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“Sheep Station” featuring the work of the late artist, Francois-Xavier Lalanne Photo by Denise Laurin-Donatelle ©2013 |
Now there's something you don't see every day, Chauncey...
Together with a friend of mine, I enjoyed a day of exploration in Chelsea’s vibrant gallery district yesterday. We visited many galleries, and viewed a plethora of work, but the exhibit that stands out as an exceptional, memorable experience was by far, “Sheep Station” with sculptures by Francois-Xavier Lalanne.We had ended our outing, and were walking east toward the Subway on 23rd Street, when we passed what is ordinarily a common sight in an urban setting, a gas station. But what's this? Why is the pavement covered with a fresh covering of sod? And what are all of those sheep doing there? We did a double take!
So much of contemporary art has an entertainment quality, and this installation was not short in that department. Standing on the periphery of the installation was an elegant young man, all in black, with a mane of black hair neatly tied into a braid that stretched to his lower back. He was the key to what was going on, as he possessed handouts containing a description. The description states, “Set in a Surrealist landscape amidst the existing industrial gas station architecture, the sheep symbolize Lalanne’s mission to demystify art and capture its joie de vivre.” This translates from the French as joy of life, however, I see it as a great sense of humor and paradox.
Billionaire developer Michael Shvo in conjunction with the Paul Kasmin Gallery sponsored the event which is only on view from October 18 to the October 20, prompting the conscious side of my brain to ask, “How many children could have been fed with the money it took to organize this?” This is a great question to ponder, however, a world without art is equally bleak to consider, so I applaud the display for the feeling of wonder and amusement it awakens. Is it wrong to want to feed the children and allow art to flourish?
Don't miss seeing it if you can! Getty Station is located at 239 Tenth Avenue. http://gettystation.com/. “Sheep Station” is the inaugural exhibition for this site.
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A view of the installation as it relates to a billboard in the background. Note the guy cutting the grass with a lawnower on the left. Photo by Denise Laurin-Donatelle ©2013 |
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Looking from the corner of property, rolling hills of fresh sod can be seen. In the background, a landscaper keeps the grass watered. Photo by Denise Laurin-Donatelle ©2013 Other Highlights of the Chelsea Gallery District
The PACE Gallery at 534 West 25th Street featured Zhang Huan. Walking into this gallery, the visitor gets a feeling of expansiveness as the gallery is large and light filled. The oversized works of Zhang Huan are well-accommodated here. He is a master of many different art forms, but this time he chooses oil on linen to present his vision of Tibetan death skulls. From a distance, the work looks non-representational. Taking a closer look reveals literally hundreds of these skulls in each of the paintings. He has experimented with color from complementary arrangements to neutral harmonies. This is truly fascinating stuff! http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/527/zhang-huan
Yoko Ono has one of her ubiquitous “Wish Trees” set up at a gallery (forgive me, I did not note the name) at the corner of 11th and 23rd Street.   I just missed the exhibition at Gallery Henoch of Sharon Sprung’s work, but I was delighted to see one canvas on display by this extraordinary figurative painter. Lord, let me die and come back able to paint like her and her former student, David Kassan, another artist represented by Gallery Henoch.
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