A few days ago I went with a friend to Galerie Perrotin on the Lower East Side to get a look at Daniel Arsham’s new show, Time Dilation. Perrotin has been, is, and will continue to be my favorite gallery in New York - spanning 3 floors of an old factory far from the eliteness of Chelsea’s Highline-adjacent spaces. The gallery represents some of the most cutting-edge, yet culturally-relevant contemporary artists with no show ever disappointing. Plus, the cherry-on-top is the French being thrown around by employees and dealers alike, as a result of the space’s Parisian roots - feels like I’m back at the Palais de Tokyo.
Today’s show was no different, with a noticeably more streetwear-esque and fashion-centric crowd gawking at Arsham’s flashy work. Arsham is famed for creating pieces that appear to be decaying marble or stone with sharp cracks and voids that crystals of various colors protrude from. He has created working Porsche 911’s, represented pieces of contemporary pop culture, and even curated a Dior runway with this style, and it’s really become his trademark and visual lane. One floor of the show was starkly dark - especially contrasting to the overwhelmingly white, empty gallery space - and included colorful recreations of famous magazines and culturally-iconic 21st century items - think football helmets and keyboards - made out of glass that appeared to glow as they sat seemingly randomly tossed on backlit tables.
The other two floors included selections of sculptures, some representing mythical figures and pieces typically found in the Louvre (think David) portrayed in his iconic style. This really forces viewers to stop and admire the stonework and the beauty of the crystals escaping areas that the art world has conditioned us to believe are broken or there on accident (it's very much on purpose). Other pieces included various physical renditions of Pokemon cards and huge Pokemon characters themselves. While I’ve seen many a marble greek god in column-laden museums, I’ve never seen a physical rendition of this childhood animated series in real life and having it portrayed in marble really elevated its presence to a god-like status, after all when's the last time you saw someone ungodly portrayed in marble in a museum? Possibly a comment on their stature in the Pokemon world - as it was only extremely rare Pokemon - and definitely a comment on the dominance of pop culture in 21st century society.
Definitely check this one out, it’s free, visually stimulating, and definitely won’t hurt your Instagram story.
Galerie Perrotin
130 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002
-DG
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