Photo by Peter Hujar, Paul Thek in the Palermo Catacombs, 1963 (reproduced from the original negative, 2010). © 1987 The Peter Hujar Archive LLC; courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

Charles LeDray’s works at the Whitney Museum are that of an obsessive-compulsive genius who has created a universe in the miniature. Inside a glass display are stacks of porcelain vases, 2000 of them, each individually shaped from a potter’s wheel to replicate styles of pottery throughout history. The display (Milk and Honey) is mind-boggling not only in its sheer collective power but because they are all of diminutive scale and perfectly described in their miniaturized detail.

The most arresting artworks from the show are tiny sculptures – ‘ivory’ buttons, a strand of wheat (made to 1:1 scale) and a vertical column of stacked chairs, all of which appear captivating for their precision and virtuosity alone, until one realizes they are also made of human bone – the source of which the artist is apparently reluctant to divulge.

Charles LeDray (b. 1960), Ring Finger, 2004. Ivory, gold, 1 x 5 1/8 x 1 inches (2.5 x 13 x 2.5 cm) Collection of Robin Wright and Ian Reeves. Photograph by Tom Powel. Courtesy of Sperone Westwater

Paul Thek, Untitled (Meat Piece with Flies), 1965, from the series Technological Reliquaries Wood, melamine laminate, metal, wax, paint, hair, and Plexiglas 19 × 12 × 8 ½ in. (48.3 × 30.5 × 21.6 cm) Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Judith Rothschild Foundation © The Estate of George Paul Thek; courtesy Alexander and Bonin, New York © 2009 Museum Associates/LACMA/Art Resource, NY

Orrery (1997), which is a tiny mechanical Victorian representation of the known universe, displayed in a glass bell jar, shows the rotation of the planets in the solar system and symbolically connects the minute to the intangibly large. The caption has a quotation from Scott Carey, the character in Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), “So close, the infinitesimal and the infinite. But suddenly I knew they were really the two ends of the same concept. The unbelievably small and the unbelievably vast eventually meet like the closing of a gigantic circle.”

His tailored doll-sized clothing designed around the stereotypes of masculinity (sports clothing, military and air force outfits, and security guard uniforms) are intentionally scaled down and has the effect of feminizing them, exposing the silks and stitching that make them vulnerable and toy-like, and play with notions of identity.  It appears though that it is the artist’s own sexuality that is at play here, and the artist makes many references to the role of gay men in society; twenty four hats at the entrance to the show “Village People,” which references the band known for their camp alter-egos – addresses the uncertainty of gay identity. Additionally, LeDray used to display his miniature clothing and artifacts, like that of homeless buskers and street vendors on the pavements of Astor Place, in the East Village to emphasize labour as a basic need for survival.

Continuing on to more fleshy pieces, on a different floor at the Whitney, is an exhibition of Paul Thek’s, work, the first room of which is a collection of the artist’s ‘meat pieces’ from the 1960s, made while traveling with his lover, Peter Hujar in Sicily.

The title of the exhibition, “Diver,” also refers to Paul Thek’s serene sketches of divers, swimmers, surfers; painted in Yves Klein-blues, they offer another side to the artist’s identity. Thek also worked in Paris with theater director Robert Wilson, who now administers Thek’s estate. The artist died in 1988, at the age of 54, from AIDS. It is interesting that both these gay artists, generations apart, living and working at some point in the East Village, have had such different and diverse discourses relating to their physical and emotional connections to society – contributing a significant legacy to the history of New York art.

Charles LeDray (b.1960), Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, 1993. Fabric, wire, vinyl, silkscreen, zipper, 26 ¾ x 54 inches (67.9 × 137.2 cm) overall. Private Collection, Houston, TX. Photograph by Tom Powel. Courtesy of Sperone Westwater

Charles LeDray, Cricket Cage, 2002. Human bone, 3 3/8 × 3 3/8 × 1 7/16 inches. Photograph by Tom Powel. Courtesy of Sperone Westwater

Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork November 18, 2010—February 13, 2011
Paul Thek: Diver, A Retrospective – October 21, 2010–January 9, 2011
The Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York City.

One by One Gallery: photo Gloria Suzie Kim

Alphabet City is a part of the East Village that has only been slightly more immune to the charms of gentrification than its more westerly psychogeographical* end; it’s an ethnographic hodge-podge of Dominicans, transplants, hipsters, and assorted New York crazies that roam the streets like ghosts, sometimes wearing their pajamas, sometimes throwing a fit, sometimes both.

Embodying a brilliant synthesis of transplanted culture and crazy street-talk, is an art and design gallery located in a small, non-descript apartment on Avenue D. The gallery is owned by Madrid transplant and one-woman show, Celina Alvarado. The gallery is called One by One and is located in the foyer of Alvarado’s apartment.

One by One Gallery Installation View, photo: Derek Chung

One by One exhibits one installation at a time. Each exhibition is a result of collaboration between multiple artists. The current exhibition is a spatial installation comprised of 6,407 feet of white yarn interconnecting the extruded outlines of both the linguistic and numerical representation of the number 1 stemming from 1,116 holes in the wall. The result is like walking into an intricate web that spans the room like a web woven by a mathematically inclined spider. It was created by a group of artists recently graduated from the New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. Experiencing an installation in the privacy of an apartment gives one glimpses of everyday life lying just beyond the visual field of the gallery walls.

Alvarado moved to the states before  9/11, after working for several years as the only female producer and director for a burgeoning creative community of media peers at Canal+ in her native Madrid.  Alvarado started the gallery in July of 2009.  After  her superintendent painted the foyer white in her new apartment, she felt that the space was “small but perfect, like a perfume,” and realized there ought to be a gallery there.

Perched on her head is a white straw Panama hat, and underneath, her hair is a dark, glossy green that reminds me of a forest. Her small, sharp features have a feline quality that accentuates the playful and intuitive way she communicates ideas.  She claims that she never plans, only decides, and is firmly rooted in the here and now. I ask her what she envisions the gallery to be in one or a hundred years. She thinks it will belong to a hotel or will travel around in a truck.

Photo: Derek Chung

Her iPhone rings (it’s an old fashioned bicycle horn toot). She has a going away party to attend to, so we part outside. She calls out, “Good bye baby!” as I leave.

By Gloria Suzie Kim

* Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.”

One by One Gallery is open every Sunday from 4-6 pm,
Or by appointment: home@onebyonegalleryD0Tcom
twitter.com/onebyonegallery
http://www.onebyonegallery.com

Chelsea

After the success of the last New York Street Advertising Takeover in April 2009, Public Ad Campaign organized another band of artists to liberate the mostly illegally operated NPA billboards in Manhattan and Brooklyn on Sunday, October 25. Like last time, the first wave of volunteers in OSHA-approved neon vests, buffed the ad spots with white paint, followed by a second wave of artists who added their unique touches, turning the locations into temporary public canvasses and challenging the outdoor advertising company’s claims to legitimacy.

This time, however, the NPA became hip to the widespread attack pretty quickly and responded with violence-threatening workers and lots of wheatpaste, in some cases reclaiming the space as quickly as it had been buffed and decorated. The NYPD also joined the cat and mouse game and at last count, The tally was that five people were arrested (although it’s not clear if they were whitewashers or artists) and 114 billboards were painted.

The bizarre game continued for most of Sunday: billboards would be whitewashed, then murals painted, which led way to NPA workers infiltrating the scene and wheat pasting over the fresh art with low-quality post bills.

We will be there to bring you the latest on the inevitable part three.

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