Art21 New York Close Up

Weekly Roundup

Mark Dion.  The South Florida Wildlife Rescue Unit: The Uniforms, 2006. Courtesy Miami Art Museum.

Mark Dion. "The South Florida Wildlife Rescue Unit: The Uniforms," 2006. Courtesy Miami Art Museum.

In this week’s roundup Mark Dion explores Florida’s ecology, Janine Antoni receives a grant, Susan Rothenberg identifies with a toy monkey, Rashid Johnson is in a rumble, and much more.

  • Mark Dion: Troubleshooting is a collection of drawings, prints and other pieces that examine the natural world, particularly in Florida.  The centerpiece of this show is Mark Dion’s South Florida Wildlife Rescue Unit—Mobile Unit, 2006, an emergency truck that could be used to save threatened species, complete with safari-like clothing and equipment.  The exhibition at USF Contemporary Art Museum closes March 3.
  • Andrea Zittel, whose sculptures and installations explore how we live, what we need, and personal freedom, will give a lecture Monday, January 23, at the Portland Museum of Art (Portland, Oregon).  The 6:00 pm program is free; a book-signing will follow.
  • Do Ho Suh’s work is now on view as part of Lehmann Maupin Gallery at STPI (Singapore Tyler Print Institute).  STPI is a catalyst and advocate for new ideas, dialogues and developments for contemporary art in print and paper. It collaborates with emerging and recognized artists worldwide to create artworks using its exceptional print, papermaking facilities and expertise.  This work is on view until February 11.
  • Janine Antoni received a 2012 Creative Capital in Visual Arts grant, which supports artists whose work is “provocative, timely and relevant.” In Just After, Antoni will re-investigate gestures by removing the form and showing the body.  By retaining only the gesture, Antoni probes the question: Can action insinuate form?
  • Susan Rothenberg’s Memory of 1951 (Self-Portrait), 2011 is on view at Sperone Westwater (NYC).  Portraits / Self-Portraits from the 16th to the 21st Century includes work by Rothenberg and other notable artists from the sixteenth century to the present.  In Rothenberg’s painting the artist identifies herself with a toy blue monkey she was given by her parents when she was hospitalized as a child.  The show closes February 25.
  • Check out new work by Rashid Johnson at Hauser & Wirth New York.  RUMBLE includes painting, sculpture, installation and the film The New Black Yoga, inspired by Johnson’s attempts to learn yoga while in Berlin.  This is the artist’s first show with the gallery and a prelude to his upcoming major exhibition A Message to Our Folks, opening in April at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.  This current work is on view until February 25.
  • Lucas Blalock has a group show at 7Eleven Gallery in NYC.  Alchemy is the inspiration behind the work of Blalock and seventeen other artists ­– the making of art is alchemy.  Artists have the ability to transmute ordinary objects into extraordinary works, giving new meaning to their previous purpose.  This exhibitions runs until February 18.
  • MacArthur B Arthur will present Hybrid Narrative: Video Mediations of the Self and Imagined Self, a group show featuring multi-media installation and video work from the Bay area and beyond, by Shana Moulton and others.  As both maker and participant, Moulton uses the visual language of her own performative body to enact versions of herself.  The show will run February 3 – February 26.
  • Laurie Anderson, with the help of Cantos Music Foundation (Calgary), led several others on an intimate and interactive tour of the priceless assortment of rare recording and musical equipment, including keyboards, organs and pianos.  Anderson is there as an Artist-in Residence for Cantos’ One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo.  A video of the tour can be viewed online.