Some NYC action:

*surely one of the most poetic visions committed to paint on canvas this past year was offered by robert kingston at the randall scott gallery in DUMBO. harshly brushed, worked canvases that invoke, at once, landscape and masters of the past such as twombley and, at times, klee. last year i was lucky enough to attend the opening of kingston's san francisco show and was simply blown away by his achievement. now it seems he's taken the possibilities of that show to new heights. if it's possible for a mature artist to further that maturity, kingston has done it. of particular note was a suite of small works-- a brilliant example of taking control of the issues, not of size, but of scale.

*david hockney at pace was about as dismal a show as i could imagine. huge, multi-paneled paintings of childish landscapes, built up with a clumsy paint handling that just should not be seen from an artist at this stage in a celebrated career...

*you walk chelsea and there is this awesome proliferation of incredibly beautiful japanese women...

*bjorn ressle will be opening his new space downtown...