an eclectic group of 130 artists, including Mary Frank, Joan Snyder and Jay Bolotin.

As Rosenberg states (in an article from The Art Newspaper):

...Central Booking bears little resemblance to a traditional book store. The first of the gallery's two rooms is reserved for curated shows of work by artists who make prints but also explore other mediums; the current show, "Natural Histories", contains pieces ranging from a sawbox by Steven Daiber that is filled with pine cones wrapped in wood prints of a natural history text ($5,000), a non-print-related installation of scavenged metal and natural debris by Judy Hoffman ($25,000), and a limited-edition copy of “A Book of Works”, an unfinished 1993 book of poems and photographs by Ana Mendieta (loaned by the artist's foundation, it is the only piece in the gallery not for sale).

Image from Central Booking

Furthermore, Rosenberg is optimistic about the increasing popularity of book art and hopes to keep the project going even after the current venue closes in April.

She continues,

...With book art appearing more and more regularly in exhibitions and art fairs over the past year—and with Gagosian gallery opening its own Madison Avenue shop of artists' books and limited editions—there are signs that the recession-friendly medium has been slowly gaining traction. "I feel the most dynamic, interesting, experimental work is going on in books because it doesn't have a huge tradition or baggage.”

Two of my favorite shows up right now in Chelsea:

MIXED GREENS GALLERY
531 WEST 26TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10001
TEL : 212.331.8888
INFO@MIXEDGREENS.COM

ZANE LEWIS
WATCH ME SLOWLY DEATH
August 20 - October 3, 2009
Opening: Thursday, September 10, 6-9 PM



Mixed Greens is pleased to present their second solo exhibition of new works by Zane Lewis. In Watch Me Slowly Death, Lewis juxtaposes religious imagery with high-fashion advertisements to create portrait and still life paintings that modernize and recontextualize their historic roots.

Lewis creates still life pieces out of fashion posters, ads and mirrors, rather than the fruits and flowers used in 17th and 18th Century Vanitas paintings. In one series, Chanel posters appear to be ripped from cosmetic counters, crackling and wilting+in their frames. The result is a reinterpretation of the genre. Instead of capturing a moment in time and alluding to inevitable decay, Lewis creates a situation that not only references decay, but participates in it. All of the posters and ads in his work are distressed; their sexy, slick images are crumbling and defaced by Lewis’ hand.

In another series, hundreds of iconic Chanel ads are layered, cut, and reassembled to create a portrait of Jesusin a crown of thorns—a vision of excess culminating in the most universally understood image of death. At first, the piece appears a jumble of materials, a map of constellations or a graffitied wall. Upon further inspection, the piece is a collage of ads that sell the ideas of youth and seduction. To create these works, Lewis never uses a brush, but rather, like a surgeon, cuts his pieces with a knife, each gesture subtractive and nihilistic. Then, when a piece is ready, he drips and pours paint to react like bodily fluids and humanize his subject again. Much like Jack Villeglé, Lewis tears and recombines advertisements to reflect reality and comment on contemporary culture.

Allusions to death and the impossibility of eternal youth culminate in two very large portraits on mirror: one of a skull, the other of Jesus in a crown of thorns, bleeding paint from his eyes. However dark the undertones, there is a balance created by Lewis’ poetic streak—a pure, romantic and sincere love of paint, art history and the fashion ads he destroys.

Gallerist Marianne Boesky is most known for her gallery (of the same name), which is located in Chelsea.  Just above the gallery is an apartment Boesky calls home.  The building has a great and hard-to-come-by New York feature - a rooftop terrace - that offers incredible views of the city.  However, the infamous High Line project, which seemed like it would never actually come to fruition, is located just five feet from Boesky's terrace.  When the second phase of the High Line project is finished, strollers on the elevated walkway will be just steps away from touching Boesky's very own oasis.  NYMagazine reently did a feature on the renovation Boesky and lanscape designer Paula Hayes did on the terrace to give the space more privacy and a greater sense of calm.  

Zach Feuer Gallery in Chelsea - current show:

Typically on this site I focus on one gallery at a time.  I have been to many galleries around the world, and while I tend to enjoy them all, some just stand out - that's why I write about them here.  However, as anyone interested in the art world knows, it can be just about impossible to stay abreast of all of the art news going on in the world - exhibitions, fairs, artists, and more more more... it seems that if I take a vacation then I miss so much and I'm back to square one.  And on top of that, there are so many art publications, websites, and news outlets out there that one can get very overwhelmed.  So here is my list of top five resources for the art world - they may not be the most popular, or most recognized, but they tend to give me a really well-rounded idea of what's up:

After her first two artists, David Salle and Julian Schnabel became wildly popular, gallerist Mary Boone was dubbed the "The New Queen of the Art Scene" in the 1980s.  Originally with its location in SoHo, Mary Boone Gallery now has two locations - one in Chelsea and one on 5th Avenue.

Once associated with the art boom of the 1980s and all that excess and later demise that accompanied that boom, Boone has recovered and now represents well-known, as well as emerging, artists.

The list of artists represented includes:

Ai Weiwei
John Altoon
Perre Bismuth
Ross Bleckner
James Lee Byars
Patty Chang
Francesco Clemente
Patricia Coffie
Will Cotton
Eric Fischl
Chie Fueki
Luis Gispert
Peter Halley
Hilary Harkness
Jacob Hashimoto
Imi Knoebel
Terence Koh
Barbara Kruger
Barry Le Va
Liu Xiaodong
Aleksandra Mir
Marc Quinn
David Salle
Keith Sonnier