March 27, 2004
"Happy Medium" at Clementine Gallery
An Artforum.com review of the new group show at Clementine Gallery. The link dies in two months, so here's the full text:
For this ingratiating show, Artforum contributor Meghan Dailey gathers together and gives context to six artists who've recently been bouncing around New York nonprofit spaces. The work included, though not necessarily their best, is strong and representative, and what emerges is a kind of hobby-shop chic that pairs material exploration with an investigation of the boundary between two and three dimensions. Lisa Sigal, whose ambitious wall-size installation in "Abstruction" at Artists Space was a highlight of the autumn season, contributes another pastel-hued painting-architecture-sculpture hybrid that riffs on the existing space. Recent Hunter MFA grad Karin Weiner, who has a sharp solo debut at ZieherSmith through April 3, contributes several mini-dioramas in which small wooden shelves support tiny architecture-model women in handmade landscapes; they gaze into the distance of a National Geographic–style postcard taped to the wall. Jimbo Blachly, the 2002 SculptureCenter prizewinner, includes three haphazardly elegant wall reliefs that look like studies for larger interventions in the natural environment. Each artist's low-key propositions suggest an imaginative enterprise that deserves continued support.