Last night carried me from Soho to Cobble Hill, then a stop in Brooklyn Heights, a few beers in Clinton Hill, a gallery opening in Williamsburg, and then a nightcap in the West Village. Hello, New York!The stop that most deserves your time (not that Alison's office, or that little Thai place on Bedford don't), is Dunham Place Salon, Amanda Schneider's new Williamsburg art venture. Amanda recently opened up her enviable loft apartment for the purpose of showing art. I was fortunate enough to have been passed an invite for one of her first parties in the space before she opens her 'real' (as stated by Amanda herself) gallery later this fall, Alison and John in tow.
The artist featured was Josh Goldberg, a very talented young painter who uses shellac, enamel, flock, and gold leaf to create paintings so perfect they make your teeth hurt. His strength is held in the balance between gesture and control, subtlety and glossy brightness. Emailed forwards of his work bounced around my office Friday afternoon, trying to figure out where the gold leaf entered in these seemingly straightforward paintings. I am pleased to report that it is used in the cleverest of ways-- he builds a thin layer on the canvas's top ledge that quite literally makes the work glow.
It's such a small detail in an otherwise perfectly fine execution. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't have known why these canvases seem a bit ethereal, a bit... well... breathtaking. Congrats you two, can't wait to see what comes next.
Alright, off to the East Village check another neighborhood off the ol' list and to drink spiked Arnold Palmers on a patio all afternoon. Cheers, New York.
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