Kiki Smith Takes NYC

Artist Kiki Smith is everywhere these days. From her Sojourn exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum to her new show opening this month at Pace Gallery, it's clear that her work continues to evolve. Originally a sculptor, Smith used the body as a starting point-- skin, organs, nudity combined to give her work a provocative corporeality that made viewers feel as if they were in a space with an actual body. Over the years, Smith has expanded her repertoire to include illustration and printmaking, this time drawing upon folklore and mythology for subject matter. The theme throughout, however, has been the political implications of the feminine form. From crouching nude bodies to Little Red Riding-hood surrounded by wild animals, Smith pushes viewers to reconsider their own perspectives on gender and nature, and all that it entails.

Alex Katz: Southampton

The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton is having an Alex Katz show that is definitely worth seeing. The show takes viewers through the artist's creative process-- from loose sketch to finished drawing, to lithograph, to large scale canvas. Interestingly enough, some of the sketches are more appealing than the billboard-sized paintings. The immediacy of brush stroke and color gives them a looseness that is often missing from the larger works. A perfect example is Katz's large scale picnic table. The oil studies are juicy and vibrant, whereas the large scale image is almost too perfect and flat. The one image which blew me away, an homage to Monet's Water Lilies, was both large in scale and loose in style and showed masterful complexity in line, color, and content. The shortcoming of the show? That I couldn't get a postcard nor a book to take home as a souvenir.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

In art news this week, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto has left Gagosian Gallery to join PaceWildenstein. Known for his atmospheric beach images and monolithic movie theates, Sugimoto's black and white images evoke the surreal sensations of dreams while remaining representations of reality. Keep your eyes open for upcoming NYC shows.

Alex Katz: Fifteen Minutes

I've been following Alex Katz's career ever since the 80's, gravitating to his large scale, graphic portraiture. It's the kind of work people enjoy living with. It's for that reason, I often think of Katz's paintings more often in the homes of personal collections than in museums, kind of like having a billboard in your loft. This coming Friday, Katz's new exhibition Fifteen Minutes at PaceWildenstein Gallery in Chelsea opens, featuring some of his lesser-known, large scale twilight landscapes: silhouetted trees along the lakes of Maine, Soho buildings at sunset, which have appeared and reappeared throughout his career either paintings or lithographs. These images catch those last 15 minutes of shimmering light, and if the role of art is meant to raise awareness of the world around us, I can't think of a better tribute to Earth Day than to look at such a perfect moment captured. The show runs until June 11th, coinciding with several exhibitions of Katz's work throughout Europe. Save yourself the flight and head into the city, and let me know what you think.