A calmer parallel to the chaos of Armory Week, the New York Arts Week Show offers a compelling selection of works by artists working in various mediums, chosen from an open call by Judges Drorit Gur Arie (Petach Tikva Museum), Holly Hager (Curatious), and John Seed (Huffington Post), and curated by Manuel Alejandro Pardo of Art Takes Manhattan. Organized within roughly by genre, by presenting dozens of interesting artists in one manageable space, the exhibition offers a refreshing breath of fresh art outside the traditional fair circuit.

Upon entering the gallery space, one first encounters Simone Kestelman’s Ciranda (Ring Around the Rosie), perhaps the most engaging work in the exhibition. A loop of life-size floating ceramic children’s dresses, chained together at the arms as if playing the game Ring Around the Rosie, in itself something with dark historical connotations, the piece is simultaneously nostalgic, ethereal, and eerie. Ciranda also stands out as one of the few large sculptural pieces in an exhibition dominated by painting and drawing, another example being Karen Lemmert’s prismatic wall piece 345 RGB Undulation, placed at the opposite end of the show.

Standing out among the two-dimensional inclusions are figurative artists Andrew Galindo and Jack Rosenberg. Galindo’s moody mixed media portraits, on paper handmade by the artist, are intimate, touching character studies suggestive of the psychological understanding of history’s great portraitists. Rosenberg’s expressionistic, almost Cubist-inspired paintings depicting figures ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to an “Old Man,” provide multi-faceted, painterly looks at each subject. Cuban painter Franklin Alvarez Fortun also makes an impact with his subtly political works from the Suspense series, depicting typically Cuban figures frozen in mid-air, unable to make a move.

Abstract art also gets its due as part of the New York Arts Week Show. Paintings by Tim Hoover, Rae Broyles, and others reflect the various corners of where the field currently stands. Guang Zhu’s work, in the form of a few prints as well as an animation, brings together art, music, and science as she utilizes data, formulas and musical notes to digitally create intricate geometric designs.

All in all, while there is no exaggerated focus to the New York Arts Week Show, it certainly serves its purpose as a showcase to discover a wide range of interesting art.

Participating artists: Guang Zhu, Carol Sharp, Maria Lago, Franklin Álvarez, Simone Kestelman , Alexandra Averbach, Connie Freid, Daniel Rosenbaum, Donna Lomangino, Edelweiss Calcagno, Fiona Kinsella, Jack Rosenberg, Jamie Martinez, Javier Infantes, Karen Lemmert, Leila Pinto, Mariko Swisher, Mariusz Navratil, Natalia Berschin, Nicholas Down, Rae Broyles, Ruth Ellen Hoag, Ryota Matsumoto, Sima Schloss, Simone Kestelman,  and Tim Hoover.

 

March 4th
10:00 am – 6:00 pm      Public viewing (FREE Entry)
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm      Video Art Projection Session (FREE Entry) with artists Shahar Tuchner, Guang Zhu, Ela Goldman, and Willy Hartland

March 5th
10:00 am – 6:00 pm      Public viewing (FREE Entry)
March 6th
10:00 am – 3:00 pm      Public viewing (FREE Entry)

Caelum Gallery

508/526 West 26th Street

Suite 315

New York, NY 10001 

Tel: 917.475.1694

 

Writing by Jennifer Wolf

Photographs provided by the gallery and Arte Fuse