Anselm Reyle & Takashi Murakami
September 17 – October 24
Gagosian
We were thinking: if Gagosian is going to have big-budget, blockbuster shows with uniformed guards pacing around, the least they could do is make it official and offer us a restroom, maybe even a cafe. But then we remembered: museums charge you 20 bucks to enjoy their facilities. The hotel lobby emerged as a new ideal: corporate art, public bathrooms, no admission price.
James Turrell
“Large Holograms”
September 8 – October 17
Pace Wildenstein
When we asked the woman at the desk if they had hologram postcards, she thought we were joking. When she realized we were serious, she offered us a press packet.
Paulina Olowska, Stephen G. Rhodes, and Catherine Sullivan
September 17 – October 17
Metro Pictures
Meteoric Spurt Esoteric Trump Reprice Utmost Receipts Tumor
Vincent Fecteau
September 10 – October 24
Matthew Marks
Vincent Fecteau has a name like Claude Levi-Strauss made him up. He comes from a culture that values papier-mâché, matte colors, and shapes derived from other shapes. We are not sure of its rituals, but were intrigued by this assembly of ritual objects. We would like to visit this faraway place someday, and hope Mr. Fecteau will be our guide.
Tom Burr
“Sentence”
September 10 – October 24
Bortolami
Appropriation art often hinges on taste, not cultural politics: something currently in the trough of its fashion cycle is flung upwards to the crest, through the artist’s noble exertions. But the artifacts embedded in Tom Burr’s very chic constructions were already impeccably stylish: who would argue with Rod Laver Adidases, vintage headphones, blue and white striped mens’ pajamas, and John Cage LPs? Where was the challenge in putting them in sculptures? So, we scoured the exhibition for gray areas of fashionability, and found that our estimate of Burr’s work ultimately depended on what we thought everyone thought about Kate Bush, circa 2009. We phoned a friend, someone claiming authority on these kinds of higher-level connoisseurship issues. He said, “Why are you calling me so early? It’s only twelve o’clock.”
Hayley Tompkins
“Optical Research”
September 10 – October 17
Andrew Kreps Gallery
Paint on a cell phone. Paint on a t-shirt. Paint on a laptop. Paint on a butter knife. We considered shoplifting here but ruled it out as the wrong way to express our admiration.
Josiah McElheny
“Proposals for a Chromatic Modernism”
September 12 – October 17
Andrea Rosen Gallery
Ruined by a silver-haired power couple (for whom collecting contemporary art obviously constituted foreplay) crowing lustily over the artist’s colored-glass towers while their horrible J.Crew children checked out the Tetsumi Kudo drawings in the back.