Judy Glantzman at Betty Cunningham Gallery

Tonight, Betty Cunningham Gallery , in Chelsea opens a new show by painter/sculptor Judy Glantzman.

I wish I were there. Not only do I love Judy’s work, but in some regards have a huge line of thanks out to her for being a cultural buffer for me last summer when we were both teaching in North Carolina. I can’t decide if I have written too much or not enough about being in the South, but Judy― a born and bred Manhattanite was my huge breath of fresh air while there.

One of first our great conversations we were sitting in a small café in Sylva, North Carolina at night – catching up on shows we had both seen in New York. I asked her if she had seen the East Village USA show (I hadn’t) and she said, yes- “I’m in it”. (!) Whoops.

During our stay, I had brought some films with me to show as a film festival to the students, and one of the first ones- (regrettably horrible) was All The Vermeers of New York. However as some second hand history lesson, it featured Judy’s first dealer from the golden days- Gracie Mansion. We also watched the Basquiat movie, which as follow up to seeing the expansive show at the Brooklyn Museum was bittersweet. Possibly a good indicator of a great art film is it makes you want to paint.

Anyway, Judy was great company while she was there. Not only did we discover a low brow affinity for Adam Sandler movies, we ended up sharing a night at the Asheville Art Museum in some weird panel discussion, where we were supposed to comment on contemporary artists presented to us on the fly. She was gracious, and the only thing I remember from the night was getting dissed for not liking Richard Serra and saying the best thing about Matthew Barney was Björk.

Looking at the work presented in her latest exhibition, I note I took a very important lesson from her: Super Sculpey. Totally robbing her of the idea as a medium I made my latest works, knowing the medium was both packable (for long trips) but as I found also- unfortunately fragile.

Judy Glanzman, a very hardworking artist and real person, I raise my wine glass to you tonight. Cheers, hope all is well.

Judy signing prints in Cullowhee.

POSTED BY NOTEBOOK ON 04.20.06 @ 9:59 PM | 3 COMMENTS