erikjsommer.com

6.29.2008

david byrne


David Byrne's Playing The Building is now open in the Battery Maritime Building through August 10. The piece "is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure - to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes - and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations will be of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument". This is a Creative Time project.

David Byrne
Playing The Building
Battery Maritime Building
11 South Street

May 31 - August 10


more info here

6.26.2008

friends and family


The new show at Anton Kern, Friends and Family, consists of one piece of work by each of the gallery's artists, plus a piece by an artist friend and family member. In all over 80 pieces will be shown. A nifty summer trick, or a real show with the real aim of challenging and enlightening? Decide for yourself.

Friends and Family
Anton Kern Gallery
532 W. 20th St.

June 26 - August 8

6.24.2008

james turrell


Donald Hess, a Swiss art collector, is building the first museum dedicated solely to the work of James Turrell. The 18,000 square foot exhibition space, located in northwest Argentina, will be inaugurated in 2009, and will feature nine permanent light installations (two of which are being commissioned especially for the space), two series of prints and a group of drawings representing five decades of the artist’s work.

More info here.

6.21.2008

olafur eliasson


It is turning out to be the summer of Olafur Eliasson. The New York City Waterfalls will be on display in New York City from June 26 to October 13. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, the project will consist of four man-made waterfalls installed in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Governors Island. It will be a summertime delight.

More info here

6.19.2008

sean nerney


I've been meeting amazing musicians, one of whom is Sean Nerney. I enjoy painting to his music. It reminds me to be professional.


Sean Nerney
www.ihatethisplace.net

6.17.2008

leonardo drew


I've been looking a lot lately at Leonardo Drew, paying special attention to the way he manipulates and ages his found material. I find it interesting that he cites Pollock as an early influence, as well as Jannis Kounellis, which seems more immediate.

6.16.2008

who's afraid of jasper johns?


For the current show at Tony Shfrazi Gallery, Gavin Brown and Urs Fischer photographed the previous four-person exhibition, and then reproduced these images in a perfect one-to-one scale and wallpapered them in an exact replica of themselves. Next they overlay nearly two dozen other works on top, works that were at some point in Shafrazi's inventory. In the words of Jerry Saltz, Who’s Afraid "allows you to optically experience how every work of art is in dialogue with, building on, reacting to, or fighting against every other work of art ever made". It is an interesting idea that somehow works.


Who's Afraid of Jasper Johns?
Tony Shafrazi Gallery
544 W. 26th St.

May 9 - July 12

6.11.2008

chris burden


Chris Burden's "What My Dad Gave Me", a 65-foot Erector Set skyscraper, will be on view at Rockefeller Center through July 19. It is seven stories tall, consists of one million of the toy pieces, and weighs sixteen-thousand pounds. Although it resembles 30 Rock, Burden insists that it is "a poetic interpretation of 30 Rock, not a model of it". Rather, "it references all the tall buildings in Manhattan". Indeed.


Chris Burden
"What My Dad Gave Me"
Rockefeller Center
50th St. and 5th Ave

June 11 - July 19

more info here

6.09.2008

alison elizabeth taylor


I really like the show at James Cohan Gallery. Alison Elizabeth Taylor uses wood veneer to create figured narratives of life's experiences. The pieces are comfortable yet subversive, and one cannot help but be drawn in to their presence. Make sure to spend time in her full-room installation Room.


Alison Elizabeth Taylor
James Cohan Gallery
533 W. 26th St

May 22 - June 21

6.04.2008

ad reinhardt


The Guggenheim will have a show this summer that documents the conservation efforts of a Reinhardt Black Painting. Imageless: The Scientific Study and Experimental Treatment of an Ad Reinhardt Black Painting will "document a comprehensive research project in the field of conservation" by "inviting visitors to enter the world of the conservator as forensic scientist" and "uncover the mystery hidden beneath the monochromatic black painting".

Ad Reinhardt
Imageless
The Guggenheim
5th Ave at 89th St.

July 11 - September 14

6.02.2008

theo boettger


Berlin artist Theo Boettger's show at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art closes June 7th. Make an effort to see it.


Theo Boettger
Dirty Tricks
Priska C. Juschka Fine Art
547 W. 27th

May 1 - June 7