P. 164

NEW YORK'S ART SCENE BY MAXIMILLIEN de LAFAYETTE 

DANIELLE WEBB AND BAUMGARTNER GALLERY: BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

Because they are so childish, meaningless and without substance, briefly mentioning this month New York's art shows is more than enough. The most catastrophic and ridiculous ones were "religiously and fanatically" sheltered by Baumgartner Gallery, Marianne Boesky Gallery and the D'Amelio Terras group. Danielle Webb's show at Baumgartner Gallery on 522 West 24th Street, is a joke. Perhaps an insult to art. The wise curator and propaganda wizard at Baumgartner described Webb's work as an innovative and unusual artwork. The brochure contained this statement "the pictorial landscape has long been a ground on which the shifting modes of philosophy, social order, sensibility, and individuality have been projected. Danielle Webb's work uniquely updates this tradition." I did not see or sense any social order, sensibility or a lesson in philosophy in the mediocre and amateurish work of Webb. Her "unique creativity" consisted of childish drawings, filled with holes like a rotten Swiss cheese, covered with cold and uncoordinated colors. Rating: Zero star out of five. Don't waste your time. Save your trip to Baumgartner. Besides, the curators and management team of that gallery are as cold as Webb's work. The guy who introduced himself to me as Mr. Baumgartner looked like a mortician who needed 5 face lifts. He probably never heard of hospitality, warm rapport with visitors and savoir-faire.

CHINATSU BAN, BOESKY, AMY GLOBUS AND TERRAS FAIL AGAIN

Two more failed art shows: 1-Chinatsu Ban at Marianne Boesky Gallery on 535, West 22nd Street. Make a big U turn. It is not worth it. Art immaturity which has been jargonized as "religious urgency" and "salvation". 2-Amy Globus: Sculpting in Time, presented by D'Amelio Terras is a mockery of art and an insult to civilized esthetics or to any meaningful art medium. Rating: Zero star out of five. Next time, Baumgartners, Terras and Boesky should ask Rick Prol and Jan Lynn Sokota to curate and cure their forthcoming shows! And if they need more intelligentsia and avant-garde flair, Dr. Joseph Nechvatal could come to the rescue.

 

More: NEXT