Neon Rumbles of War
Y Gallery moves to the LES
On April 1st, Y Gallery opened its new space at the Lower East Side with Signs of the Time, a show by Tom Fruin, curated by gallery director, Cecilia Jurado.
American decadence thickened the air in the overcrowded main room of the gallery. It’s 2011, the world crisis is over, but the remnants and scars of the old days remain. Fruin post-produces, reutilizing found objects, and re-marking the path towards the inevitable end, reminding us that it might not be over – yet. Accidental Flag and american flag function both as a personal statement and as a critique of the American nationalism, which is clawing its way through the rubble.
Firepit, one of his floor works constructed with neon lights, illuminates our way towards Necktie Party, an installation of eerily glowing nooses, also made from neon lights. The shiny light sculptures attract the viewers like commercial street signs, signaling that they are open for business. However, American capitalism is in dismay, and many neon lights have been turned off. Confronting the viewer with the death of capitalism, desperation becomes beautiful. Fruin invites us to hang ourselves, and indeed, many have accepted the invitation: attendants were posing by these ropes – smiling. Either by strangulation or by breaking our necks, death seems like a beautiful invitation after the American party is over.
Tom Fruin was born 1974 in Los Angeles, California. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Y Gallery, Signs of the Time. 165 Orchard Street, Manhattan. Through May 5th.
One week after the inauguration of the LES location, Y Gallery opened its last show at its former location: Behind Closed Doors, an installation by Chilean artist, Manuela Viera-Gallo, organized by Ian Cofre.
Viera-Gallo, who constantly explores the limit between seduction and violence, places the viewer on the uncomfortably fine line of admiring beauty in danger. Once inside the small basement space of the gallery, an army of birds – doves and crows dressed for battle and ready to attack – corner the viewer.
The disorienting situation of a bird with a gas mask and a dove with a grenade head, transform this installation into a trap. Fight or flight. The birds arranged themselves in confabulating groups, plotting an attack. The viewers, having descended into a narrow city basement, have no option but to confront the birds, which stare at them with the defiant look of an extremist rebel force ready to attack at the least expected moment.
Manuela Viera-Gallo was born in Rome in 1977, and lives and works between Chile and New York. Y Gallery , Behind Closed Doors. 355A Bowery St, Manhattan. Through May 5th.
Carmen Ferreyra is a MA student in Critical and Curatorial Studies at Columbia University. She has been with Pinta Art Show since 2007 as the Manager of Operations in London and New York. Her research interests include contemporary Latin American art and artist collectives. Ferreyra has curated shows in New York and Buenos Aires, and has worked with the collections at El Museo del Barrio and at Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in New York City.
