Chelsea Galleries

Enoc Perez

I really enjoyed the artists’ use of color and the way that he makes the paint look like a dry medium, especially in his figure paintings. The paintings look more like pastel drawings but I like that dry-brush technique. His color combination is what attracts me the most to his paintings. His colors are very vivid and that is something that I use a lot of in my own works, so naturally that appealed to me. He clearly has a strong interest in architecture and he always centrally composes his subject, but that doesn’t bother me at all. His drawings appear accurate and you can tell that he spend a lot of time studying his subject. I didn’t like his figurative paintings as much as I did his architectural works although I did like his faceless Nude painting. My favorite painting of his on display is Alma Bank, Georgia.

Barthelemy Toguo “The Pregnant Mountain”

To be honest I found all of his works to be extremely strange and creepy, which is not necessarily a compliment! They just felt very eerie. There was something very ritualistic and taboo about the works. Perhaps that is what the artist is going for. And then there’s the umbilical-esque cord that connects everything together. I just thought his ink drawings were creepy. I am impartial to the Pregnant Mountain room. It appears to be a warning about sexual immorality and sexually transmitted diseases hence the sign on the wall reading “AIDS around the world, condoms in Vatican” in addition to the religious icons posted around the room. There are many sexual references including the picture of the couple making out as well as more graphic sexual imagery on the walls. I supposed the canopies signify condoms and the clothing under them represent a couple sleeping together and in turn sleeping with each of the other person’s past/current partners as well, hence the pile of clothing. Perhaps the Chiquita banana boxes are to symbolize an erection (just in case the viewer doesn’t already get the idea). Since luggage usually relates to travel I suppose the bags in the corners of the room show that people sleep with one another and then they just move on to the next person and the cycle continues and the disease continues to spread. I suppose the mesh covering the walls was there to make the entire room one big condom, and we as the viewer were in it. This is what I gathered from my experience in the room.

Jed Fielding “Look At Me” Photographs from Mexico City

Of all of the required galleries, this one was by far my favorite. His photographs were forceful, mysterious, and completely out of the ordinary. I generally prefer black and white photography because it always seems to make the subject matter appear to be really serious. In this case it is absolutely necessary and the contrast made the images pop. In this show he mainly photographed children that appeared to have some kind of retinal obstruction and/or some other form of disability. Each image left me with a chilling feeling, and although some of the images were gruesome in a way, they were also really beautiful. I think what gave me a sad feeling about them was the fact that most of the subjects were children and there is something disheartening about seeing children at a disadvantage, but the fact that the children appeared to be content lightened up the mood a bit.

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Additional Galleries That Sparked My Interest:

Jane LeFarge Hamill at Stricoff Fine Art

Anselm Reyle Monochrome Age Gagosian

Jaume Plensa In the Midst of the Mind Galerie Lelong

Carole Feuerman Swimmers, Bathers, Nudes Jim Kimpner Fine Arts

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