Mark Ryden, New Favorite

I stumbled upon this L.A. artist at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea. I was still thinking about this show after two days and went back to visit it again.

"In his hauntingly beautiful and masterfully executed oil paintings, Ryden creates his own contemporary mythologies whose archetypes include fairy tale creatures, historical figures, and pop cultural icons. Seamlessly juxtaposing macabre motifs like meat grinders and disembodied presidents with eye-pleasing ingénues and seductive landscapes, the artist produces a vision of society in which menace and comfort are inseparably interwoven. These labor-intensive canvasses deftly rework centuries of art history, combining the grandeur of Spanish and Italian religious painting with the decorative richness of Old Master compositions and the lush textures of French Neo-Classicism. " -press release

This is a close up of a larger painting (the blurry dark spot is due to my camera); all the pieces in this show were fairly large. They were equally as riveting close up, as from a distance. The gallery's main room featured new paintings, and a second room displayed sketches and roughly colored thumbnails. The sketches were very thoughtful, deliberate wonders- love, LOVE this show.
The sketches, the paintings, not to mention the frames were captivating. Apparently the artist has a cult following- I can get that. Maybe I'll be joining it.
But seriously- the frames were ridiculously, phenomenally, out of this world, BAD ASS.

NY, cont'd.

The only picture Omari will ever look small in.
I cannot resist an animal print.
Or thick paint.

So, back to the bizarre. Perusing the galleries in Chelsea is such a mixed bag, and I do love that. Some installation, some photograph, a little video, printmaking, painting, and so on. I snapped shots of some paintings that caught my eye, as well as some ginormous statues that couldn't possibly not catch my eye. To give you an idea of their scale, my 7' tall friend Omari is standing next to one.

New York, New York

In the distant right hand side is the Statue of Liberty
Cinco de Mayo chardonnay!
Laura, David, me, April
Bunny & I outside the Lever House.

Last week I had a lovely trip to Manhattan. The weather was sunny and 70- lucky me- it was perfect walking weather! And running weather, apparently. I packed my running apparel (only 2 months, 19 days till triathlon time) so I could keep in shape while travelling; early in the mornings I ran through Central Park, and around midtown. Turns out, this is a great way to explore the park; I saw more of it than I've ever been able to see just walking through. I even ran the loop around the reservoir and pretended I was in a movie...I can't believe I just told you that...so, yeah, I enjoyed it. Oh, there were also many, many cute dogs playing in the park, flowers and trees blossoming, birds chirping, etc. that only added to the movie- esque- ness.
I went to the accessories and jewelry market the first half of the week with April and Susan, of "the Finch". On Cinco de Mayo, April and I enjoyed a roof top patio at sunset with David and Laura (exhibitors at the market). Walking back that night, we went by the Lever House where I found supersized Hello Kitty statues! The next night, I got to see fellow Nashvillian K.S. Rhodes play at the Rockwood Music Hall in the East Village with Lizzie E. singing background vocals! On the way home that night I took a pic of one of my favorite cathedrals; it's like a baby castle among skyscrapers. I also did some shopping ( I heart H& M) and scored a new Betsey Johnson dress at Beacon's Closet in Williamsburg. AHHAHAHAAA :) Also, I went to Chelsea to do some gallery exploring, which I have mixed feelings about. Some was bad, some was good, and some just bizarre for bizarre's sake.
Gotta go, but ladies: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !