Went to see Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight at the Whitney on Saturday night. Spent a good couple of hours there (partly because I was waiting for a friend to arrive, late) and it’s a show that’s worth every minute. My only complaint is that the show doesn’t include more works by this 101 year old artist. To follow the evolution of her painting from fuzzy modernist attempts to the uncompromising geometric compositions that she continues to work on today — yes: she still paints almost every day — is incredibly uplifting. According to a 2009 article in the NY Times, Herrera sold her first work in 2004 — at 89! The entire show is a delightful affirmation of life and creativity that seems especially important right now.
I wouldn’t have stuck around to see the Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016 if my my friend hadn’t said he wanted to, and I’m glad I did. There are several good works in the show, but Line Describing a Cone by Anthony McCall is my favorite. In a dark room his simple projection makes light matter; incidentally also a very fitting metaphor for the current mood in my world. Or, as Leonard Cohen so eloquently put it: “There’s a crack in everything, that’s were the light shines in.”
propitiations 