from THE NEW YORK TIMES (20 July 2007) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/arts/design/20gall.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 'PROMISED LAND' Morgan Lehman 317 10th Avenue, near 29th Street, Chelsea Through Aug. 4 Over the years since 9/11, the art world has undergone its own version of the Kübler-Ross model for stages of grief. Half a decade ago, shock and denial were manifested in a retreat-into-fantasy aesthetic. Now, weıre somewhere between anger and depression, and young artists are making work that looks back to Americaıs early days. Blink, and you could be standing in the American wing of a big survey museum only here Americana is delivered with a twist. A pencil drawing by Eric Beltz of Ben Franklin sitting cross-legged while lighting a fire has a bit of text on it: "Infinite emptiness ... already crumbling... this infinite pile in fire ... the breath of Satan." Not exactly "God Bless America." Aaron Morseıs vertical painting of "The Good Hunt (#2)" depicts a gentleman-hunter, about the time of James Fenimore Cooper, standing over a pile of dead animals with cartoon "Xıs" for eyes. Kimi Weartıs graphite drawing shows two wolves in the foreground and a McDonaldıs restaurant, faintly visible in the background. Wyatt Nashıs plastic sculpture of two rifles propped against the wall carries the title "Remember, When Killing Was Fun." The Civil War is re-enacted in a fuzzy painting by Miriam Vlaming, and David Kennedy-Cutlerıs tattered Confederate flag is made with bubble gum and hangs from a twig. The show, organized by Elizabeth M. Grady, takes its title from an illuminated sign by John Salvest, the kind you find in roadside America with black vinyl letters spelling out the words. Turned 90 degrees and bordered with blinking red lights, the work functions like a beacon, yet its message offers ironic commentary rather than spiritual uplift. (MARTHA SCHWENDENER) |