Pure, Very, New . Paul Stephen Benjain at Marianne Boesky Gallery

A matrix of black light tubes taking up the entirety of one of the four walls in the gallery fills the room with a hazy, unnatural, neon purple light reminiscent of a future or neonoir via Blade Runner.  On other walls hang canvases covered in deep black hues. On the ground, in the center of the room, is a square made up of loose broken glass.  As you move around the space the ubiquitous purple light refracts in the shards of translucence. 

Subtle shifts on the surface of the large all black canvases reveal words. Pure. Very. New. The title of show as well as adjectives that when added to the word Black forms the names of specific paint colors. Black painted portraits of African Americans hang in another room while a Nina Simone performance of Black is the Color of My True Loves Hair plays on a multi-television installation.

The show uses a variety of visual signifiers to create an atmosphere that asks us to evaluate and investigate the varied meanings and experiences ofBlack and Blacknessas both cultural concept and lived experience.  Like the reflection of the black light on the shards of glass and the black surface of the paintings, these meanings become entangled and refracted, asking the viewer what is “Black”?

The reconciliation of Baselitz

In Gagosian’s exhibition Devotion of Baselitz, the paintings are hung upside down because of the artist's intention to place his painting between figuration and abstraction. 

The portraits are painted in pale, phantasmagoric colors, on dark, spatial backgrounds. The repetition in both format and appearance strengthens the identity of the show and emphasizes the artist's commitment to showing those characters as parts of a whole, the memory. The figures he chose to represent are the artists that have influenced him throughout his career. 

It is comforting to think that in a world so materialistic and accelerated as ours, Baselitz invites us to an exercise of revision and gratitude for those who have accompanied him throughout his life. It is not easy nowadays to find an exhibition based on something as personal and intimate as a motive; in many cases, contemporary artists become entangled in conceptual issues to legitimize their work. Of course, this attitude of Baselitz would not be enough without a good work to back it up, and in this exhibition, he does just that. 

We find a painter who is perhaps nostalgic but maintains the power of his gesture, the drama of his colors, the mystery of his figures. A Baselitz that looks to the past from the present, with a living painting, of the now.

The Kitchen, Lex Brown, Animal Static

Walking into Animal Static, a collection of works by visual and performance artist Lex Brown, the interior of the Kitchen appears almost empty. The space is barely lit when the first jarring motion-sensed light comes on, spotlighting a large crayon and colored pencil drawing of connecting geometric forms and letters. In bright pastels, part of it reads "Slavery. It can happen to anyone." Across the room, small slopes between the floor and wall indicate a screen that grey footprints instruct you to stand uncomfortably close to. This action activates one of three large screens showing the focal piece of this show, Animal Static. 
The videos, when all activated, play discordant, surreal greenscreened footage. On one screen, characters trade video content for commodities at a new "Ice + Cream" pop-up, providing an interesting contrast in types of consumption. Another screen shows a close-up of a bulldog humping someone's leg. Within Brown's playful world are punctuations of seriousness that keep the viewer grounded in the deep implications of her topics. The silliness and glitchy unease of Animal Static shines a light on urgent topics such as digital interaction, police brutality, and online identity.