Ronnie Bass, The Sky Needs You Too, video still, 2008
It’s that time of year again. The time when various holidays are celebrated and commercial venues are filled to capacity with those seeking gifts to purchase for friends and loved ones. This being said, December Store, curated by Vanessa Albury and Sorine Anderson couldn’t have come at a better time. Temporarily located in a fairly new not-for-profit gallery space called .No Gallery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, December Store features artist multiples and small works. The pop-up shop offers many opportunities to invest in artist works for an affordable price. In addition to selling art items, each Saturday in December will feature a performance or video. The first Saturday featured The Sky Needs You Too by Ronnie Bass. December 10th the store hosted a performance by Jason Martin from his ongoing series Power Animals along with a performance by Rachel Mason. Other film screenings include: Amy Granat on December 17th and John Torreano on December 24th, 2011.
The small works featured are available for purchase and range from drawings, numbered photographs, jewelry and more, come from many emerging and established artists most of who are currently based in New York.
Jan Van Woensel, Untitled drawing, 2001
One artist not based in New York is Antwerp based Curator
Jan Van Woensel. Jan wears many hats, and besides curating art exhibitions, he is also in several bands and makes drawings and paintings as well. He recently had a solo exhibition of older works along with new paintings in Berlin. The drawing above was made in 2001 the year he graduated from art school in Belgium. The content was derived from photographs taken in Ireland during a post-university trip. Jan doesn’t prescribe to be an artist but rather in his words is “a curator who curates, does a lot of music, and every ten years I made about 40 to 50 art works”. These pieces are about time, travel, disappearance and melancholy. Since the December Store opened last Saturday several of the works have already sold including this one!
Max Razdow, Techniques of Artists, #11, 2011
He who holds the fire
to the mouth of
the king’s mask
is righteous in his burning.
Another artist who has submitted drawings, is
Max Razdow. Max, whose work I’ve been following for the last several years, is an artist who makes paintings and drawings. The work tends to be contextually environmental but void of recognizable location or identifiable figures. He recently had a solo exhibition at Galerie Jan Dhaese in Gent Belgium this fall and also traveled extensively in Iceland. Upon his return to New York, he made a series of drawings based on some work by Icelandic artist
Helgi Þorgils Friðjónssonin made in the early 1980’s. In the quickly made works on paper, Max loosely investigates the idea and role of artist, one who is influenced by his/her relationship to various objects and environments. The drawings allude to figures in space, performing various actions. According to Max, the figures may or may not be artists but they stand in for the artist and his friends who are all in various ways attempting through their work to instigate or stimulate new thought and change. I purchased the above drawing and recommend picking up one of the others from
Techniques of Artists while they are still available.
Jarrod & Sorine Anderson, Dead Summoning Kit, 2011
Silverpoint drawing of a circle with runic symbols (the runic alphabet),
steel pyramid with bear’s tooth, four white candles, vial of hyssop and razor blade.
Sister and brother duo Jarrod and Sorine Anderson have submitted Dead Summoning Kit, 2011. The kit, shown above, promises to allow the owner the opportunity to communicate with the deceased. It comes with specifically detailed instructions and in the true sense of ritual, requires participation along with concentration to function. Whether the piece is meant to actually channel the dead, give the allusion of beyond the grave communication, or lend itself as a sculpture meant to sit quietly on a shelf, one will never know until the piece is put to use. Buyer delightfully beware.
From Sorine Anderson:
Ritual is best performed in a dark, still room at night. Erect the pyramid directly over the circle, so the bear’s tooth pendulum, or talisman, is directly over it’s center. Place each candle in the four corners of of the sheet with the circle and light them for protection. Spread the hyssop over your face, neck, hands and chest for purification. Slice the inside of your index finger on the hand you favor, and with this blood sacrifice grasp the apex of the steel pendulum over the bear’s tooth. Concentrate on the talisman and think of your lost loved one. Communication will occur as the pendulum swings towards one of the runic symbols.
December Store at .No Gallery, 251 East Houston Street, opening hours are limited from noon-6pm each Saturday in December. Go while you still can!
Artists include: Kari Adelaide Vanessa Albury Jarrod & Sörine Anderson Marilyn Anderson Mark Anderson Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock Jesse Bransford Jeffrey Bowers Jennie Havegik Bringaker Jessi Brooks John Brooks Reva Castillenti Peter Clough Beth Coiner of BEC Brianna Colburn Jamie Diamond Sonja Engelhardt Thale Fastvold Marthe Ramm Fortun Curt Gambetta Willum Geerts Mila Geisler Jessica Gispert Ricardo Gonzalez Jen Gustavson Holy Spirits KEEP Krista Knapp Osamu Kobayashi Oliver Kunkel Erica Love Agnes Lux John Malta Jason Martin Rachel Mason MATERIAL David Matorin Paula McCartney David J. Merritt Jeremy Olson Camille Pharr John Pierce Max Razdow Carlos Reyes Eric Shaw Jocelyn Spaar Meredyth Sparks Mary Austin Speaker Hiroshi Sunari Bob Szantyr Gustabo Velasquez Jo-ey Tang John Torreano Nickolaus Typaldos Tom Winchester Gary William Webb Stephanie West Jan Van Woensel Joey Vega
More soon.
xo
