Gallery Hopping NY.  September 25, 2022

John Mack had a show at the space on 537 West 27th street.  "A Space Between Worlds: Our Nature Our Screens" examines our relations with our electronic devices such as cell phones and the natural world.  My reaction was that the topic was not clearly presented and what was a major put off was the viewership process which was disengaging.

Outside the door of the exhibiting space which looked like a ground floor gallery, there were two men in dark suits that looked like security guards. That had a chilling effect since it signal anticipation of "trouble". They greeted me and asked my to enter and go to the far left setting the stage for a "controlled "experience. The lady at the desk asked my to download an app to be able to view the show.  During the downloading process I had to fill out a questionnaire that included personal information such as name, gender, race, location etc, that I felt uneasy to give out so I stopped.  The lady at the desk asked me for my ID and gave me her cell phone with the app installed.  With the app on, all the electronic screens that were on the wall changed from colorful abstraction of a landscape to the actual landscape.  Some locations photographed had full data signal others had spotty data signal and other did not. The quality of the data signal altered the photographic quality. That was the point the artist wanted to make.

I am not sure if this investigation makes this visual inquiry a visual show and not a scientific project.  The written text presentation was difficult to follow the space on the ground floor was too big and felt empty and the lower level was too dark and uninviting. 

It is increasingly clear that art works are divided in two major categories: One trend is towards images on canvases often with heavy texture such as the recent Lucien Freud nudes and  the other a compete denial of the tactile element of the visual work with video presentation and NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) that can be traded as a collectible digital asset instead of a canvas hanging on your wall.

The galleries at High Line Nine building was showing artists' works on canvas the traditional way

The London based JD Malat Gallery is showing Santiago Parra's  Unconscious

Series. 

Parra is known for his large, abstract and highly expressive black and white 

paintings. His canvases capture the suspended flatness of the calligraphy-like.

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The Amsterdam/Florida Gallery SmithDavidson showed large works by the South African artist  Gavin Rain 

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Other galleries promoted more than 20 artists in a small space by presenting one work per artist and the QC code (Quick Response Code).  The viewer was supposed to take a picture of the QR code by his/her cell phone and see the artist's work or a video about his/her work

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs9Pldp_77gggNSOCJu0B5ufcggp8yxyO1HXrsVCdXfZs5VvaTOJ_EDNRoW0kHF5yeXxExJME-HyOCEArgy144OZAsrXVAdu9hYBmqZSRWPhqwMDmtIpILhuo_jTtuGssdKEfmulCprQ4LZpurgnAhWHmwlvx7-xjW4M5IRst3v87Nb-bdiW1yDs3-.

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Here are two more works with the QR code as part of the presentation

Videos,  QR codes, digital screens,NFT (non-Fudgeble Tokens) are here to stay

and the concept of art collecting is adjusting fast. 

Thanks for checking out my blog. Send me your comments.

Until next week,

CatherineAbramsArtWorks.com