Old News As New Keith Gladysz

It was September 10th when I finally saw the Greater New York Show at PS1. A bit behind the curve as usual, I’m afraid. Still it was new news to me, even if the shows been up since last March. I think the threat of its imminent closing finally got me to see the follow up to 2000’s original Greater New York (which I saw, quite early on, thank you).

Yes, hit and miss, though when it hit, it hit hard and with resonance. I had an exhaustedly good time. My regrets to the work on the third floor, I breezed by you in a fog. The first floor gets fresh eyes.

I loved the first gallery with works by Amy Cutler and Kent Henricksen. Show’s off to a great start, I thought. Amy’s drawings are equal parts craft and dream. I stared and stared, altering between analysis and hypnosis. And Kent’s work was the perfect compliment on the adjacent wall, cranking the uncanny creep knob a bit more. His embroidered images of hooded and masked s&m/ Klan figures on pillows depicting 17th century folk scenes, strangely connected the dots between faux idyllic imagery and the later work of Philip Guston. Who would have thought that would work? Kent did.

In the next room, I enjoyed looking at Yuken Teruya’s tree bags. The Notice Forest series transforms paper bags from well-known chains like McDonalds and Tiffany’s back into trees (at least metaphorically, and wielding tattooed corporate logos).

Hope Atherton’s Brown unicorn was like Beuy’s with a sad, pouty lip.

While Will Ryman’s The Pit made me climb, peer and smile.

Adam Helm’s NFA-NorthEastCompany scared me silly, in content and quality.

There was a lot more work that I loved but failed to mention. That’s my fault for keeping poor records and leaving my judgments to first impressions only. Had I seen the show months ago and then revisited, I might have more to say. Oh, I feel sheepish. But I still have ten days to go back. The show closes September 26th.