No one can challenge our art creds. James and I trudged through a northeaster to see some gallery shows in Chelsea yesterday.

We started on 19th Street, which has two great painting shows. The first is Raoul de Keyser at David Zwirner. He is the teacher of Luc Tuymans, which I didn't know when I first saw the paintings, but I certainly saw an affinity with Tuymans's work.

Recover
2003
Oil on canvas
82 x 67 cm

The show across the street at Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert (no web site, so these are examples) is a group show titled Every Heartbeat is Past and Gone! with four European painters: Siegfried Anzinger, Axel Kasseböhmer, Marie Luise Lebschik, and Andreas Schulze.

Siegfried Anzinger
Madonna, blau, rot, blond, (2002)
Leimfarbe auf Leinwand
75 x 60 cm

Axel Kasseböhmer
Yellow, green and brown landscape I
1993
oil on canvas
60 x 90 cm

On 20th Street we tried to see AES+F's King of the Forest at Claire Oliver, but I didn't feel like spending much time with the work, given the reception from the gallery guy working there. We had come in from the snow to check out the show, and given that it's a highly conceptual show, it seemed reasonable to ask to see the press release or checklist. His response? "Sorry, my friend. The show's coming down today, and we've given out all of the materials." Ugh. No wonder sometimes people want to go into galleries and say, "Oy, shopgirl!"

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Let's end on a happy note. Our last stops were at Rare Plus's holiday gift store to buy a hankerchief by Orly Cogan and some t-shirts by Emily Noelle Lambert, and then across the street to Massimo Audiello. Massimo had an over-the-top show titled Pantone, curated by David Hunt. We know a number of people in the show, and I would have to say the highlight for me was seeing Emily's first large painting. She is a young, smart artist, and I'm enjoying watching as her work grows. We picked up a painting by her when she had some works showing at the Mini minimarket in Williamsburg in May.

Emily Lambert
Keep Back, 2003
Oil on canvas
56 x 88 inches

My other favorite work in the show is the amazing chandelier, titled Shanty Lair created by Jesse Bercowitz and Matt Bua. There is a little 'zine titled Old Person's Guide to the World's of Shanty Lair (Liar) that they did available for free at the gallery. Make sure you pick up one.

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See James for more on our adventures, including images of the two works we picked up at the DUMBO Arts Center benefit.