Nicoletta West Carly Steward Fay Ray Mike Paré Mattia Biagi February 12 - March 28, 2009 Opening Reception: Thursday, February 12, 6-8pm View Images of WORKS ON PAPER

]]> Each of these artists opens our eyes to new, exciting ways of seeing and experiencing. In their multi-dimensional works, they employ everything from homespun materials like yarn to textile designs to the most unusual such as pools of black tar and relics of what remains after an exhibition has been taken down. Determined to go beyond the obvious, they present art that demands our full attention and study, igniting our sensibilities with their unlikely visions. With yarn, thread, markers and tape, Swiss artist Nicoletta West creates idiosyncratic collages that evoke the seemingly conflicting realms of domesticity and surrealism. In her most recent work, the central female figure almost always hangs upside - like a bat – revealing only her body from the waist down. Though fashionably dressed in a skirt, boots and gloves, she is obviously out of control and out of her element. Interested in gender politics, West subverts the homey associations of the materials here by placing her subjects in jeopardy in ironically beautiful compositions. In one case, the figure is surprisingly surrounded by an image of an old city and in another a dog appears, a safe image that does nothing to relieve her helplessness. What happens to an exhibition space after an exhibition ends? While most of us would never think to ask the question, Los Angeles-based Carly Steward sees the answer as crucial to fully appreciating the exhibition, just as memories can often be as powerful as the events they recall. Here she offers a bound book that she created based on a piece of drywall she found at the Los Angeles County Museum after a museum wall had been torn down after being up for 20+ years. The piece of wall had layer upon layer of different paint used from various exhibitions over the years. She dissected each layer of paint and created monochromatic pages of each color that she found. Every page in the book represents a different wall color from a specific exhibition at the museum. She researched the archives of exhibitions from the museum and created her own exhibition timeline. Fay Ray offers two new gorgeous shimmering collages, “New Year, New You,” and “Perfectly Power”, that combine various items associated with women, from ribbons, lipstick and high heels to beautiful legs and arms, none of them connected in their customary ways. Both collages appear to be placed in the middle of a dark night, the first glowing with a greenish light while the second shines silvery. At first glance, they might be mistaken for pretty corsages, if it weren’t for the knife and the can of soda hidden in their midst. This disturbing absurdity stems from her wish to inspire questions about the prevailing views of the female body. She takes as themes the sexualization of space and objects, the uncanny and the grotesque in her striking work. Mike Pare found inspiration for his new large-scale graphite drawings in tribal textiles, ranging from Navajo blankets, tribal Middle Eastern rugs and contemporary tie-dye hangings. Using only shades of black, gray and white, he manages to create entire universes with seemingly unlimited geometric and feathery shapes. It may seem a far cry from his previous work that depicted idealistic crowds and modern spiritual seekers, ranging from rock concerts to political rallies, but in fact, he is now focusing on the artifacts and relics associated with spiritual and transcendent ideas. He shows without question that it’s possible to reinvent new meaning and renew the spiritual aspects of these relics. They come to brand new life in his hands. Mattia Biagi’s work immediately grabs your attention by his unconventional use of black tar on traditional historic prints. Each depicts a historical figure or event (Continental Soldier, Louis XVI, Edwardian Court scene) and are unnervingly eerie: in one, a man’s hair is a mass of tar sticking out in all directions, in another, Louis’ hands look like tar mops. In the court scene, the artist has placed real objects - toy guns, grenades and a Molotov cocktail - and then drawn squiggles of tar across the paper. There is understated violence in them all. His is a dark and mysterious concept of aesthetic beauty. tag:www.annakustera.com,2009://1.159 2009-01-15T22:31:59Z 2009-01-15T22:38:33Z

In conjunction with the current exhibition ‘Karlheinz Weinberger, Vintage Prints: Belts, Jackets, Couples and More’, the gallery will be screening the documentary film ‘Halbstark’ (2004, RT: 40 min.) on Friday, January 16th at 7pm. Adrian Winkler's documentary focuses on a unique Swiss subculture from the latter 1950's and early 1960's. The teens that comprised what their Swiss elders referred to as the "Halbstark" (translates as "half strong") were the punks of their day. Reviled by the mainstream, they gathered in public squares clothed in unique get-ups of customized denim, to drink and listen to rock music. Through the use of early news footage, the voyeuristic images by renowned photographer, Karlheinz Weinberger, and snapshots taken by various members, “Halbstark” gives a glimpse into the day in a life of some of the "halbstarken" then and now. ]]> tag:www.annakustera.com,2008://1.158 2008-12-02T20:50:30Z 2008-12-12T23:00:58Z

KARLHEINZ WEINBERGER Exhibition Images The Jets, Basel Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed The Lions, Basel ca. 1963 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches,...

Anna http://www.annakustera.com KARLHEINZ WEINBERGER Exhibition Images The Jets, Basel Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

The Lions, Basel ca. 1963 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Ruken Black and white photograph 9 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Boss, ca. 1964 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 9 inches, framed

Untitled, 1963 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Pirat auf der Rousseau-Inse, 1963 Black and white photograph 19 7/8 x 24 inches, print size 23 3/4 x 27 3/4 inches, framed

Engel im Schafspelz, ca. 1970 Black and white photograph 9 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Männlicher Akt, ca. 1975 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 inches, framed

Männerakt Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Neonazi, ca. 1975 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Romeo (Werner Berger), Boss der Revenger Gang, Zürich, 1962 Black and white photograph 24 x 12 7/8 inches, print size 27 3/4 x 16 3/4 inches, framed

Elvis, 1963 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Junger Mann Black and white photograph 9 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Halbstarker, 1963 Black and white photograph 22 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches, print size 26 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches, framed

Zwei Halbstarke, ca. 1964 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 12 3/4 x 11 inches, framed

Paar, ca. 1964 Black and white photograph 24 x 17 3/4 inches, print size 27 3/4 x 21 3/4 inches, framed

Paar Zürich, 1964 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

Zürich, 1961 Black and white photograph 23 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches, print size 27 3/4 x 20 1/4 inches, framed

Zürich, 1961 Black and white photograph 23 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches, print size 27 3/4 x 22 3/4 inches, framed

Gürtel, Elvis Presley unser Gott, ca.1962 Black and white photograph 24 x 11 1/2 inches, print size 27 3/4 x 15 1/2 inches, framed

Lone Star Camp, 1967 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 9 x 13 1/2 inches, framed

St. Petersinsel, 1963 Black and white photograph 9 1/4 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed

St. Petersinsel, 1963 Black and white photograph 19 7/8 x 24 inches, print size 23 3/4 x 27 3/4 inches, framed

Haarspray Lone Star Camp, 1967 Black and white photograph 9 1/2 x 7 inches, print size 11 1/4 x 10 inches, framed

Lone Star CampGossau, 1967 Black and white photograph 9 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches, print size 11 1/4 x 10 inches, framed

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Vintage Prints: Belts, Jackets, Couples and More December 6 – January 31, 2009 View Images Halbstark, Screening Friday, January 16 @ 7pm Review-Time Out New York / Issue 693 : Jan. 8-14, 2009...

Anna http://www.annakustera.com Vintage Prints: Belts, Jackets, Couples and More December 6 – January 31, 2009 View Images

Halbstark, Screening Friday, January 16 @ 7pm Review-Time Out New York / Issue 693 : Jan. 8-14, 2009 ]]> The New Yorker : Jan. 5, 2009 – ANNA KUSTERA will be exhibiting a selection of over 30 vintage prints by renowned Swiss photographer, Karlheinz Weinberger, opening on December 6, 2008. Karlheinz Weinberger (1921-2006) worked by day for most of his adult life in the inventory department at a Seimens-Albis factory in Zurich, Switzerland. In his free time, however, he escaped this monotony by immersing himself in photography. In the late 1940’s and 1950’s, Weinberger spent weekends and holidays (in Italy mostly) shooting a variety of scantily dressed male “athletes” as a member of the underground gay club “Der Kreis”, occasionally being published in the club’s self-published magazine using the pseudonym, “Jim”. Inspired by George Platt Lyons, Herbert List and Baron Von Gloeden, “Jim’s” images reveal a straightforward admiration for his model’s erotic physicality, but sometimes with a sly sense of humor. In 1958, Weinberger met members of a small band of teenagers and began photographing them both at his home studio as well as at the public parks and carnivals where they gathered. In post war Switzerland, these self-named “rebels” (referred to by the Swiss as “Halbstark” or “half strong”) were comprised of working class boys and girls dissatisfied with the conservative culture of the day. Inventing their own code of behavior and dress - oversized belt buckles fashioned from metal plates adorned with images of their idols, James Dean and Elvis, blue jeans employing bolts and other hardware for their fly closures, pendants made of thick gauge chain and spent mortar shells - they affected a powerful gang identity expressed by an affinity for their like-minded rebellious American imports such as Marlon Brando, Dean, Elvis, blue jeans, and motorbikes. Working in relative obscurity and anonymity, Weinberger’s images began to be appreciated by a wider audience with the publication of “Karlheinz Weinberger: Photos 1954-1995” in 2000. This book, now a collector’s item, was embraced by an emerging cult of fashion stylists, culminating in the co-opting of the “Halbstark” style in a Versace Jeans Couture ad campaign by Steven Meisel. A corresponding exhibition of modern prints was mounted by the Museum fur Gestaltung, in Zurich and subsequently traveled to the Photographer’s Gallery in London in 2002. This exhibition will feature a selection of images from a recently discovered trove of vintage prints. Capitalizing on Weinberger’s own superb editing skills, these modest sized prints are organized by certain dominant themes: Jacket backs, Belt buckles, couples, male portraits, female portraits, and male nudes. Through his detail oriented gaze, Weinberger always brings a sophisticated synthesis of classical and modern sensibilities to his compositions. The gallery will be screening the documentary film ‘Halbstark’ (2004), the story of the first Rockers in Switzerland, by Adrian Winkler in January. Please contact the gallery at 212-989-0082 for screening dates or for any additional information. The exhibition is presented in cooperation with the Estate of Karlheinz Weinberger. ]]>