26 Jul 2009

The James Kalm Report: Hottest NYC Summer Shows

Hello, this is James Kalm, the guy on the bike welcoming you for another half-ass production...

Those words ring from the beginning of 'The James Kalm Report,' which has become one of the leading art criticism using the medium of video, particularly on YouTube. His ten minute commentary on selected New York shows and art fairs manifest the insights of a monk, the wit of a profound comedian, and the controversy of non-corporate and uncensored views of exhibitions of the vibrant New York art world. YouTube's 'Kalm Report' exemplifies Munk's blurring of criticism, historic documentation, journalism and performance art and began a new mode of art reportage on the internet.

Text adapted from the interview 'Double Assassination' by Qi Peng


Check out the Hottest NYC Summer Shows (in chronological order):


1) Banks Violette and Jessica Stockholder

James Kalm brings viewers along as he peddles through a Thursday night double bill. Banks Violette is one of New Yorks most provocative young artists. Deriving much of his imagery from the banality of Heavy Metal cliché, the main piece for Not Yet Titled at Team Gallery is Zodiac a ghostly recreation in cast salt of the motorcycle his friend Steve Parrino drove to his death.
Across town in Chelsea we slip in to see Jessica Stockholders Sail Cloth Tears at Mitchell-Innes & Nash. Stockholder constructs gerrymandered tableaus of brightly colored everyday objects combined with strokes of rich pigment to bring the language of painting into a three dimensional space. The works reflect not only an artistic sensibility but a knowing appreciation for the industrial cheerfulness of consumer products.


2) Jonathan Borofsky at DEITCH and Carrie Moyer at CANADA

James Kalm drifts through Downtown Manhattan and records a couple of exhibitions of interest. Jonathan Borofsky has been a presence on the international art scene since the late sixties. His installations and counting practice were unique, but with Five Large Paintings hes given up counting and taken up the paint brush. Across town we drop in for the opening of Carrie Moyer. This recent selection of paintings displays Moyers sense of elegance and a knowing employment of painterly devices recalling biomorphic Surrealism, with a Post Modern distance. A cameo appearance by sand painter Wayne Coe begins the tour, and interviews of Borofsky and Moyer are featured.


3) Picasso Mosqueteros at Gagosian Gallery 2

James Kalm celebrates the 300 episode of the Kalm Report by inviting viewers once again to join him on the down low challenging not only the strictly enforced no photo policy of New Yorks most powerful art gallery, but teaming throngs of perusing art lovers. Curated by the worlds preeminent Picasso scholar, John Richardson, Mosqueteros highlights the late, often derided paintings of this twentieth century master. It will certainly be judged as one of the seasons most influential and well attended exhibitions


4) Jonathan Schipper Irreversibilities at THE BOILER

James Kalm wends his way to the North side of Williamsburg and checks out two of the latest mechanical fantasies by Jonathan Schipper. The Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle poses two muscle cars in a slow-motion death collision. Running twenty-fours a day for the six weeks of the exhibition, these cars, relentlessly smash into each other under 28,000 lbs. of hydraulic pressure. In Measured Angst a beer bottle is broken and reassembled in a mechanical intervention against entropy, parodying the limitations of scientific problem solving. Includes an interview with Jonathan Schipper, and a six week time lapse documentation of the collision.


5) Black Acid Co op at DEITCH PROJECTS

James Kalm has been watching the progress of this extensive installation for weeks. Black Acid Co-Op is the collaboration of Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman, and this piece explores the dark manic recesses of meth-lab culture and its analogues relationship to middle America, and the glamorous New York art world. Entering through the basement, visitors ascend through a labyrinth of burned out trailers meth-labs and art galleries in a journey through an hellatious environment of cultural debris.


6) James Ensor at MoMA

James Kalm anxiously pursues this enlightening exhibition by one of the most unique masters in the Modernist canon. Although he stayed near home, and rarely sought out the avant-garde, James Ensor became the Godfather of Northern Expressionism. His unique subject matter, brilliant draftsmanship, and sensitive yet urgent use of materials and color distinguish him as an inspiration of much 20th century art. Organized by Anna Swinbourne, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture.


7) 'Untitled Art Project' Try outs New York Part I

James Kalm has been hearing rumors rumbling around New York about a Reality TV show dealing with artists and their careers for months. Tipped off about these auditions by Martin Bromirski, he peddles over to the West Village on a Sunday afternoon in July to see what all the hubbub is about. In the process, hes intimidated, taunted, threatened with arrest, and shunted to the side. Ironically this Report delivers a reality check on Reality TV, and gives exposure to many artists who failed to fit the template and clichés of the Mainstream Media.


8) Untitled Art Project Try outs New York Part II

James Kalm returns to Greenwich Villages White Columns on Horatio Street to wrap up this investigative report on Untitled Art Project. Just what is the reality of reality TV? Hundreds of artists from across North America waited in the late July heat for their chance at fifteen minutes of fame. Viewers are treated with glimpses of works varying from straight oil paintings to wind up miniature sculptures and rustic furniture made from maple-root and sandstone. These artists represent an eclectic cross section of Americas creative grass roots.