Neo-Nihilistic Naderings

Molly Springfield - Steven Wolfe Fine Arts
At first glance at this show I wanted to just leave the room reflexively (see previous entry).  After a couple turns about the room the pages of a photocopied book pages became drawings of photocopies.  The shaded shadows and dark edges betray graphite instead of toner on about 28 double pages laid out in cases set at waist level on a drafting table angle for viewing.  All pages are from Marcel Proust's writings.
Springfield's 2nd grouping of pieces in the show reveal the artist's hand more since they are larger and feature re-drawn hand written scribblings that someone with the painful task of studying Proust;s writings might have to scrawl.  Subtle photocopy toner variations are religiously preserved making these drawings and objects at the same time.  
The duality though collapses once you learn the trick of everything yet the work makes a comment on the drone of literary works like this.  The artist's overinvestment in these drawn recreations reflect the endless narrative and endless blur of text adopted as readymade.  The work was grouped and priced at $78K and $8K.

Jonathan Solo & John Slepian - Catherine Clark Gallery
A Saturday January 31st opening at Catherine Clark Gallery put a good face on bad times.  Jonathan Solo's drawings in the front room were sold out.  It's too bad the red dots had to fly in from Miami to make it that way but renderings were impecably done.  What is NOT amazing is the level of photorealism.  The artist is actually helped by having one eye in this case.  The condition known as stereopsis inhibits binoculor folks from achieving this precision unless they favor one eye.  What is interesting about the work though is it's integration of photorealistic drawings in the act of collage.  In the age of cut and paste mutilating drawn work then reintegrating it without an undo key invigorates the process.  In keeping with the Clark Gallery creepy fantasy aesthetic work by John Slepian features furry blobs in photo, vid & sculptural forms grouping cliché, carnival tricks and gimmicks.  It almost makes one wish the motion detector was never invented but what are you gonna do.  This is as remarkable as 90's de-evolutionary cyber poetry.  There is a lot of time spent on this but you leave it think why and what for.  What really bothers are the efforts made at slumming Slepian's ideas of furry headless rats into a hybrid with backlit waterfall lights.  The lack of variations executed in the three works forecast an early extinction.