On November 11, 2011, I decided to visit some art galleries in the Chelsea, New York area. I was looking for art I would like to add to my personal collection. Upon visiting a couple of galleries, one gallery in particular really caught my eye. The Yossi Milo Gallery on 525 West 25th street held some of the most interesting and beautiful art works I have ever seen. These big, large scale printed works of art by Simen Johan all showed animals doing something different in a reality but are then placed into environments that are separately photographed. One shows a bird on a branch with a frog in its mouth ready to eat it, another two deers frozen to a tree because of the brutality of the cold weather, and my favorite one, a rhinoceros just laying down on the sand relaxing. This big work of art of the relaxing rhinoceros is very appealing to me because its a large picture bordered white inside of a simple white frame. The quality of the print for this picture is also the best I have ever seen because it is so clean looking and the colors are just so vibrant and gorgeous. This artwork seems like a good investment to me since I would like to display this in my house along with others from my collection.
However not all the galleries I visited met my preferences of art. The Gagosian Gallery on 555 West 24th street was home to Richard Serra’s Junction/Cycle. This giant sculpture consists of two long steel structures that are made up of tall, continuously connected steel plates that carry different shades of rust on there surface. Here you see marks such as scales, drips, streaks, shadows, calcium deposits, and water stains. Although this sculpture seemed interesting to me at first because there is a walkable curved path in between the two pieces of steal, it became repetitive and boring very quickly. For the massive size and high price point for this art work, it is safe to say that I have no place or liking in purchasing this piece.
Simen Johan
“Untitled #168
2011
“Untitled #168
2011
Richard Serra
“Junction/ Cycle”
Junction (2011), Cycle (2010)
