Detail from Kurt Kauper's show poster at Deitch Projects

So yesterday some of my studio mates and I went to Chelsea to check out some shows. All in all we saw 21 shows, which is nothing compared to all of the galleries that were open. I was really surprised to like just about everything that I saw. (Sometimes I can be rather hard to please) But of them all these four, in order that I saw them, are my top picks of the day:

Postmasters show “If Then Else End If” by Kristin Lucas appeared to be almost two shows in one. One part, located in the back room was documentation and drawings of her name being legally changed from Kristin Lucas to Kristin Lucas in what she called “in the spirit of refreshing yourself as though you were a web page." The front part I was not as interested in, although I did enjoy the installation itself. Lucas had videos projected and photographs in light boxes portraying a “virus” appearing on her face that was in reference to viruses in cyberspace.

In “A Roll in the Hay” at Bellweather, Daphne Fitzpatrick continues her study of the flâneur in a contemporary urban setting. The show itself feels like one large installation. When walking into the space the viewer is first greeted by two baguettes leaning on the outside of the galleries doorframe. Once inside one must first walk up a weathered wooden ramp where the first piece, a wooden sculpture of Moby Dick is seen. The first several pieces set the pace for the rest of the show, which consists of “sexual puns and dick jokes.” I was really into this show and I’m not doing it much justice in the description.

Moving right along. Kara Walker has new work up at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. I’m not going to go into detail of the show because it would be beating a dead horse when I say how spectacular she is. Check the site for show images. And if you have a chance, catch her retrospective.

Kurt Kauper’s show “Everybody Knew Canadians Were the Best Hockey Players” opened at Deitch Projects. Other than the it being so packed one could barely see the work I found the painting rather enticing. Four of the five were monumental painting of hockey players like Bobby Orr in both the nude and in day to day scenarios. Kauper using hockey players as a stand in for American males subverts his subject matter with homosexual overtones.