Survey of Surf-Themed Art at Three Galleries in Chelsea

Written by Jacqueline Miro Tuesday, 29 March 2011 23:53

NEW YORK, NY.- Nyehaus, Friedrich Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures present "SWELL" —curated by Tim Nye and Jacqueline Miro—a survey of surf-themed art that opened July 1st at the three locations in Chelsea. Each gallery focuses on a different aspect of this work, Metro will be exhibiting many of the core group of Venice Beach artists associated with Light and Space or Fetish Finish (many of them surfers) including DeWain Valentine, Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Moses, as well as the Ferus Gallery artists Craig Kauffman, Ed Ruscha, Wally Berman, Bruce Conner, and Llynn Foulkes, and associated L.A. artists John McCracken, Ken Price, Joe Goode, George Herms, Tony Berlant and Helen Pashgian.

Dave Hickey, in a recent essay writes: "In its initial vogue, these works spoke directly to a new kind of artistic decorum—less aggressive than pop, less ideological than Minimalism, and less maidenly than post-painterly abstraction. It had a kind of gallantry—the cool courtesy of a well-born rake. California Minimalism created a gracious, social space in its glow and reflection; it treated us amicably, made us more beautiful by gathering us into its dance. It still does this today, so I am not amazed by the renewed interest in this work. I am still amazed, however, that my beach-bum pals could have created such a capacious and courtly art, although beach bums, I suppose, have dreams like everybody else."

Amongst the artist surfers and artists incorporating surfer references from both the East and West Coasts and Europe and from several generations, are Jay Batlle, Ashley Bickerton, Andy Moses, Blake Rayne, Raymond Pettibon, Roe Etheridge, Mary Heilman, Catherine Opie, Dirk Skreber, and Thaddeus Strode. Some 75 artists are divided between the three galleries.

In its early experimental stages, the "L.A. Glass and Plastic" group and the "Cool School" referenced the movement that would eventually be known as Finish Fetish. The growing industrialization of the West Coast also influenced many of these artists to produce objects that were completely handcrafted, yet were so seamless and streamlined that they seemed to be machine-made, thus removing the focus from the artist's handling of the materials and placing it on other aspects of the viewing experience.

"Gone were the emotion-laden brushstrokes and thickly layered abstract surfaces that spoke of serious art world issues," art historian Boton Colburn once stated. "These were replaced by cool, smooth, transparent finishes rife with references to California culture and environment." The artists included in the exhibition represent a cross-section of those sharing these expressive ideas, technical information, and even materials, primarily working in Venice and Los Angeles in the 1960's and 70's.

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