Brrrrrrr it's soooooo cold outside ........ and as anyone who knows me knows, I never leave the house from January to April!!!! But, Saturday, I braved the elements and went to the opening of "The Language of Flowers," an exhibition at CRG Gallery. And, I have to admit that this visually stunning show was definitely worth the effort!!!
Georges Bataille's essay, "The Language of Flowers," was the starting point of the exhibition, "The symbolic nature of the flower is a revealing text wherein Bataille draws parallels between the anatomy of the flower and the human body as well as his interpretation of the nature of seduction, beauty, love, and death as understood through the flower's physical and historically condensed characteristics." CRG Press Release
The show, incorporating some 25 artists, who use the flower as a common point of departure, features a variety of generations ........ from the influential 20th century painter Fairfield Porter, to the newly emerging painter Steven Bindernagel. The senses are touched by artists who incorporate a wide range of mediums including ...... the beautiful, hanging tape and tar paper collage, Latin Rose (1989) by Jim Hodges; Tonico Lemos Auad's plant and carved stone Medusa (2007); Petah Coyne's Untitle #1292 (Scarlett), a waxed flower piece that incorporates a taxidermy bird. There are stunning exploding flower photographs from Ori Gersh; as well as photographs by Colby Bird, Carter Mull, Bob Beck, and Lyle Ashton Harris. The extraordinary selection of works on paper includes artists Andy Warhol, Bruce Conner, Lisa Sanditz, Hannah Wilke, and four obsessive ball point pen drawings by Butt Johnson. I adore sculpture and this show includes amazing works by artists Hannah Wilke, Nayland Blake, Kathy Prendergast, as well as two divine pscyho-sexual pieces from Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo, that I would kill for!!!!!
Soooooo, the accessorator suggests "acting as if" ....... pretend it's spring, jump into a taxi for a trip to Chelsea, and visit the flowers that have just sprung up on Twenty-second Street!!!!!!
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