dayoutlast is a record of my direct engagement with mostly contemporary art, mostly Los Angelean.

As this blog has evolved since its 2010 inception, so has my perspective. What I once perceived as central within the investigation was what was central, literally, within the photographic frame that I shared here. While still an important consideration, such thinking has also given way to more peripheral considerations, ones also accompanied occasionally by text (written manifestation of thought) and the oscillations between them. What's missing here are larger unknowns surrounding issues of presentation and representation; the amount of time and space it actually takes to accomplish such first-hand observations; and the quandaries between documentation and interpretation.

Despite my attempt to communicate here with image and text what is essential in some respect about the artwork, neither representation should ever be considered a substitution for the primary viewing experience. Of course, occasionally there are exceptions.

Most of the time, these posts are merely remnants---residual fragments---from my last day out.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Dean Levin "XTC" @ Kohn Gallery

















116, 2016
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on linen
51 x 38 inches



16, 2016
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on linen
51 x 38 inches



XTC, 2015
Singed oil on linen
24 x 18 inches



A fascinating grouping of works in terms of perceiving and thinking about space and spatial relations in both 2, 3 and more dimensions, it was difficult to isolate works discretely in order to view their autonomous presence(s).  Were the multidimensional works meant to be considered as a whole unified installation, it would have made more sense how they were actually displayed, positioned with respect to one another. As it were according to the checklist, it was a cluster of artworks placed very close to one and even on top of one another.  Such a number of works could fill a gallery this size and beyond and would need to be spread out or isolated in separate rooms in order to appreciate the subtleties within individual constellations.  That challenge aside which was huge, moments between light, surface, and color interplayed nicely and convincingly where such focus could be attained.  While the 2D works in the adjacent space may have provided mapping clues for how to consider the organization of sculptures next door, it wasn't quite clear how far to go with this thinking.  The 2D works were also intriguing in their own right as they conjured evolution of thoughts about spatial divisions.  Again, if taken as a whole exhibition, it could have worked.  As it were, it was a bit disjointed and therefore disappointing, again, in order to isolate what I think are important concepts proposed in the work about time, space, and scale as referenced via light, color, surface, and form.

Aside from the installation/viewer concerns (which really are intrinsic to works like these on their own terms and in relation to other artists who seem to consider the relation of interior/exterior conditions as temporally sublime (Smithson, Morgan Fisher, et al)), it was enjoyable to go amongst and between the works of the two exhibition spaces thinking about passages both real and virtual.
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