The Time Machine
All the physicists and scenarists hashing and re-hashing the possibility (or not) of time travel, and movement through wormholes through the space-time continuum, might consider taking a break to view some exhibitions this summer in Manhattan. The will find artists and curators realizing connections about which they themselves can only speculate or theorize.
“Flaming June,” a group show on view through August 5th at the new addition to sixty-year-old family of galleries, Spanierman Modern, is truly a collaboration across time. Each work of a contemporary artist is paired with a piece that inspired it, from an American artist of the past. For example, piece by Willem de Kooning is juxtaposed with a work of Marilyn Minter, and, in a striking combination, “Polish Princess” by Lilian Westcott Hale (1881-1953) is shown as a diptych with it’s own image in mirrored plexiglass by artist Ellen Harvey (b. 1967).
At Cheim & Reid in Chelsea, a similar theme is explored in the exhibition “Soutine and Modern Art,” featuring the landscape and still-life paintings of Chaim Soutine in conjunction with their reflections in works from Willem De Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock, Louise Bourgeois, Philip Guston and many other artists who have acknowledged Soutine as an influence.
To wend one’s way along the helix of the Guggenheim these days is to travel the orbit of London-based architect Zaha Hadid, as the works of this renowned woman are showcased in the forms of vivid, dynamic drawings, models, and images of projects that span the globe. One video more closely resembled a scene from a science fiction movie - think “2002” or “Silent Running” - than the real-life view of a factory in operation it actually was. This portal to a visually and intellectually astonishing world remains open to the public through October 25th.
As we wait for science to find a way to span the globe in hours or send us on a visit to De Kooning’s studio, we count on the art community to act as our living bridge across time across time and space.
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