Simplistic Art: A Group Show on Nature

I am not sure what got me interested in Christopher Reiger's artwork. Was it the fact that the iridescent greens and the vermilions in his art reminded me of native India or was it the fact that the writings on his blog conditioned my mind to receive his artwork with relevant appropriateness? One does not know these things. When he invited me to come by for a group show he was participating in, I tried attending the reception, but work got the better of me on the designated day. I decided to go at some point of time before the show closed and that is what I did this afternoon. A quick afternoon jaunt uptown on the number 5 subway to Union Square, a brisk walk 8 blocks north, a very rickety elevator ride culminated in me standing face to face with a little Chinese man guarding the doorsteps of the World Cultural Open (WCO Center) offices. Neither the pre-war type construction nor the creaking floorboards deterred me from stepping into a well lit inner gallery laid out with about 30 pieces of artwork dangerously close to each other – no, this was not the Chelsea setup with monumental walls and wide polished hardwood vistas. With a cryptic title that read, ‘Flight of the Mechanical Bumble Bee’, one surely is intrigued and this show had all the elements to fuel the feeling. It was readily apparent that all of the works in the show were inspired by nature. The mediums included sculpture, photography, mixed media and painting. The modes encompassed realism, abstraction, whimsical, fantasy and sometimes confusion.

From here: The show brings together twenty exciting emerging artists whose works deal with the complex relationship between nature and artifice. Some view nature as an extension of the self while others take a more methodical approach to controlling nature through pseudoscientific inventions. Natural space is transformed into an idiosyncratic architectonic space while natural forms converge to create new hybrid creations.

I remember leaving the exhibition thinking that the multiplicity of forms, expressions, patterns and dialects introduced to the viewer at this little show closely mirrored the stupendous multiplicity of patterns that nature manages to effortlessly bring to our eyes – provided one knows where to look. The show closes in three days.