Anecdotes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANECDOTES

April 1 - May 15, 2010

..........Adam Baumgold Gallery presents the exhibition "Anecdotes" from April 1 through May 15, 2010. The exhibition will feature works by Andras Bality, Glen Baxter, Charles Burns, Geneviève Castrée, William Copley, Aline Kominsky Crumb, Julie Doucet, Marcel Dzama, Jules Feiffer, Renée French, Kirk Hayes, Mark Kostabi, Tala Madani, Diane Noomin, Craig Norton, Jim Nutt, Jennie Ottinger, Mark Tansey and Robin Tewes. The selection of works will include short narrative pieces and artworks which tell stories which are incidental, ephemeral and sometimes surreal.

..........An anecdote is a short tale of an interesting or amusing incident, usually told to illustrate some point greater than itself. In Jim Nutt's formally stunning tableau, "A Little Light, A Little Dark," 1986, male and female nude figures are frozen mid-action, holding tools or weapons, their gestures at once playful, tender and threatening. A tiny figure with a flashlight looks on, like the ego trying to decipher the mystery of gender. Aline Kominsky-Crumb's "Sex Crazed Housewife" is a light comedy about the tensions that challenge her as a married woman, without directly questioning the role she plays. In "Avoiding the Dangers of a Family Get Together" Jules Feiffer displays his mastery of storytelling by anecdote, revealing a lifetime of dysfunction in a few offhand remarks.

..........The term "anecdotal," with the connotation of information that is not scientific or confirmable is appropriate to the subjective and personal nature of these artists' work. Kirk Hayes "The Big Nose Bleed (the Illusion of Immortality Wanes)" leaves the viewer to assess the emotional impact of this minor complaint. From Mark Tansey there is a concise painting of two men examining arrows in a target, a snapshot of sport as a model of performance anxiety and pressure to compete. Two drawings by Glen Baxter riff on the peculiarities of male bonding and human interactions in general, while Tala Madani's "Tweezed Out" reveals the peculiar intimacies of men. Diane Noomin's "Coming of Age in Carnarsie" uses insignificant events to reflect the barely repressed strangeness of the 1950's American world of her youth. The odd encounters and bizarre characters of Marcel Dzama meet the "Happy Ending Nightmares" of Julie Doucet. These works are gently humorous, and only hint at trouble happening off-camera.

..........The gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11-5:30 P.M. For additional information, please contact Adam Baumgold at (212)861-7338.

Drawings from Renée French's book, "The Ticking"
RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 1, 2006 Ink on paper 3 1/4" x 3 1/2"	RENÉE FRENCH "The Ticking 2, 2006 Ink on paper 3 3/8" x 3 1/4"
RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 3, 2006 Ink on paper 3 1/8" x 3"	RENÉE FRENCH "The Ticking 4, 2006 Ink on paper 3 1/8" x 3 1/4"
RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 5, 2006 Ink on paper 3 1/16" x 3 1/16"	RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 6, 2006 Ink on paper 3 3/8" x 3 3/8"
RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 7, 2006 Ink on paper 3 1/8" x 3 1/8"	RENÉE FRENCH The Ticking 8, 2006 Ink on paper 3 3/8" x 3 1/8"

JULIE DOUCET Page from "An Happy Ending Nightmare," 1990 Ink on paper 7 5/8" x 10 3/8"	JULIE DOUCET Page from "An Happy Ending Nightmare," 1990 Ink on paper 7 5/8" x 10 3/8"
JULIE DOUCET Page from "An Happy Ending Nightmare," 1990 Ink on paper 7 5/8" x 10 3/8"