Shane Darwent, Red Grooms, Rachel Lee Hovnanian

James Kalm splices together as potpourri of recent gallery visits, to give viewers a sense of the diverse range of artistic endeavors being shown in New York City now. Shane Darwent presents “Flat End Dome” at Spencer Brownstone. This sculpture exhibition leverages the mundane elements of the suburban South West melding architectural clichés like stuccoed walls, chain link fences, with strip mall awnings, exposing a faded, sun bleached version of the American Dream. “Red Grooms: Handiwork, 1955-2018” at Marlbrough Contemporary, is a sixty year mini retrospective of this protein American artist, much of it through his painting. Grooms sits astride the generational split that American art experienced between the Ab Ex 1950s and the Pop Art 1960s, yet his uniqueness is perhaps more relevant now in light of the popularity of art brut, and “Outsider Art”. Finally, with a visit to these years Bushwick Open Studios week end, this clip of Rachel Lee Hovnanian is the only documentation captured by your correspondent. In “Pure: The Womens Trilogy Project Activation” we’ll witness a visitor smash a ceramic form that she’s written her negative thoughts on, This act of destruction, is designed to free the participants from negative mental forces holding them back from a more positive life. This This program was recorded September 22, 27, and 30, 2018.