so, yeah, chelsea...

* you get the list and you hit the streets between 10th and 11th and just hope that something reaches out and grabs the eye. gallery after gallery, plastic cup of wine after plastic cup of wine. but, now and then, something hits: maureen mcquillan at mckenzie fine art has a great show of drawing and drawing "inspired" photos. her fascination is with the line-- in all it's circuitous frenzy... as far as chelsea goes right now, there are a handful of galleries you can (somewhat) count on to exhibit strong works on canvas and or paper-- mckenzie is, for sure, one of them...

* as always, there is a sameness to the "alternative" media, an academicism that chokes on it's own self-referential wit... best of all of, they have their own martyr: the de menil kid who overdosed 'cause he could afford to. like the song says-- "it's so easy..."

* had a good studio visit with kathy markel on wed. she left with 4 20x20's to hang in her new bridgehampton space (soon to open?). it was good hanging and talking with her. novros' name came up and a few other cats from the '70's...

after she left i got back to work. feeling a little better and a little stronger...

for as long as we've been smearing paint on a surface, it's indeed rare to come across a young artist who (perhaps) labors over work that could be called singular. rare, but possible-- as exampled by alex couwenberg these last 10 years or so.

i'd like to think that the act of painting is one of discovery and daring. you can toss triumph, fear, loss, destruction, etc, into the mix as well... couwenberg toils along (as we all do) and he brings it together in a fresh, invigorating art. in doing so, he elevates this ancient form of communication that we humbly and passionately embrace...

his exhibition at Markel Fine Arts should not be missed.

sitting here in the andi campognone booth at the red dot fair... happy with the work i've got here though no sales as yet... thats cool. the reception last night was a good time although they managed to run out of beer and we were left with a choice of brandy or straight gin... indeed. fortunately the artist james austin murray went for beers and the party continued...

afterwards stopped by gary snyder project space for the john griefen show... griefen is one of the truely heroic painters at work in nyc today. his monochromes have a meaty, physical feel thats at once lyrical and wholly masculine. a formidable colorist, he moves between high octane and soft smoky tonalities with ease...

right now a few people are cruising the red dot... slow scene. earlier in the day i did the armory with the lovely erica, andi's assistant, and was amused to note how utterly (and predictably) bogus the contemporary art was... no real point in going into it, but yeah... the modern wing was truely inspirational-- particularly some great work by sam francis and norman blum-- but the best that could be said of the contemporary wing was that there was champagne to be had for $16 a shot...

a lot of life since any writing here...almost too much life.

as for art (as opposed to life) i'm ready for the red dot fair... I'll 3 new pieces with andi campognone projects, out of pomona california. new work seeing the light of day is a blessing that is often taken for granted. not this time.

i'll keep this short for now (if anyone is out there) but i'm back on it...