24th Street: The Center of the Art Universe (or at least that's what they want you to believe) During the mid to late nineties, driven by increasing rents, New York's art scene quietly shuffled north and west from Soho and into the West Chelsea area. Full of the kind of large abandoned industrial buildings galleries adore, the area has been transformed into a slick white-walled Mecca for art. Nowhere is this more evident then on the stretch of 24th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue. This single block is home to twelve galleries, including spaces owned by art world titans Larry "Go-Go" Gagosian and Barbara Gladstone. Unlike tony SoHo, West Chelsea still looks industrial; the corner of 24th and 10th is home to a full service gas station for taxis and the dilapidated El runs through the whole area. Once inside the galleries, however, New Yorkers are treated to some of the most interesting art being shown in this city for many years. Here are some highlights from the 24th Street Revival: Michael Craig-Martin Eye of the Storm Jan. 16 - Feb. 15 Gagosian Gallery (site) 555 W. 24th Street #: 212/741.1111 Transforming the mammoth Gagosian space into a giant toy box in fuchsia and pink, Michael Craig-Martin's pop-inspired paintings depict common household objects in clip-art-like clarity. Extending the images onto the walls of the gallery itself, Craig-Martin invites the viewer to travel through a giant industrial fan and confront an everyday banality that is at once wondrous and toxic. Paul Ramírez Jonas The Earth Seen From Above January 18th - February 22, 2003 LFL Gallery (site) 530 West 24th Street #: 212/989.7700 A collection of works all focusing on recording and capturing the natural world, Jonas' collection of videos, fantastical solar powered instruments and Tibetan prayer flags emblazoned with the names of hurracaines on them are all fascinating, but it is his main piece "Album: 50 State Summits" that really draws you in. A massive grid of photo mounts stretch along the wall, the name of one of the 50 States Summits written on each mount. While some have been filled in and the date marked, most remain untouched, awaiting future climbs. The photos that are there consist of the artist facing away from the camera, holding aloft a sign that reads "Open". While the photo of Colorado's highest peak is indeed impressive, it is atop the highest summit of Florida- a parking lot where the land stretches out in endless flatness, that Jonas, so unimpressed by the scene that he plants his flag in the ground rather than hold it aloft, reaches his most dizzying heights. Michael Ashcroft, Nigel Cooke, Dexter Dalwood, Dee Ferris. Dan Hays, Dan Perfect, Daniel Sinsel, Tim Stoner Exploring Landscape: Eight Views From Britain January 24 - February 28, 2003 Andrea Rosen Gallery (site) 525 W. 24th Street #: 212/627.6000 By far the best show on 24th Street right now, Andrea Rosen's group show of British landscape paintings are varied, but uniformly dazzling. From oversized Cezzanne-like depictions of mountain ranges to undulating and warped pixilated images of Russian hills downloaded off the web, these paintings are an inspired look at young British painting as a whole. The landscape focus illustrates how old themes can be made new again in the right hands. Highlights include a graffiti inspired Martian landscape and classically rendered paintings based on vintage porno adorned with real antlers and fur. Jan Dibets Archive January 11th - February 8th, 2003 Barbara Gladstone Gallery (site) 515 West 24th Street #: 212/206.9300 Jan Dibets massive collection of contact sheets are a study in technique and composition. By arranging the raw negatives in a grid, Dibets takes slices of architecture and reassembles them into a new collective whole. David Salle January 11th - March 1st, 2003 Mary Boone Gallery (site) 541 W. 24th Street #: 212/752.2929 David Salle's charming canvases are broken up into sensual panels of men and women portrayed with a classical boldness reminiscent of Edward Hopper, but infused with feminine touches like orchids and roses. While the prettiness of it all might remind you of an artsy spread for Elle, on second glance the paintings seem to celebrate eroticism in the full bloom of maturity.

posted by Japhy at 2/02/2003 09:16:00 PM || #