Abdolreza Aminlari, Untitled (gold thread on paper, 11" X 8.5," 2011)
James writes:
Storefront gallery, now called Storefront Bushwick, has been at the center of Bushwick’s burgeoning arts scene since opening 2½ years ago. Now under the sole directorship of the painter Deborah Brown, the gallery has a knack for exhibiting the neighborhood’s best young talent alongside midcareer artists who largely came of age in Williamsburg.
Drew Shiflett, Easel Sculpture #2 (paper, fabric, glue, cardboard, wood, polyester stuffing, styrofoam, wire, 54" x 43" x 24", 2000)
The gallery’s program shows the continuity of what is sometimes called DIY (for Do It Yourself) art—work that is unslick, irony-free and made by living, breathing artists rather than studio assistants. The latest exhibition of art by Abdolreza Aminlari (b. 1979) and Drew Shiflett (b. 1951) demonstrates how impeccable the gallery’s cross-generational pairings can be. Mr. Aminlari “draws” abstractions with string stitched through paper. Ms. Shiflett creates abstract sculptures of paper, fabric, cardboard and other materials. Both artists match the ideal and the homespun, the ethereal and the craft-based in ways that seem indicative of an outer-borough aesthetic.
Abdolreza Aminlari, Composition 5 (black thread on paper, 22" x 30", 2011)
It’s hard not to see golden carpets flying through the intricate work of the Iranian-born Mr. Aminlari—and, in Ms. Shiflett’s sculpture, the magical loom that created them. With an intense pencil-drawing by Lauren Seiden (b. 1981) peeking out from the gallery’s project space, this delicate show lifted me up and had me floating down Flushing Avenue.
Details:
Abdolreza Aminlari and Drew Shiflett
Storefront Bushwick
16 Wilson Ave., Brooklyn
(917) 714-3813
Through July 1
--adapted from An Improv of Color And Threads of Hope, The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2012