Tammy Rae Carland: Hysteria: Past yet present

Hysteria: Past yet present

February 5 – April 9, 2009
Opening Reception - Thursday, February 5, 5pm – 7pm

Hysteria is an elusive, psychosomatic, even mythical disorder, impinging on our physical, cultural, and moral concerns. It is often characterized as a mercurial state of disturbance that can be manifested in both a psychological and physical sense. The word “hysteria” comes from the Greek work hystera, a term applied to disturbances of the uterus. Addressing this topic, a number of contemporary artists have dealt directly with the work of European medical professionals Sigmund Freud and Jean-Martin Charcot by creating artwork that mirrors aspects of their studies. This exhibition will explore hysteria in relation to gender construction, feminine identity and pathologization, and sheer physical form given to the condition in the imagination of artists.

Artists in this exhibition:
Cortney ANDREWS,
Beth B, Zoe BELOFF,
Mary BILLYOU,
Tammy Rae CARLAND,
Jennifer DUDLEY,
Carson FOX,
Guerrilla Girls,
Lynne HELLER,
Ruth HUTCHINSON,
Georgette MANIATIS,
Jennifer MAZZA,
Cindy REHM,
Babs REINGOLD,
Sarah SUDHOFF,
Claire WATSON,
Shoshanna WEINBERGER

LA TIMES: Yuval Pudik Angles Gallery

Review: Constance Mallinson and Yuval Pudik at Angles Gallery

Strangeness abounds at Angles Gallery these days, where two technically exquisite, darkly fantastic bodies of work are paired. It’s been more than 10 years since Constance Mallinson’s last solo appearance in L.A., and this is Israeli-born Yuval Pudik’s first. The show is noteworthy on both counts, but mostly for its enduring, disarming qualities.

Mallinson’s approach to the natural landscape has long braided the contemplative, critical and collage-like; here she ventures into related terrain, with a more concentrated focus. In her four figurative paintings on paper, measuring up to 8 feet per side, human forms are defined entirely in terms of wood and natural debris: patches of bark, frizzles of roots, slender, twining twigs. The visual gamesmanship harks back to Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s famous composite portraits as well as to the spell-induced transformations of fairy tales, but with a more subversive edge.

One pair of figures is locked in intercourse against a stained white field, a shriveled apple core beside them. Another couple enacts the biblical consequence, expulsion, striding forward naked out of ashen depths. With tremendous acuity, Mallinson renders human anatomy out of the anatomy of trees — gnarled burls, sinuous knots and fungus-blooming bark. The gorgeous offsets the grotesque; homage tempers horror.

The beautiful “Wallpaper” comes as something of a reprieve, invoking far less psychic duress. In direct tribute to the sensual integrity of the dead and dying, Mallinson traces arabesques out of dried branches, split seed pods, faded blossoms and rotted pomegranates. The painting is bittersweet and ravishing.

Pudik’s graphite drawings, in a range of sizes, are a curious mix of the carnivalesque and cartoonish, with a little sexual deviance thrown in for spice. No figure or scene is carried to a logical conclusion. Instead, figures starting out with thigh-high boots and riding crops end up with palm trees for heads or twin cars jutting out of their collars. The rendering is skillful and convincing, a performance that matches the theatricality of the vision.

Angles Gallery, 2230 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 396-5019, through Feb. 14. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

-- Leah Ollman

SF Chronicle: Neil Ledoux "Light in the forest prevades painter's imagination

Art BUsiness: Silverman Gallery: Neil LeDoux - The Fountain of Giant Teardrops.

Silverman Gallery: Neil LeDoux - The Fountain of Giant Teardrops.

Comment by AB: Neil LeDoux tells me his paintings are based on a vision he had as a young boy. While wandering deep in the Louisiana woods one day, he saw a fountain within a fountain. He hightailed it back to where his friends were playing, took 'em straight back to see it, but nothing was there. With this hallucinatory incident as his guiding pyre, he concocts hauntingly engaging compositional configurations of seemingly disparate elements including the fountains he once saw, Duchamp's urinal, Tibetan wall reliefs, and even a little Jan van Eyck. The good news? They work. Check 'em out. Priced $400-$3500.

Desiree Holman press and links!

http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/39114212.html

http://badatsports.com/2009/episode-179-seca/

Susanne Winterling at Bawag Contemporary

http://www.bawagcontemporary.at/

Eröffnung 4. Februar 2009, 19 Uhr

tägl. ab 5. Februar 2009 bis 1. März 2009, 14-20 Uhr

Tammy RAe Carland in Sweet and Matchless

Sweet and Matchless
February 9th – March 5th
PLAySPACE Gallery, 1111 8th St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco
Opening Reception: Monday, February 9th, 7 – 9 PM

Using the love letter as a point of departure, Sweet and Matchless brings together various expressions of love—from romantic love to the affinities and complexities of families and friendships. The show includes artworks, personal documents, and objects not necessarily
intended to be shown to anyone.

Featuring works by Zina Al-Shukri, Mara Baldwin, Jeremiah Barber, Ellen Black, James Bradley, Tammy Rae Carland, Margaret Coleman, Patty and Blade Corwin, Benjamin Crotty, Torreya Cummings, Lauren Friedman, Linda Geary, David Gilbert, Julia Goodman, Jamil Hellu and Darrin Martin, Bevan Herbekian, Queena Hernandez and Anna Simson, Michael Hilsman, Zara Katz, Cameron Kelly, Christine Kesler, Claire Kessler-Bradner, Emily Korson, Eric Kuhn, Ace Lehner, Forrest Lewinger, Liesa Lietzke, Elyse Mallouk, Brigid Mason, Justin Olerud, Patricia Patterson, Leah Rosenberg, Hilary Schwartz, Elizabeth Sher, Mary Snowden, Marta Spurgeon, Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, Kat Stewart, Margaret Tedesco, Suné Woods, Jane Yakowitz and James Williams.