On the street
Sperone Westwater Gallery, The Bowery, New York
Sperone Westwater, whose Norman Foster building is a monument to power and prestige, (that elevator! it’s RED, it goes up and down, illuminated from all angles), cleverly made their gallery the same width and volume as a NY townhouse. Never again will they hear a client say, “Well I love it, but it just won’t fit”. The proof is in the pudding. And what a pudding it is! Never has the Bowery looked so glamourous, so luxurious. But how much street cred does the gallery gain from being on the Bowery? And why does art benefit from this dissonance, this apartness from other retail endeavors? It is a study in contrasts that reveals the art as extraordinary and existing within an environment that doesn't follow rules. As a sales strategy it is brilliant.
This is the pinnacle of money, prestige and culture where even the air feels 24k. But at the same time you get the feeling that it’s specifically designed for a certain sort of human, both spatially and content-wise. This may not be a place for mere mortals, but why not go and enjoy the great stuff they have?
Reviewer Profile: Susan Inglett: Round 4
Susan Inglett's reviews for Round 4 were generous and insightful. Of Dana Holst's work, she had this to say which treads a line between understanding the creative forces at work and revealing her own varied tastes in art and literature.
'"Don't Touch My Pony" and "Great Expectations" would not be out of place within the pages of Ray Bradbury's supernatural novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes", not to suggest the paintings function as illustration but that they capture the spirit of and parallel Bradbury's haunting prose. If anything Holst could pull back a bit, softening the women's features while retaining the discomfiting spirit of the work would allow the viewer to meet the artist half way. Rather than dictating a singular reading, the artist would allow for discovery and an opportunity to make the story our own. For better or worse.'
Artist Feedback:
Leonie Weber
"I found it really interesting and helpful to get a more immediate response by art professionals. And as I said, I'm grateful about how you engaged with my work in your review. You picked up on aspects that are important to me and gave important feedback on what to build upon."
From the Blog: Think Pink
I am a firm believer in all forms of art from plastic to virtual, performative to sonic. It is the vast array of art after all, that keeps the oxygen in our blood. Cary Leibowitz’ show (paintings and belt buckles) at Invisible Exports vibrates on a narrow spectrum between audacity and self-effacement by limiting the available palette to words and a single provocative color.
He gives us Word Art that mines anxiety and wit with odd references to celebrity worship, limericks, spaghetti, suicide and societal displacement. To counter the confusion caused by a soul laid bare (or is it?) we are treated to pink. The walls, art and even our skin, due to the shop quality neon light, become a glowing Pepto pink.Now I would hope that every card carrying homosexual over the age of 30 is familiar with the opening sequence of the movie ‘Funny Face’ 1957, when Kay Thompson, doing her best Diana Vreeland/Carmel Snow impersonation, sings about pink and nothing but pink. It is a seminal candyland moment when she and her staff of New Look edit assistants trill about ‘pink shampoo, pink toothpaste too!’ and ‘You can get a little wink, If you got a little pink, In your swing.’ Strangely the opening sequence has an exuberance that the remainder of the movie is unable to sustain. It is a camp classic and satisfies on all sorts of primal levels.. read more »
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