The Serendipitous Show at ACA Galleries

In New York City, Chelsea is blooming with spring shows in the art galleries.

Last week, I went on one of my whirl wind tours of the area, covering many of the galleries from 20th to 26th Street where at the end of the day I was heading for the Bill Viola opening at the James Cohan Gallery .

There is so much to write about – and I only write about what I like especially well, and certainly there is a tremendous amount I miss, since I am an artist away making art. The plan was to cover many shows in one blog.

I began at 20th Street where my first stop was ACA Galleries . As so far I have always appreciated their shows, beginning from when I stumbled into a show of Irene Hardwicke Olivieri last September, when I began to check out Chelsea galleries. I was befriended by Ryan, who is always encouraging and helpful.

The gallery doors were open but the gallery was actually closed for installation, but since Ryan knows me and understands I have traveled in from Southampton, I was allowed to have a preview of what was already hanging for the new show: George Grosz and Paul Kleinschmidt Masters of German Expressionism: Witnesses to an Era , which continues through June 2, 2007.  Thank you Dorian and Ryan for giving me that opportunity and this blog is the result. 

I believe I saw most of that show and it is splendid. I would have saved it to write about later, after a further visit to the full show except that the show being taken down, but still somewhat on view was of Judy Chicago's test plates and drawings for The Dinner Party .

Suddenly, I found myself in a show that was never meant to be, serendipitous and amazing. It was a crossing of one show on the way out and one mostly up; all crammed together creating an unplanned installation juxtaposing powerful and dynamic male and female sensibilities. I found myself thinking about it and thinking about it. It seems to deserve a write-up all its own, and since I am one of the few people who saw it, I guess that job falls to me. 

All three artists are commenting upon their society, critically and satirically. All of the works are bold and forceful, which made their combination all the more intriguing. Judy Chicago's work is all about women, especially as a tribute to women she admires who are often more deserving of attention and acknowledgment than they have received, such as Sacajewea, who often plays third fiddle to Lewis and Clark in recognition for her contribution. So Judy Chicago throws a Dinner Party , a celebration, uniquely extolling the achievement and personality of each of her guests, while never for a moment allowing the viewer to forget the raw human femaleness of each guest.

Some of the works of George Groz and Paul Kleinschmidt also focus on women, respectively: After the Bath, 1927 and Im Theatre (At the Theatre), 193. These women are not the achievers but rather they are self satisfied and coarse in their sexuality. Not that the men in most of the works fare much better as the artists are dealing with the time in Germany before WWII for the most part. Still, the women here would never be invited to Judy Chicago's Dinner Party . They are marginal and yet content with their lot. In pre-war Germany, while the artists depict a society rotting and foreshadowed with approaching horrors, their portraits are of people who are either ineffectual or smugly in denial.

This whole happenstance juxtaposition of the two shows, was further enhanced by the fact that Judy Chicago's work was presented (or in the process of being moved) as positioned as plates on a table would be (as they are in the full Dinner Party ) so that the “people” in the paintings and drawings by the men, all of which were hung on the surrounding walls, could be seen as having been invited to a dinner, albeit a dinner that was in the process of being set up, as visually, the works could have been arriving. There were even flowers by Paul Kleinschmidt hanging on the walls for decoration.

It was a party I was privileged to view. Perhaps, it will inspire a similar show juxtaposing male and female artists whose styles are similar enough to complement yet juxtapose as they tackle their unique but compelling world views. Certainly,  Judy Chicago, who is represented by ACA, is deserving of solo shows and acclaim in her own right;, but pairing such a strong female artist with male artists created a dialogue that made her work transcendent. Serendipity is defined as a happy accident. 

At the beginning of this blog are working links to the ACA site and the shows and artists. I hope you take the time to visit them, see the works and imagine the juxtaposition I have described. Although I have in the past included images of works, with the galleries' mentioned permission, I chose not to even request the use of any of the images, as I feel in this case it is better to visit the ACA web site and see the works for Judy Chicago , George Grosz , and Paul Kleinschmidt presented there. Plus, of course, the Dinner Party is at the Brooklyn Art Museum and do attend the current show at ACA Galleries.

The next blog will continue to cover the current shows in Chelsea .