Adam Bartos, Cairo, Egypt (Sultan Hassan Mosque), 1980, Pigment print, 31 5/8 x 42 1/4 inches
March 1-May 5, 2012
170 East 75th Street
New York, New York
Adam Bartos’s solo exhibition at Gitterman Gallery revolves around the emanating mystery of exotic spaces. Samuel Bourne’s photographs of India and Robert MacPherson’s images of Rome, both produced in the 1860s, are prime inspirations for Bartos’s painterly compositions. His first body of work dating from the 1980s depicts popular 19th century “exotic” locations, including Egypt, Africa, and Mexico.
Adam Bartos, Martin's Marine, Bay Shore, NY, 2010, Color carbon print, 11 1/4 x 16 inches
The second thread of work from the later 2000s documents mysterious tackle shops and abandoned coastlines on Long Island. Bartos employs a four-color carbon transfer process, summoning the incredible detail of the wet-plate processes manipulated by his predecessors. In his emphasis on texture and light, Bartos infuses charisma into these ostensibly neutral and trite scenes.
Al Held, installation shot from Loretta Howard Gallery
March 1-April 14, 2012
525-531 West 26th Street
New York, New York
After experimenting with brightly colored geometric abstraction spurred by the aggressive flatness of the Abstract Expressionists, Al Held had reached a roadblock. In 1967, he followed a tangental path that would “pry flatness open” by morphing enigmatic lines to produce space. He challenged the surface rather than simply coating it.
Al Held, installation from Loretta Howard Gallery
Robert Storr has written a concise and informative catalogue essay expanding upon Held’s transformation. The exhibition presents these early experiments that would fuel his nearly forty year dedication to dimensions beyond the flat canvas.
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