MIGUEL OVALLE: ENCRYPTION AND TRANSIENT FAULTS

As a child, we weren’t allowed to order Pay-Per-View. It was incredibly expensive my mother would say, but, at times, if you turned on the channel, you could see, if only for a second, part of your favorite movie that was just recently released from theaters. Kind of like teenagers trying to watch Playboy before the Internet––if they turned the channel on at just the right time, and they were lucky, they’d see a boob or two.

In the post-digital age of art, glitch is a recognizable term, it’s some sort of transient fault. We hear it in music, we see it in video intentionally, we even see it in an accidental iPhone photo that smears the subject because we’ve moved our hands too quickly. Impressionism itself can be considered the OG glitch. Monet’s Water Lillies is a beautiful blur of reality: to quote Clueless aptly, “From far away, it’s OK, but up close, it’s a big old mess.” I hardly think Monet’s work is a mess, but because we are so immersed in electronics, day in and day out, glitch can take on a new meaning, serving as a metaphor for the digital or emotional malfunctions of everyday life. Your Facebook isn’t loading on your digital device? Your call was dropped? Not enough money to pay your phone bill? Website you’re viewing doesn’t have a mobile version? Frustration ensues. Freeze this moment, turn it into a painting, step back, dive-in, reflect, reset. Unless you’re living under a rock or have sworn off electronics, mostly everyone who has access to this article can relate. These so-called glitches go hand-in-hand with the expressive and intrinsic qualities of life in the post-digital age and elements of these sentiments is what one finds in Miguel Ovalle’s latest show Encryption at ArtNowNY in Chelsea.

Encryption features an immersive body of work in various media. The diced up, glitched paintings are digitally influenced, taking on a nonfixed form. Composed of individual strips, Glitch I can be arranged differently each time it is installed (similar to the early work of El Anatsui), reflecting a dynamism in its digital and painterly quality. For the glitch series, the subject is no longer the only or most important message, blurred in their abstraction, the ever changing makeup of the pieces holds equal value. The ability to constantly rotate the media is inspired by the visual information overload we experience on the daily: we have countless choices of what it is we are viewing and why, and for this, we can thank our best friend, the Internet.

While everyone was down in Art Basel partying at some alcohol or sparkling water brand sponsored event, which I chose to watch from the likes of Instagram this year, Miguel Ovalle hosted Glitterati, an in situ installation/ photo shoot/ art happening at his studio with gold mylar covered walls, festive and sequined attire, and cheap champagne. You’ll find the product of all of this in the smaller back room of the gallery, the neatly lined metallic photographs mounted upon crisp white walls. The nondescript figurative subject matter invites the viewer to be part of the event and protects the identity of those who attended. The undulating lines and digital flaws found in the photos are a direct reflection of what the camera recorded as the installation provided a rich environment for lucid imagery.

Between the blue lights that line the floor of the back wall and Relic of My Subconscious, the typographic sculptural installation, floats Elevation, the sarcophagus like sculpture of a woman draped in black sequins, which lends to the subject matter of the photos in the next room. Also lying throughout the gallery are two additional figures: Silver Dreams, a woman, classically serene, lying on her side, in an s-shaped curve with silver sequins and Heavy Weight, a gold sequined man, knee up, hands covering his face, eerily reminiscent of the cast figures of Pompeii. Realistic, creepy, beautiful? You choose.

A master of foam core, Ovalle’s precise lines, shiny photos, figurative sculptures, and innovative paintings make for a well curated, clean and provocative exhibition. Put on a warm coat and make your way to Chelsea to see Encryption. The show runs until February 1, 2014.

See more of Miguel’s work: www.dizmology.com / Instagram: @dizmology

548 W 28TH ST 2ND FLR
NEW YORK, NY 10001
PH: 646.535.6528
INFO@ARTNOWNY.COM

HALFSELVES : TWELVE CUBED : An Art Happening by Maria Jimenez

You were or were not cordially invited to Twelve Cubed:HALFSELVES, an art happening by Maria Jimenez. Curated by Natalie Trainor, the evening was a continuation of the salon series which began last year as Eleven Cubed––both events playing with dates to celebrate and create art that you can experience, but cannot buy. An interactive, performative and photographic experience, HALFSELVES explores the dualities that exist within us and the process and documentation of our actual selves and inner desires. The artist encourages participation from the guests, but it is not required. Maria Jimenez would love to take your portrait. Please join the collective next time for this intimate event: Day Le the Mannequin was bartending, Luis Palacios as DJ, Gabrielle Fishman was there to expedite the transformation process, and our special virtual guests, Anne Grauso and the Poser, were in attendence, as well as all your other favorite characters. Next time. xx

RAINBOWS&MARSHMALLOWS: THE RAINBOW TRACER by Reid Bingham & Sean McIntyre

RAINBOWS&MARSHMALLOWS

Works by Reid Bingham & Sean McIntyre, Kat Kohl, Suzette Guy & Jacob Abramson

Curated by Anne Huntington & Natalie Trainor

Takamichi Hair 263 Bowery Street 2nd Fl (nr Stanton)

Opening Reception: May 7 2012 from 7 to 10 pm; Viewing May 8 – 15 2012

RSVP: info@amhindustries.com

Announcing Rainbows & Marshmallows – an interactive salon experience with installation and digital performance works by Reid Bingham & Sean McIntyre, Kat Kohl, Suzette Guy & Jacob Abramson, curated by Anne Huntington & Natalie Trainor at Takamichi Hair on the Bowery. Join us May 7 to experience the lights come to life with live LED painting, colorful photo-booth innovation, cavernous sculpture and digital graffiti.

The salon experience will entice and excite the senses with fleeting and lasting marks creating dialogue with the Bowery and its surroundings using windows, walls and buildings as canvas, expanding mediums from performance to portraiture and toasting the evening with cocktails and marshmallows. After the bright rainbowed lights, digital tags and geometric sculpture at the favored downtown salon experience, Takamichi Hair, the Danish restaurant, Vandaag will provide an after party continuing the downtown lit conversation.

Curators Huntington & Trainor collaborate with acclaimed stylist Takamichi Saeki to dream up an interactive innovative experience blending art, hair and all that the Bowery has to offer.

YOUNG NEW YORK SILENT ART AUCTION & FUNDRAISER

Curated by Natalie Trainor & LNY

ARTISTS: Steve Powers ESPO, Steven Holl, Dread Scott, Alfredo Martinez, Jesse Hazelip, NohjColey, Joe Iurato, Miguel Ovalle, Overunder, Gaia, Rudie Diaz, Marissa, Paternoster, Ian Kuali'I, LNY, Blackmath, Mare139, Doodles, Feral Child, Cake, ND'A, QRST, Sean 9 Lugo, Radical!, C215 from the Vandalog collection, Gilf, Rachel Hays, Alice Mizrachi, SUE works, Clown Soldier, Jill Cohen, Yulia Pinkusevich, Alyse Dunn, NEVER, Sheryo, the YOK, ASVP, Labrona, Then One, Tom Smith, Day Le, Danielle Riechers, Jon Burgerman, Darnell Scott, Nathan Pickett, Joseph Grazi, John Breiner, Anne Grauso, Beau Stanton, Jamie Bruno, Luna Park, Sam Dylan Gordon, Fay Ku, Michael Bilsborough, Felipe Baeza, Sam Fleischner, Cecile Chong, Romy Scheroder, Rena Leinberger, Rebecca Jewell, Michael Bell and Eunjeong Seong

ABOUT YOUNG NEW YORK: Legally classified as adults in New York State, 16- and 17-year-olds are included in the adult criminal justice system from arrest through sentencing. Young New York (YNY) is an art-focused social justice project that raises awareness about this issue and the need for positive and constructive alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline. Young New York is supported by the Goodman Fellowship at Columbia University and Brooklyn Defender Services.

ELEVEN CUBED: PRIMAL BEINGS, 11.11.11

In celebration and in honor of Performa 11, you were or were not cordially invited to Eleven Cubed: Primal Beings, an art happening by Anne Grauso. Curated by Natalie Trainor, the event was the first of several salon series, where artists utilize their own spaces to create an interactive, engaging environment that focuses on creating art and empowering the artist. Combining the influences and ethos of Fluxus, the grassroots qualities of Happenings and the anything goes attitude of Dada, Grauso’s Primal Beings encouraged participation from its guests, but it was not required.

Slightly manipulating the space, Grauso created a photo booth and was able to get some great primitive-esque portraits including those of Malcolm Harris, Anne Huntington,Gabby the Cat, Mario Fernando Jimenez, Mauricio Herrerro aka the Fireman, Miguel Ovalle, Darnell Scott, Day Le, Danielle Riechers, Max Jahn, Amanda Wong and many, many more. Food was provided by Fat Radish’s Robin Hollis, where she offered guests a variety of meat dishes that could only be eaten with their hands--everything was devoured by the end of the evening. More art happenings coming soon. Perhaps we'll see you then.

Ffp: October 2011

Ffp Fuck fear phobia Curated by Natalie Trainor

Viewing: October 29 - November 3, 2011 Location: 406 West 13th Street, New York, 10014 Reception: October 28, 2011 6 - 9pm RSVP & Inquiries: info@wolfanddaughter.com

New York – October 2011

Wolf & Daughter Productions is pleased to announce Ffp, a show that interprets fear and phobia along lines undefined by boundaries, be it sculptural, conceptual, drawn or installed. Curated by Natalie Trainor, the group exhibition features the work of John Breiner, Day Le, Joseph Grazi, LNY, Biz Lynch, Miguel Ovalle and Danielle Riechers.

“The shape and interpretations of fear are indefinite: first, because it is in perpetual transformation, and second, because it is completely subjective and uncertain.” Claudia Roselli, Writer, 2008

John Breiner’s mixed media paintings reflect the pressures of everyday life: fear of the end, fear of the end not coming soon enough. The colorful palette in his collection of work and its dark subject matter reveal the artist’s ominous thoughts, feelings, and dreams: eyeballs staring at the viewer, battles of nature, and the deadly game of chess we play day in and day out. Heavily influenced by David Batchelor’s Chromophobia, artist Day Le’s investigation of fear is centered on the use of language and its arbitrary relationship to color. Using detailed word maps as his guide and yarn as his choice of material, Le’s approach is to take language and dismantle the meaning into nothing more than shapes. The fear is not with color, but with language.

Exploring the theme of repetition with taxidermed bats, Joseph Grazi’s newest piece titled “Legends,” illustrates man’s extreme domination over our animal cousins through strength, fear and trickery. LNY questions himself and the viewer through large scale wall drawings focused on fear and phobia; drawing to help understand fear, not explain it, while confusing its meaning. Understanding fear as sprouting from the unknown artist Biz Lynch takes a scientific approach to combatting fear by disorienting the senses and inviting exploration. Using sound waves as a catalyst, the artist explores visual effects of light traveling through different materials, such as prisms, convex surfaces, and water.

Miguel Ovalle explores the communicative and visual possibilities of the written word by creating an environment that transforms and subjugates a mind that is cluttered with fears, anxieties and desires; thus creating a meditative state and cultivating new, more positive ways of being. Danielle Riechers’ video installation documents the artist sculpting and melting an ice figure symbolizing a woman, whom the artist never met, but nearly killed six years ago. Referencing the body position of Jesus in the Pieta, the sculpture is a metaphor for the ephemerality of life, ice, memory and pain.

Using location to color the experience, Ffp creates a multi-sensory installation that identifies, isolates and explores the beautiful and hideous qualities of fear and phobia.