Elise Ferguson / You Me / 2008 / pigmented plaster, aluminum, silver leaf / 18 x 24 inches / envoy gallery

Arnold Kemp / Climate / 2008 / watercolor, acrylic paint, flashe, mixed media on linen / 14 x 18 inches / envoy gallery

Aude du Pasquier Grall / Le Cycle Masculin N°7 / 2005-2008 / video installation; ed. 5 / envoy gallery

I happened upon this show in the Lower East Side a few weeks back, shortly after it opened. Small textured paintings in the front room sparkled and glittered. I slipped behind the curtain into a video exhibit projected on two walls. I’m usually not a big fan of video exhibitions, usually because it’s impossible to watch because people are afraid to walk fully into the room, clogging up the entrance, and I usually walk in at some point in the loop with no idea where it is coming from where it is going and for how long. I loose patience quickly. Anyway, this was fun because it wasn’t crowded, I could sit on the floor, and besides, the artist was there sitting in a chair, with her elbows on her knees, filming us watching the video, setting up this weird pomo redundancy observer/observed dynamic. I only wish I had done my little doggy yelp!

Envoy Gallery, 131 Chrystie St., through 7 June 2008

Dropped in on Katherine Bernhardt and her friends at the month long sleepover party down at CANADA on the Lower East Side. These are bold fun paintings of fashion models and musicians. Heroines to be admired and lusted after. With lush paint slathered on the canvas with exuberance and energy we feel Ms. Bernhardt touching and fondling her idols. Like baby dolls she primps their hair, straightens their dresses and lines them up to show off and be observed. It’s star-gazing and it feels a little bit like a guilty pleasure. But there’s no shame in that. Unlike the fashion photography which she uses as reference, in which the models often feel lifeless posing zombies, these paintings imbue her women with a life-force and energy. They feel alive, breathing and moving, and any minute they could pop out of the flat surface of the canvas and start dancing and gyrating. Kate, Giselle, Natalia, Agyness, Simon, Kanye & George is a fun show and you can stop off and get some congee or dim sum after the party!

Katherine Bernhardt “Kate, Giselle, Natalia, Agyness, Simon, Kanye & George” is on view at CANADA Gallery through June 1, 2008