EXHIBITIONS “Bella Pacifica” David Nolan Chelsea [through Feb 5]
(top) Sonia Gechtoff, detail of The Angel, 1955, oil on canvas, 72”x67”; (bottom) Deborah Remington, detail of Blasted Beauty, 1954, mixed media on paper, 30”x24”.
Cui Xiuwen Eli Klein SoHo [through Feb 27]
Cui Xiuwen, (above) Existential Emptiness No. 18, c-print, 56.7”x118”; (below) Existential Emptiness No. 20, c-print, 37.4”x118” (pg. 6).
38 A|C|A January 2011
Presented by Nyehaus, “Bella Pacifica” is hosted at four venues, including David Nolan Gallery, whose selection focuses mainly on 6 Gallery from the 1950s. Characterized by tonal, harmonic, and rhythmic instability, the 6 Gallery exemplifies the ‘50s at its most restless, carefree and experimental. The work shown at the gallery within its short life span (1954 to 1957) ranges from expressionism, to surrealism, illusionism, collage, assemblage and abstraction; pure and impure. A DADA attitude of Hilarity and Disdain had replaced the grave sense of mission that characterized the period from 1945 to the early 1950s. In San Francisco, the Alternative Scene resulted in collective projects such as galleries, publications, jazz bands and film-screening societies. Founded in 1952, the City Lights project became the center for the literary movement, and was to poetry what the 6 Gallery was to art.
The gallery, located on 3119 Fillmore Street, was an informal co-op with six members and no records were ever kept. The original 6 (members) were Jack Spicer, Wally Hedrick, Deborah Remington, Hayward King, John Allen Ryan and David Simpson. The 6 fostered a spirit of coexistence not only between faculty and students, but between different art movements, disciplines and ideals. Some of the other artists who participated included Robert Duncan, Clyfford Still, and Sonia Gechtoff, the first woman to have a solo show at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, which later hosted Warhol’s exhibition. Beat poetry readings were also an important part o the gallery’s history. On October 7, 1955, the gallery hosted Alan Ginsburg first reading of his poem “Howl”. Everyone present understood they had been present at one of those moments when everything changes.
Cui Xiuwen, one of China’s foremost female photographers, is featured in her first solo exhibition in New York City. Her latest series, Existential Emptiness, pursues her reflection on the woman as individual in modern China. This body of work furthers her focus from physical to spiritual and illustrates her examination and analysis of the woman’s psyche. The girl protagonist, considered the artist’s alter ego, has matured and is accompanied by a life-size doll resembling her. Inspired from her own experiences, the appearance of the puppet without strings recalls Japanese Bunraku theatre. Companion, reflection, and baggage of the now familiar character, the dollcomplements the girl and acts as alter ego as well. The two figures evoke the duality
of body and soul, life and lifelessness. The presence and absence, posture, closeness or distance of the doll in each work capture the relationship between the two. The digital photographs are mostly monochrome. The palette and format are inspired by traditional Chinese ink painting. The scenes take place in the ice- and snow-covered mountains of Northern China. The quiet, ethereal landscape acts as a perfect setting for exploring the mind. The physical appearance of the doll — obvious joints, revealed ribcage bones and scarred womb — alludes to the violence of a woman’s experiences and how they impress upon her spirit. The sparseness of the scenes creates an absence of temporal sense, emphasizing the subjectivity of existence.