by Anna Kamensky
The new space for Alessandro Berni Gallery, NYC is a mix between functional and informal, art space and living space. With elements of a spacious, light entrenched loft, the inaugural exhibition uses the non-traditional gallery element to its advantage.
City Bites flawlessly creates a dialogue between artwork of diverse media. It is a group show of work by established artists and those that are up and coming. The group has origins from all around the world. The space is ideal for the social aspects of a gallery and contrasts greatly from the standard white cube. The most noticeable of its features is the exposed brick that makes up a good portion of the wall space. The brick as backdrop adds an extra layer of texture to the art, complicating and intensifying their affect on the viewer.
With the untraditional space comes untraditional display. L.O.V.E CEMENT SCULPTURE by Maurizio Cattelan is the obscene centerpiece of the show, displayed in the middle of the room on a table. Depending on where the viewer stands, each and every artwork (as well as the viewer) is playfully flipped off by the sculpture. The gallery itself becomes part of the artwork, as the artwork becomes part of the gallery. This is an optical illusion desired and done on purpose by the curator of the exhibition, Asya Rotella, and the results are excellent.
The mixed media works by Cecila M Yaghoubi and Gilbert Salinas stand out in their display on both sides of the room; the pieces look different against the plain white wall versus the bricks. Yaghoubi’s haunting figurative works on paper are uneven and rough, yet have the delicate, wistful longing for better times past. The textured layers of the work create interesting patterns that contrast with the ruggedness of the brick wall. Salinas’s paintings are organic and explosive, the bright colors and layered surfaces reminiscent of his native Puerto Rico. The inlaid pieces of palm trees give the work depth and a unique piece of the artist. The paint no longer just flows organically, but has literal organic elements, creating more contrast between the natural elements of the work and the austere, manmade nature of the brick. Also worth noting is the work and presence of Vito Acconci after his very recent death. The title City Bites chosen by Asya Rotella suggests a sarcasm and lightheartedness with a darker undertone; it is a fitting name for the gallery’s first New York City show. After making it to this renowned city, is it ever all it’s cracked up to be?
