First Thursday!

The first Thursday after Labor Day always brings giddy excitement, and this year was no different, despite fears of a mass gallery exodus. Chelsea's streets were packed with all kinds of art-gawkers, and several stretch limos reassured the sweaty brows of many a dealer. Marquee names like Maya Lin didn't hurt either. Filling the main space of Pace, her mound of wood chunks was unfortunately far too reminiscent of Tara Donovan, Phoebe Washburn, and too many others to stand out, however her squished-in topographical mountains in the backroom at least brought some scale confusion, as she conspicuously wedged among them, looming like the architectural goddess that she is.
Right: Maya Lin speaking with ArtForum's Knight Landesmann.

At Zach Feuer, Dasha Shishkin's rich paintings filled the space with golden tones, and a more relaxed version of her anatomically twisted and detailed figurative work. As an added bonus, she placed on the list of Feuer artists who unabashedly show the gory nature of childbirth, i.e. Dana Schutz and Danica Phelps.

Right: Dasha Shishkin at her opening.




At Galerie Lelong, a wild woman of indeterminate provenance pranced through the show of all-white work by Jaume Plensa. We commend her attention to detail, pattern, and color, as an all-black outfit of short skirt, stacked platform heels, and slinky top seemed all the rage, perhaps due to the overlapping of Fashion Week.
Left: at Galerie Lelong.

Speaking of Fashion week, Thursday ended with an outpouring of long legs and fabulous get-ups at the Juergen Teller opening at James Cohan. While in his photos the actress Charlotte Rampling languidly posed nude at the Louvre, I much prefer the clothed models in Teller's commercial work for Marc Jacobs.
Still, his opening did not disappoint, chock full of celebs and fashionistas, and even one Jeanne-Moreau-channeling ingenue photographing said celebs/fashionistas.

Right: John Currin and Rachel Feinstein peering at Juergen Teller photo.




Left: Louis Vuitton at James Cohan.