Art21 New York Close Up

Weekly Roundup

Barry McGee. "Untitled (Crawling Man)," 1999/2012. In private collection. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging.

Barry McGee. “Untitled (Crawling Man),” 1999/2012. House paint on tin galley trays mounted on plywood. 77 1/4 x 68 x 132 in. Private collection. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging.

Barry McGee travels with his mid-career survey, Laurie Anderson collaborates with the Kronos Quartet, Kalup Linzy premieres a feature film, Ann Hamilton re-installs phora, and lots more in this week’s roundup.

  • Barry McGee‘s mid-career survey is now on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, MA). Barry McGee provides visitors with an opportunity to explore two decades of the artist’s work that mixes and matches elements of sign painting, comics, and “hobo art.” The exhibition closes September 2. WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, caught up with McGee during his installation at ICA; listen to the interview here.
  • Andrea Zittel was also interviewed by WBUR following her Hamill Lecture at Boston University. In the article “Efficiency Expert” the artist discusses her “ongoing endeavor to better understand human nature and the social construction of needs.”
  • Ann Hamilton’s 2005 multi-room installation, phora, has been re-installed in the Grand Foyer at the Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State (Buffalo, NY). The work grew out of Hamilton’s intimate digital recordings of mouths in large medieval relief panels at Stockholm’s Museum of National Antiquities. Hamilton then altered, enlarged, and printed the images. The SUNY iteration of phora displays 102 of the original 176 images. The installation closes July 28.
  • Marina Abramović‘s Luminosity (1997) will be restaged for the “living sculpture” exhibition 13 Rooms at Kaldor Public Art Projects (Sydney, Australia). In this unforgettable piece, a performer, bathed in light, straddles a bicycle seat mounted high up on the gallery wall. Both physically and mentally demanding, Abramović explains, “It’s really a work about loneliness, about pain and about spiritual elevation; about luminosity and the transcendental quality of the human being in general.” 13 Rooms continues through April 21.

  • Laurie Anderson‘s new piece Landfall, made in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, will be presented by Stanford Life. This evening-length work combines the musicians’ distinct yet highly compatible aesthetics. The event takes place April 20 on the Standford University campus (Palo Alto, CA), beginning at 8pm.
  • LaToya Ruby Frazier‘s work is included in a group show at the Sculpture Center (Queens, NY). Better Homes brings together artists who critically examine the construction of interiors through design and homemaking. Participating artists comment on displays of domesticity as constructed through spaces and things. The exhibition will run April 22–July 22.
  • Kalup Linzy will soon premiere the feature film component of his Creative Capital project, Romantic Lonerat Tribeca Cinemas (New York, NY). Romantic Loner tells the story of Linzy’s alter ego, Kaye, who, after a series of failed relationships, attends an artist residency and has an intensive period of soul-searching. The screening takes place on April 26 at 2pm (RSVP required).

  • Ellen Gallagher‘s work is coming to the Tate Modern (London, UK). Ellen Gallagher surveys the last 20 years of the artist’s career, and will be her first substantial solo exhibition in the UK. The show runs May 1–September 1.
  • Erin Shirreff‘s solo exhibition Pictures opens this week at the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver, Canada). This is the first presentation of her work exclusively dedicated to film and video. The show runs April 19–June 16.
  • Martha Colburn is the spring 2013 artist-in-residence at the University of Massachusetts (Lowell, MA); images from her residency are posted here.