(An Appropriate Distance)

 

FROM THE MAYOR'S DOORSTEP

 

Our review this week is of "Randy Bloom" at Emerge in upstate Saugerties, NY (through September 11).  And do I ever have a distinguished guest critic for you!  The review below is by Katherine Crum, whose Ph.D. is from Columbia, and whose museum experience includes founding the Baruch  College gallery at CUNY, directing the art museum at Mills College in California, and working as chief curator at the Parrish Museum in Southampton.  As owner & co-director of the Nicholas Wilder gallery in Los Angeles, back in the 60s, Ms. Crum represented Frankenthaler, Noland and Barnett Newman, among others, and she has published on figures as diverse as Dan Christensen and Pat Lipsky.    Herewith her review & many thanks to her:

 

"Randy Bloom's current show at Emerge in Saugerties is a perfect introduction for those who don't yet know her work and a delightful taste of new directions for those who do. Strong work, good choices and a thoughtful installation highlight three phases of her work in one compact space.

 

 Read More 

In her exhibition titles, Randy Bloom uses language as contemporary as today’s news. Her exhibition at André Zarre is “Don’t Shoot: All Lives Matter” (through November 14). But her work combines a technique that goes back to Cro-Magnon times with imagery that continually evolves—it’s never been the same for long, nor is the end in sight. Read More 

So, it is with us once again – the greatest little show in town, the annual extravaganza at Sideshow in Williamsburg (closes March 3). This year, it’s called “Sideshow Nation.” The title was suggested by Nancy Haynes, one of the 476 artists listed on its incredible checklist, because, according to Sideshow’s mastermind, Richard Timperio, she sees the show as a country or a tribe of creativity “that has reached the status of an all-inclusive nation.” Another artist in the show,  Read More 

Randy Bloom is a free spirit. In the years that I’ve known her, she’s traveled far and wide, exhibiting in Tokyo, painting in South Africa, hobnobbing with friends in Turkey, and exhibiting in unconventional venues in the New York area (not least among her accomplishments, selling dozens of pictures to a  Read More 

Richard Timperio, proprietor of Sideshow, has really thrown me a curve ball with his current exhibition, which is entitled “Louise & Randy: (Hotter Than ‘Ell’)” (through November 13). I’m sure he didn’t realize he was doing this, but in pairing together the paintings of Louise P. Sloane and Randy Bloom, he has set me  Read More 

Since I last posted an entry in this column, a lot has been going on, both on the national scene, in the international sphere, and (for that matter) a certain amount in the world of art. But I too have also been awfully busy  Read More 

In the latter part of October, I did get to 8 galleries in Chelsea and one in SoHo, but I've already been so verbose this month that I'll try and be a bit terser now. At Alexander Gray, I took in “Melvin Edwards: Sculptures 1964-2010" (closed October 16). Edwards is a poet  Read More