We just came back from our second visit to see Christian Holstad's show at Daniel Reich. See the NY Times article, plus some images from LFL Gallery. Great show! There is a lot of creative energy, with a lot of different media in a show titled "Life is a Gift". We had seen some of his work based on erasing NY Times photos and adding drawing in the past at Daniel's, and there are some fabulous examples of those, but there is so much more. It's the first time in a long time that I have bought a work at an opening, and what an opening it was! Daniel's gallery is his tiny studio apartment, and there must have been over 100 people there over the course of the evening, including a huge crowd in the building hallway, chatting, smoking and drinking beer. Christian also did the sets and costumes for a show at P.S.122 this weekend: Stable.
We went to the party afterward at Simon Watson's loft downtown, and ran into a lot of fabulous people, plus met some new ones. We spent a while talking with charming musician/aesthete Patrick, whom we originally met through artist Joe Ovelman. Patrick recognized Christian as the person he spotted on the L train, crocheting, on a regular basis. Joe has an opening in February at Daniel Silverstein, so watch this space, or the gallery's web site, for more info.
We also met Alejandro Diaz. We just ended up talking to this charming artist, along with Maika from SOUTHFIRST, who was telling us about the fact that he recently had The New Yorker buy some drawings of his for use in little places within articles, when he mentioned his name. We both said, "We have a work of yours, from the White Box benefit!" We also met Eric Stormes, who has some charming little pins made from drawings on mapboard and is in Cynthia Broan's $99 Bargain Store Show which opens February 1.
The Times article mentioned above also talks about a show at Oliver Kamm's apartment, which is three floors above ours. If he can get away with it in our building, maybe we should start having exhibits too! I certainly know of a lot of people whose work I would like to show.
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Last night we went to a dance performance by Allyson Green and Ben Wright at Danspace titled "Interim". It had its moments, but I wasn't bowled over by the dance itself. However, the lighting design, by Sarah Gilmartin, was absolutely the best lighting I have ever seen at Danspace. The sound design, by Alan Stones, based on manipulating a recording of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata performed by Paderewski, plus a performance of Bluebird of Happiness by Jan Peerce in 1945, was exquisite - one of the best things I've heard at a dance performance.
